Sturgeon Spirits

Sturgeon Spirits at a Glance

Sturgeon Spirits has 21 distinct products with 24 total TTB label approvals, including Vodka - Cherry Flavored, Vodka - Grape Flavored, Vodka - Orange Flavored. Labels approved between 2022-12-29 and 2025-12-05. Label origins on file: Mississippi, Wisconsin.

At a Glance data sourced from public TTB records.

Sturgeon Spirits: A History Professor's Oshkosh Distillery Named for Lake Winnebago Spearing

Karl Loewenstein retired in January 2024, at age 55, after 21 years teaching history at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, The Business News reported that April. For years before that he had distilled spirits in the garage of his Oshkosh home, the paper said.

How Sturgeon Spirits started in Oshkosh

Loewenstein told NBC 26 in August 2022 that he had gotten interested in distilling five or six years earlier and started casually, for fun. The COVID-19 pandemic paused the project, and about a year before that report he found the building at 2663 Oregon St., NBC 26 said. Discover Oshkosh, the city visitors bureau, wrote that month that the distillery was coming in October 2022.

Karl grew up in Iowa and had lived in Oshkosh for more than 20 years, the bureau added. Most of the building would be enclosed for production, with the rest given to a tasting area and a view of the distilling, it said.

Why the vodka is named for sturgeon

The name was inspired in part by the culture of sturgeon spearing on Lake Winnebago, which Loewenstein, though not a spearer himself, watched as an Oshkosh resident, The Business News reported. NBC 26 reported that the tie would show in a bar made out of an old ice shanty.

What Sturgeon Spirits makes

The plan was to start with clear liquor such as vodka and gin while whiskey and bourbon aged in barrels, NBC 26 reported, with some vodkas to carry fruit flavors from Loewenstein's backyard. Before opening he had made rhubarb, sour cherry, and apple and cinnamon liqueurs, Discover Oshkosh wrote, and the distillery would also make grain-to-bottle whiskey, bourbon, gin, and vodka. By April 2024 the business produced more than 120 different spirits, The Business News reported.

General manager Todd McLean told the paper that Loewenstein makes the base liquor and McLean flavors it, with additions such as Oshkosh-based Oaks chocolate, Wisconsin-grown cranberries, pears, and Door County cherries. Sturgeon Spirits had also brought in equipment to can its own cocktails and sold bottles in the tasting room and online, the report said.

Scaling up the stills

Loewenstein told Spectrum News 1 in February 2025 that he went from distilling 5 gallons at a time to 150 gallons. His 150 different infusions included a cake-flavored vodka and a pickle vodka, the report said. Sturgeon Spirits' website now counts over 180 craft spirits distilled on site and calls the business Oshkosh's first distillery since the 1920s. The bottles are sealed with natural wooden corks, and the Wisconsin ingredients come through Sunken Paddle Ciderworks and Oaks, the website adds.

Label origins on file

Sturgeon Spirits Inc of Oshkosh, Wisconsin filed every approval in the BUY.VODKA TTB snapshot, nearly all of them listing Wisconsin as the label origin on file. A single filing dated 29 November 2023 lists Mississippi as the label origin on file instead. Explore the TTB label data for Sturgeon Spirits on this page.

Sources

• The Business News. “Sturgeon Spirits toasts one year of distilling 120-plus flavors.” 18 April 2024. https://thebusinessnews.com/northeast/sturgeon-spirits-toasts-one-year-of-distilling-120-plus-flavors/
• Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin. “Counting on sturgeon season, distillery brings tasting room to the ice.” 20 February 2025. https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2025/02/20/sturgeon-spirits-distillery-
• Discover Oshkosh (Oshkosh Convention & Visitors Bureau). “Sturgeon Spirits Craft Distillery.” 30 August 2022. https://www.visitoshkosh.com/blog/stories/post/sturgeon-spirits-craft-distillery/
• NBC 26. “New one-of-a-kind craft distillery coming to Oshkosh.” 30 August 2022. https://www.nbc26.com/oshkosh/new-one-of-a-kind-craft-distillery-coming-to-oshkosh
• Sturgeon Spirits (sturgeonspirits.com). “Sturgeon Spirits Craft Distillery.” Undated. https://sturgeonspirits.com/
• TTB Public COLA Registry via BUY.VODKA data snapshot (src/data/labels.json, local build 16 October 2026). “Sturgeon Spirits” label approvals. Local read-only query, 16 October 2026.

Produced At

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Related Questions

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