Chief Oshkosh Replica

[giftedeye2]

I have been wanting to recreate an old beer from the Oshkosh area that would be fun for my family to drink and reminisce back to the day it was a household beer. I found the following recipe on a blog site (props to whoever shared this: The Story of Chief Oshkosh Beer and How to Brew It)

I was wondering if anyone ever tried this - and is the grain bill listed good as is or do I need to add extract? (Still relatively new to all grain)

Brewing Chief Oshkosh Beer
This is a homebrew version of the 1950's Chief Oshkosh Beer. This recipe is based on information that originated at the brewery.

Style: Premium American Lager
Boil Volume: 7.5 Gallons
Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons
Efficiency: 75%
Boil Gravity: 1.034
Original Gravity: 1.046
Final Gravity: 1.012

A 1971 Chief Brewed at Peoples Brewing, Oshkosh

Alcohol By Volume: 4.52%
IBUs: 20-25
Color: 2.5-3 SRM

Grist
6-Row Pale Malt: 6.5 pounds (70%)
Flaked Corn: 2.75 pounds (30%)
Extract brewers would need to perform a mini-mash and then supplant the remaining grist with either Light or Pilsen malt extract.

Hops
.7oz Cluster boiled for 60 mins to achieve approximately 19 IBUs
.3oz Cluster boiled for 10 mins to achieve approximately 3 IBUs

Yeast
Wyeast 2035 American Lager / Average Attenuation: 75%
Ferment at 50º F

Process
Mash in at 154º F / Rest for 60 minutes
Boil for 90 minutes
At OBC, they used corn grits that they gelatinized by boiling. They also employed a step mash to break down the bullish protein content of 6-row malt. Neither method is required for the recipe presented here.

Fermentation
Primary Fermentation: 10-14 days @ 50º F
Secondary Fermentation: 4-6 weeks @ 36º F

Carbonate the beer to 2.5-3 volumes

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I'd be interested to know how it turns out! I've never had this beer, but I've spent many happy days at the Oshkosh EAA AirVenture fly-in!

 

[giftedeye2]

I'd be interested to know how it turns out! I've never had this beer, but I've spent many happy days at the Oshkosh EAA AirVenture fly-in!

I will definitely update everyone on how this brew turns out after I try it- along with my notes.

 

[Brooothru]

Liked the article.

The first lager I ever attempted 20-something years ago was a Pre-Prohibition Lager, and I've been fine-tuning it ever since. So the history of Chief Oshkosh from "pre-" to "post" was quite interesting to me.

The Chief Oshkosh brand was introduced during Prohibition in 1928 as a non-alcoholic “near beer.” The recipe was developed by Felix Gertsch, brewmaster of the Oshkosh Brewing Company (OBC). According to OBC advertising, Chief Oshkosh was “a regular brew, made and aged in the old way, but the alcohol has been removed by a special vacuum process – not boiled out.” But getting people to buy the stuff was always an uphill battle. In Oshkosh during Prohibition, there was little need for those with a thirst for beer to settle for the something with a “Beer-like character” when the real thing was so readily available. The city was awash in full-strength homebrew and bootleg beer.

In 1933, the first Chief Oshkosh that could truly be called beer was released. The Cullen–Harrison Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 22, 1933, subverted the Prohibition Amendment by reinterpreting the meaning of the term “intoxicating liquors.” Now brewers were able to make beer that contained alcohol levels of 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (4% ABV). Brewmaster Gertsch retooled his recipe and Chief Oshkosh Beer was born. It was a mild, pale-gold lager, made of 6-row barley, corn and hops and immediately became the brewery’s flagship brand.

After the full repeal of Prohibition on December 5, 1933, Chief Oshkosh was given another boost. Though OBC had contended it saw no reason to increase the strength of it’s beer, OBC quickly followed the lead of other brewers and increased the alcohol content of Chief Oshkosh to just over 4.5%. The beer was immediately popular and by the end of 1934, OBC had produced more than 45,000 barrels of Chief Oshkosh Beer.

Chief Oshkosh Lager Beer, circa 1940s

For the next 17 years, Chief Oshkosh would be brewed according to Gertsch’s 1934 formulation. I’ve yet to come across the brewers logs for this period, but there is enough existing information to get a fair idea of what the beer may have been like. Though fuller in body, slightly darker and somewhat more hop-driven than the premium American lagers that exist today, the beer would immediately be recognizable to most modern beer drinkers. Capital’s Supper Club would be perhaps the most comparable of the beers that are currently available, though it too would be less substantial than the Chief Oshkosh of the 1930s and 1940s.

Last summer I finally reached a level of recognition in approaching the mastery of this style by winning Best in Show in a regional competition of more than 400 entries. It was 50%/50% 6-row/pale ale malt, to cut down on the level of haze-producing proteins, with 1# flaked corn. The hopping rate was right at the top IBUs for style using low-AA% Crystal and German Tradition, mostly late additions. Yeast was WPL-830. The style relies heavily on U.S. domestic ingredients (of German origins!) but is definitely not a German lager. The 6-row and American cultivars of German hops make a big difference, but in my estimation it is the water that differentiates the beers. Herr Coors was correct: it is the water.

 

[giftedeye2]

Liked the article.

The first lager I ever attempted 20-something years ago was a Pre-Prohibition Lager, and I've been fine-tuning it ever since. So the history of Chief Oshkosh from "pre-" to "post" was quite interesting to me.

The Chief Oshkosh brand was introduced during Prohibition in 1928 as a non-alcoholic “near beer.” The recipe was developed by Felix Gertsch, brewmaster of the Oshkosh Brewing Company (OBC). According to OBC advertising, Chief Oshkosh was “a regular brew, made and aged in the old way, but the alcohol has been removed by a special vacuum process – not boiled out.” But getting people to buy the stuff was always an uphill battle. In Oshkosh during Prohibition, there was little need for those with a thirst for beer to settle for the something with a “Beer-like character” when the real thing was so readily available. The city was awash in full-strength homebrew and bootleg beer.

In 1933, the first Chief Oshkosh that could truly be called beer was released. The Cullen–Harrison Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 22, 1933, subverted the Prohibition Amendment by reinterpreting the meaning of the term “intoxicating liquors.” Now brewers were able to make beer that contained alcohol levels of 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (4% ABV). Brewmaster Gertsch retooled his recipe and Chief Oshkosh Beer was born. It was a mild, pale-gold lager, made of 6-row barley, corn and hops and immediately became the brewery’s flagship brand.

After the full repeal of Prohibition on December 5, 1933, Chief Oshkosh was given another boost. Though OBC had contended it saw no reason to increase the strength of it’s beer, OBC quickly followed the lead of other brewers and increased the alcohol content of Chief Oshkosh to just over 4.5%. The beer was immediately popular and by the end of 1934, OBC had produced more than 45,000 barrels of Chief Oshkosh Beer.

Chief Oshkosh Lager Beer, circa 1940s

For the next 17 years, Chief Oshkosh would be brewed according to Gertsch’s 1934 formulation. I’ve yet to come across the brewers logs for this period, but there is enough existing information to get a fair idea of what the beer may have been like. Though fuller in body, slightly darker and somewhat more hop-driven than the premium American lagers that exist today, the beer would immediately be recognizable to most modern beer drinkers. Capital’s Supper Club would be perhaps the most comparable of the beers that are currently available, though it too would be less substantial than the Chief Oshkosh of the 1930s and 1940s.

Last summer I finally reached a level of recognition in approaching the mastery of this style by winning Best in Show in a regional competition of more than 400 entries. It was 50%/50% 6-row/pale ale malt, to cut down on the level of haze-producing proteins, with 1# flaked corn. The hopping rate was right at the top IBUs for style using low-AA% Crystal and German Tradition, mostly late additions. Yeast was WPL-830. The style relies heavily on U.S. domestic ingredients (of German origins!) but is definitely not a German lager. The 6-row and American cultivars of German hops make a big difference, but in my estimation it is the water that differentiates the beers. Herr Coors was correct: it is the water.

That's awesome - I would love to try your latest batch with 20 years of perfecting behind it!

 

[Brooothru]

It's been a fun beer to work on over the years, but I only brew it less than once a year anymore. Too many other new things to try. The one that took top honors almost never got entered into the competition. Each entry "ticket" allowed contestants to submit 3 beers for evaluation. I had only brewed 5 beers for entry, but I had this lager that was several months old just sitting in the beer fridge, so I decided to bottle some and include it as my 6th entry.

The hops had faded a little, but we'd just recently returned from a trip to the Yakima Valley where I'd gotten a new hop blend at YCH called Cluster Fugget. I had half an ounce leftover from a brew session and decided to chuck 'em in the keg for a week to spice things up a bit.

Overall I don't think the dry hopping altered the character of the beer, but it did freshen it up. What ever it did, it impressed the judges enough turn a wallflower into a winner. And it only got entered as an afterthought.

If only all my mistakes ended so well.

Brooo Brother

 

[ba-brewer]

I brewed a version of the 1950 chief Oshkosh not too long ago, but have not tried it yet. I went with 75% 6row and 25% corn, I used SF lager yeast as it was the closest yeast to Wyeast 2035.

 

[giftedeye2]

I brewed a version of the 1950 chief Oshkosh not too long ago, but have not tried it yet. I went with 75% 6row and 25% corn, I used SF lager yeast as it was the closest yeast to Wyeast 2035.

Gotcha, yeah I actually went with WLP940 because I believe the Mexican Lager yeast is more similar to the American Lager yeast than the SF Lager yeast.

 

[ba-brewer]

I based my yeast choice on this family tree, but wlp940 seems like a decent choice too.
http://beer.suregork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Brewing_yeast_tree_Oct_2019.pdf

So I blew the crap off my keg and had a glass. 6 weeks in the keg first glass still a bit hazy, will give it a few more weeks and try again. The beer seemed a bit thinner than I was expecting, I shot for 22IBU but it seems a bit more bitter. Drinks more like a german pilsner than a classic American pilsner or a premium american lager.

My SG was 1045 with FG of 1010, I mash at 152 with second step at 162.

I grew up in Oshkosh not too far from the peoples and chief Oshkosh breweries but was too young to drink when they closed the breweries. I do remember it still being for sale though and recall seeing people's beer being advertised on the goodyear blimp during one of the EAAs. I miss wading the sand bars between peoples and the Cheif Oshkosh fishing for white bass.

 

[jschein]

Wow, love old school brews. Gotta find my ballentine ale recipe, haven’t done it in years

 

[giftedeye2]

Ok I am getting ready to brew this via BIAB. Any last tips? I didn't hit my target gravity last all grain batch, and I don't want to screw this one up.