MILVERINE Returns: Talks Relationship Status/Groupies, the RNC, How Much He Walks Per Day, Why He Doesn’t Go Out Much With Friends, Caffeine Intake, Diet and More
The Milwaukee LEGEND returns to discuss an array of topics. The last episode got a lot of people calling cap on Milverine’s walking routine. Does…
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The Milwaukee LEGEND returns to discuss an array of topics. The last episode got a lot of people calling cap on Milverine’s walking routine. Does he really walk 45-55 miles per day? We do a mathematical analysis.
What is the Milverine’s love life like? Are there Milverine groupies in Milwaukee? (This part is hilarious)
Additional topics include:
What he’s seeing around the RNC
Did he ever consider running for office?
His 2024 Summerfest experience
Craziest fan interaction
Throwing the Brewer’s first pitch
Favorite summer walking route
Walking routine, sleep routine, caffeine intake
Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios, in partnership with OnMilwaukee and presented by Nicolet Law and Central Standard Distillery.
Charlie Berens: From “Nope” To “Ope!” How This Midwest Comedian Made It Big (and plenty of “fan-submitted” questions & WI Trivia)
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Join us as we sit down with the legendary Wisconsin native, Charlie Berens. From a very humbling start to his career to his current status as a viral sensation, starting with the Manitowoc Minute to now selling out stages across the country on his current tour! This episode delves into Charlie’s career highlights, hilarious stories of the come up and plenty of fan submitted questions as well as a WI Trivia section at the end. Prepare to be entertained on this episode of Milwaukee Uncut.
[00:00:00] Charlie Berens: There was a lot of non success. I rolled pretzels at Annie Ann’s. Stocked milk. I think I had more money in my, uh, gas tank than in my bank account. I had one buddy, slept in his closet. You know, I had a minivan. And then I slept in that for a little bit. But you’re just doing it to try and figure out things.
[00:00:16] Richie Burke: You were working for MTV in college. Yeah. And got arrested and They shot
[00:00:22] Charlie Berens: tear gas at us, those flashbang grenades all day, you know. I mastered this move. I’d drive up to D. C., I had to work like the next morning. There’s this Holiday Inn, you sleep in the parking lot. And then you go in the hotel in the morning, free continental breakfast, and then you look around and you see if anyone left a key on the table.
[00:00:41] Charlie Berens: Sometimes they did. You use that key, get into the fitness center, take a pool shower. It was good. That’s how, that’s living right there.
[00:00:48] Richie Burke: Hey everyone, it’s your host Richie Burke, and welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut, sponsored by Central Standard Distillery, produced by Storymark Studios, and in partnership with On Milwaukee.
[00:00:58] Richie Burke: Very special episode today with comedian Charlie Behrens. We get into some fun light hearted fan submitted questions So if you’re wondering where to find a cougar in milwaukee what charlie’s top supper clubs in wisconsin are if he’d fight the milverine His favorite cities in the midwest the best wisconsin marriage proposals he’s ever seen And we dive into some Wisconsin trivia and plenty more fan submitted questions.
[00:01:21] Richie Burke: You’re not going to want to miss this. But before we get to that, we learn about Charlie’s backstory, which I didn’t know anything about. And he had quite the journey from when he started to his first viral Manitowoc Minute moment when he was at age 30, which is when most of us became familiar with him, so it’s a great episode.
[00:01:42] Richie Burke: And before we dive in, I do want to thank him for stopping on. It was when he was between appearances. He was nice enough to come down to the studio for an hour plus. And one of those appearances was for Feeding America, where he’s helping raise money to provide meals to those in need for this holiday season.
[00:01:57] Richie Burke: We just made a donation you can to every dollar donated buys for healthy meals for those in need in the area. So we’ve linked that in the show notes, if you feel up for helping others. So thanks again for listening to this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. And I hope you and your family have a great holiday season.
[00:02:15] Richie Burke: Now let’s dive into today’s episode with Charlie Barnes. I’ve got a Wisconsin legend here with
[00:02:20] Charlie Berens: us today. Oh, jeez. You know, that’s, it’s very kind. Well, definitely not a legend, you know. I think you could probably
[00:02:28] Richie Burke: already tell who he is. Host of Manitowoc Minute, The Bellied Up Podcast, The Kripes Cast, a Milwaukee area native, Marquette University High School graduate, and UW graduate.
[00:02:40] Richie Burke: And UW,
[00:02:41] Charlie Berens: yeah,
[00:02:41] Richie Burke: got the whole deal. Whole deal, um, former violin, woodworker, bicycle mechanic, um, flower picker. I did some of my homework, you did?
[00:02:52] Charlie Berens: I rolled pretzels at Annie Ann’s. Forgot
[00:02:54] Richie Burke: about that one in the intro. At Mayfair?
[00:02:57] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Stocked milk. At a grocery store. I did a lot of weird jobs. And look how
[00:03:01] Richie Burke: far he’s come.
[00:03:02] Richie Burke: Also one of 12 siblings. First off, um, so your first Man to Walk Minute video was released in 2017. Yeah. Went, went very viral, but there was a gap of eight years after you graduated from UW and since that really popped off, um, you worked for several networks. What, what was, what was that period like? From graduating to actually getting that first big break.
[00:03:28] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, it was, uh, probably, uh, there was a lot of non success going on there. Um, I mean, I first, um, graduated, I worked on a film as, like, a PA for a little bit. You know, getting coffee and, like, starting out. Walkie talkies, you know, that kind of thing. And then I, um, after that, on my drive home from that, that was in Ann Arbor.
[00:03:53] Charlie Berens: It’s this film Cedar Rapids. I was working on, it was written by another Wisconsinite, Phil Johnston. Uh, he’s from, uh, Nina. So good guy. Good guy. Um, but anyway, on my ride home, Cedar Rapids? Yeah. With Ed Helms? Yeah. Yeah. You worked on that? Yeah. I was a pool boy, very out of focus, but I was a pool boy. You were in that movie?
[00:04:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah. I mean, I didn’t have any lines. It was out of focus. If you blinked, you would have missed me. But it’s like when Ed’s walking and he’s like, they even got a pool here! Um, wide shot of me, uh, in the deal. So, um, You
[00:04:22] Richie Burke: had to continue working after that? You didn’t get the windfall from Cedar Rapids?
[00:04:26] Charlie Berens: You know, you would think, but no, no.
[00:04:29] Charlie Berens: Okay. Yeah, and I was living with my, in my aunt, my aunt and uncle’s basement in Michigan while I was shooting that. You know, I had to work as a local, um, to try and, I don’t know, they had the tax credits thing or whatever. Um, so I was doing that, and then, uh, you make some money, but I, I, I had bills to pay, so I, I quickly needed another job, those gigs are only three months.
[00:04:52] Charlie Berens: Luckily on my way back, um, I got, um, I called to be a PA at this production company in Los Angeles that did like behind the scenes, you know? Um, and it was just a job. There weren’t a lot of jobs. I was kind of in the recession era. And, um, so I, I just, it was that, or go back to like being a bike mechanic.
[00:05:12] Charlie Berens: So I headed out to LA and I remember I got there. I think I had more money in my, uh, gas tank that in my bank account then. So I, I kind of, you know, um, I had a couple, I had one buddy, uh. Josh Burstein slept in his closet, but he had a real nice closet. It was like a big closet, you know? And he had a mattress in there, so that was good.
[00:05:33] Charlie Berens: Uh, or his couch, or, you know, I had a minivan that I accidentally shot with my dad’s shotgun, so he made me buy it. And, um, so that’s probably why I didn’t have any money. Um, but, um, and then I slept in that for a little bit. You know, it was kind of just like in Los Angeles at that time, you were just kind of working for not a lot of money and um, but you’re just doing it to try and figure out.
[00:05:58] Charlie Berens: So I would, uh, and I think it was good I wasn’t making a lot of money because then I, I was, I would stay late. I, I, cause I had the minivan, I was able to take the lights and the cameras and stuff to different shoots. And then I would bring them back to the office. And then I would, uh, set them up and shoot a reel, which was kind of like a comedy news type thing.
[00:06:21] Charlie Berens: You know, I was very inspired by Jon Stewart back in that day. And I wanted to do kind of, I went to school for journalism. So I wanted to do a mix of comedy and news. They had hosting positions. Got this job in South Carolina called One Minute News, which was this YouTube news organization. And so I started working for them.
[00:06:39] Charlie Berens: Uh, and then three months later, uh, you know, my salary got cut in half because we just ran out of money. It’s just weird economics.
[00:06:49] Richie Burke: So you could live off of your salary for about three months? About three
[00:06:53] Charlie Berens: months. Yeah, and then I got another job. Um, and then I was kind of working in D. C. and, uh, South Carolina at that point.
[00:07:02] Charlie Berens: And I mastered this move, dude. Where, uh, you know, I’d drive up to D. C. I had to work like the next morning. But I had to work the other day. So I like, there’s this holiday inn. You sleep in the parking lot. And then you go in the hotel in the morning, free continental breakfast. And then you look around, you see if anyone left a key on the table.
[00:07:23] Charlie Berens: Sometimes they did, you use that key. Get into the fitness center, take a pool shower. It was good. That’s how you, that’s living right there, you know? How
[00:07:32] Richie Burke: old are you at that point?
[00:07:33] Charlie Berens: Old enough to afford something else, but uh, No, I don’t know, I was 25, 24, something like that. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:41] Richie Burke: And then the Mantuak Minute, you were back in L.
[00:07:44] Richie Burke: A. when that happened. How did that come about?
[00:07:47] Charlie Berens: Well, after, uh, South Carolina slash D. C., I went to Dallas and worked at a, kind of in traditional news. And then I just, that gig did not really go that great toward the end. And so I moved out to L. A. Um, they just, the news organization went in a different direction where they weren’t having anchors at all.
[00:08:08] Charlie Berens: Um, so I moved out to L. A. and then I just, uh, cause I knew people out there and I wanted to do something and I didn’t know where else to go. So I went there and, uh, I got a job eventually doing a few different news gigs. Um, doing some red carpet reporting, which I, I hated. I did not care. I, I, I didn’t know who anyone I was talking to was.
[00:08:34] Richie Burke: You talked to some big names. Yeah. I like went back in your old YouTube like Selena Gomez and some of those
[00:08:42] Charlie Berens: people. Yeah. Talked to Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, um, who else? Uh, Johnny Depp, I think.
[00:08:49] Richie Burke: You didn’t really enjoy doing that though.
[00:08:51] Charlie Berens: Well, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but a red carpet, it’s like, um, Um, it’s one of those things where like the celebrities don’t really want to be there.
[00:09:00] Charlie Berens: They’re doing the promotion, you know, and, and I, if I’m being honest, didn’t want to be there because I don’t really care that much about what any, you know, what a lot of, I don’t care about their latest film, you know, especially if I just didn’t, I didn’t have the passion, you know, and I think that’s why I was realizing.
[00:09:18] Charlie Berens: And again, that’s, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with them or anything wrong with their. I mean, they make great stuff, but I just didn’t want to spend my life spending a lot of time researching, um, things that I wasn’t passionate about. You know, I do a podcast now and I’m always, I’m passionate about like the topics or the people.
[00:09:40] Charlie Berens: And I enjoy that, but I was just doing things. I just need money, you know? And so to kind of keep my sanity, I started doing stand up at night. And I, I was doing this other producer gig at the time and I was like, I’m going to start making a video a week until something pops off. And so I was doing, um, videos.
[00:09:58] Charlie Berens: I did this, uh, this, uh, if Jack Dawson was really from Wisconsin where I changed the voice and that video did well, but people didn’t like follow me from it cause it was just like a voice. It wasn’t really my face. So I was trying to figure out, you know, how do I do something that people will care enough to follow me?
[00:10:16] Charlie Berens: Cause if I could get people to follow me, And then I could get people to come see me do stand up, you know, and I was doing stand up at night and there was this bit that I had about, um, you know, my time in local news where, you know, I had two jobs where, you know, I got, uh, maybe more than that, but my Wisconsin accent always came out and it was always kind of an issue.
[00:10:38] Charlie Berens: I would say some words wrong or get made fun of for it, you know, uh, and so I developed this character based off my time in local news, you know, where instead of. Doing everything people say I was doing wrong and changing it. I just doubled down on it and that was the basis for the man to walk minute And so, uh, yeah, there was this one show I did at the comedy store, uh, where it just murdered.
[00:10:59] Charlie Berens: It did really good. And I was like, oh, that felt so great. But I remember going to bed that night thinking, man, only 50 people saw that. You know, like how, and, and I was working at the comedy store. I was like, um, I was doing the DJ thing. Like I was basically playing the walk up music for. everybody just to get like five minutes, 10 minutes on stage.
[00:11:22] Charlie Berens: Or I was doing these bringer shows where you basically, you, you would make your friends pay to come, you know? Um, and I, I always bought the tickets and gave them away to them to make it easier. But then, you know, a lot of times they still didn’t come, you know, cause If you got to go to Hollywood in the, uh, you know, on a Wednesday night or some traffic sucks and you got paid for parking, it’s still a pain.
[00:11:41] Charlie Berens: So anyway, I was doing that and when that murdered, I was like, cool. But then I’m thinking like my next show is like a week and a half out, you know, I wish I could do something in the meantime. So I made that first man to walk minute and then that took off. And that’s when things really changed.
[00:11:58] Richie Burke: You had a guy in the audience from Manitowoc during
[00:12:02] Charlie Berens: that one, right?
[00:12:02] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I said, is anyone from the Midwest? Bunch of people raised their hands. I says, anyone from Wisconsin? This one guy’s got his hand up. He’s from Manitowoc. So he’s who I named the Manitowoc minute after.
[00:12:12] Richie Burke: What was it like? Did it just fire off right after you posted it? Yeah. And did you, were you like, holy shit, this is actually.
[00:12:21] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I was for it. I almost didn’t put it out initially because I thought people would think, you know, I was making fun of them, which I was, but I was making fun of me, you know, I mean, I was literally making fun of myself. So I figured, yeah, if anyone’s got an issue, like, you know, I’ve lost enough jobs from this thing, you know, so, but it was really truly behind that just embracing, you know, and that’s the thing about, that’s a great thing about comedy is We’ve all got these imperfections and most of our lives we spend hiding them.
[00:12:53] Charlie Berens: But, um, comedy is a thing where you can double down on your imperfections and, you know, kind of reveal the humanity in it. And, um, and that’s what I like about that art form.
[00:13:04] Richie Burke: Yeah. So you’re, you’re like 30 at this point, right? 30, yeah. Were you close to throwing in the towel on comedy or just trying to get into that industry?
[00:13:15] Richie Burke: Or where, where were you in life? Cause you’re still just. Struggling along. Yeah, trying to get your front paying for tickets to try and get your friends to show up scraping by Yeah,
[00:13:25] Charlie Berens: yeah, and at that point I had had a decent producer job So okay, but I was still kidding myself into thinking I was doing what I wanted to do You know, I was always working.
[00:13:34] Charlie Berens: You know what I was always working on Something else I was working on scripts. I was working on something In my free time, you know, I just I’ve been a workaholic since I was a kid. So I just kept going and Yeah, it, it, it took off and I knew cause I put up enough videos that I spent hours and hours editing that did not take off.
[00:13:58] Charlie Berens: I think I needed to do that. So I knew the opportunity I had when this one did take off, you know,
[00:14:04] Richie Burke: And then you just kept it going week after week
[00:14:06] Charlie Berens: after week. Yep. Yep. And so that was the man to walk minute. And then eventually you, you see numbers go up. And then they plateau. Like, people have seen it. They get it.
[00:14:16] Charlie Berens: So then you gotta find something else. And it’s always that series of things go up, they plateau. You, you gotta find something else. You gotta dig deeper. Find something people haven’t seen. Surprise people. You know, inspire yourself creatively,
[00:14:31] Richie Burke: too. Was it, um Is it weird at all or what did it feel like all of a sudden you kind of just working trying to get by and make it in LA and then you become, ironically, become like a Wisconsin folk hero where you’re from and you’re doing roll out the barrel at the Packard games and all this, all this stuff, which is probably like a dream for you as a kid, I would think.
[00:14:52] Richie Burke: Yeah.
[00:14:53] Charlie Berens: I mean, it was something I could have never imagined as a kid. I mean, the, the system at play. Did not really exist until social media, um, became a leveling playing field for if you wanted to make it, um, you, you can do it on your own. You can do what you’re doing. You do your own thing, you know? And, um, that was so cool.
[00:15:19] Charlie Berens: That was so cool. And I, and so I just, yeah, I was in a place where, you know, every birthday you have, you’re like, ah, I’m this old and I haven’t done. That kind of went away of caring how old I was and caring how much I had accomplished Once I got to a place where I felt like I’m doing what I love, you know And things just changed, um, in my life, you know But Um, you know, you still go through things with that where you, you find yourself too many days, you’re doing things you don’t necessarily want to do or enjoy, and you kind of always have to keep yourself in check and keep saying, do I want to be doing X, Y, and Z and what is the reason I’m doing it for, you know, I could never imagined it, but I’m super happy and thankful that it, that it happened.
[00:16:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:12] Richie Burke: Very cool. All right. We’ll, we’ll move on to some more lighthearted. Yeah. Whatever. I mean, congrats on all you’ve done. It’s been cool to watch too as a fan and appreciate you coming down today.
[00:16:21] Charlie Berens: Thank you. Thank you. No, I really appreciate that. And honestly, like I couldn’t do any of this without the humor of Wisconsin.
[00:16:29] Charlie Berens: You know, like a lot of the stuff I’m doing is taking things that is just observing the way people act and whatever. And honestly, I’ve based a lot of it off my grandpa, you know, and then you realize other people will have that same observation. Um, I couldn’t do it without, you know, the people, uh, watching by a long shot.
[00:16:48] Charlie Berens: So, yeah, thanks to everybody out there, you know,
[00:16:51] Richie Burke: yeah, one, uh, one, one thing we glossed over. So, um, you were working for MTV in college and got arrested in, in Minneapolis. I thought that was interesting. Uh, Yeah. Welcome. Welcome to journalism.
[00:17:05] Charlie Berens: Yeah. I know. Freedom of the press. Um, what happened? What? Well, I was covering the Republican National Convention, Minneapolis, uh, 2008.
[00:17:16] Charlie Berens: And um, yeah, I mean, you know, it was protests. This was before a lot of the protests that a lot of people remember, but this was, um, this was before the Occupy Wall Street movement, but you saw sort of the beginnings of that. Um, and then it was just a bunch of people, a bunch of different causes. People protest every, uh, Republican and Democrat convention.
[00:17:37] Charlie Berens: It’s just part of what happens. But on this particular day, my job was to cover the protests. So I was out there doing it. Um, I was actually supposed to be on the convention floor that night. Cause, uh, or, you know, in there reporting, cause Sarah Palin, I think was doing a speech that night. And, uh, but I was still covering the protests, but then eventually, um.
[00:17:57] Charlie Berens: I remember there were police surrounding us or they were blocking off this one bridge and I was with this reporter from the Boston Globe and uh, I turned around and I’m like alright, enough’s enough, you know, like we’ve been I They shot tear gas at us. Those flash bang grenades all day, you know, uh, this horse, uh, police on a horse accidentally run over someone, you know, uh, I think they were fine.
[00:18:23] Charlie Berens: I don’t know. Um, but it was just an, it was a pain in the ass, you know, and people were. Lighting cars on fire, and all this and that. And it had been days of this. Days of covering protests and stuff. So you’re kind of like, alright, I get what’s going on here. But then as we turned to leave, there was a line of, uh, cops standing there.
[00:18:42] Charlie Berens: And, uh, you know, and I was like, what do we do now? He’s like, well, we get arrested now. So everyone sat down, um, uh, and the police came over. And, uh, And, you know, they looked at our credentials and people were making fake credentials. So they just arrested everyone. They arrested a taxi driver who was just stuck in traffic, you know.
[00:19:05] Charlie Berens: But that taxi driver, I tell you what, he’s a good guy because I trade him half my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the slammer and he gave me a ride back to Dinkytown after.
[00:19:13] Richie Burke: They cuff you and take you
[00:19:14] Charlie Berens: in? Yeah. Yeah. They cuffed you, put you in a bus. The whole deal. Not real cuffs though. Uh, zip ties.
[00:19:21] Charlie Berens: Zip ties? Yeah. How scary was that? I wasn’t, I was, I was fine. I didn’t care. Um, it wasn’t. Um, scary. I don’t remember that being scary. I was just like, Oh, how am I gonna pay for this? You know, that’s what I was thinking. Um, and, uh, yeah. And then, you know, and then you’re looking, I remember seeing the big jumbotron, uh, Sarah Palin speaking on the thing.
[00:19:47] Charlie Berens: I’m like, all right, well, I’m not gonna make that whole deal. Um, but yeah, and then we went to jail for a little bit. Uh, hung out there, got my fingerprint taken, my picture, and um, Yeah, made some friends with the taxi driver. Went, went to Dinkytown later that morning, had some breakfast. Not the worst thing in
[00:20:07] Richie Burke: the world.
[00:20:08] Richie Burke: So you got to say you were arrested.
[00:20:11] Charlie Berens: Yeah, sure, we can look at it like that. Kind of, kind of.
[00:20:13] Richie Burke: Yeah, yeah. All right, let’s um, so we usually do a segment called the Standard Five, which is five, five ish quick questions sponsored by Central Standard, but we have like 20, maybe 30, if you include uh, if you include trivia.
[00:20:29] Richie Burke: Yeah, shout out
[00:20:30] Charlie Berens: to uh, Evan and Pat over at Central Standard, good guys, you know.
[00:20:33] Richie Burke: Very good guys. You’re drinking in old fashioned right now. How is that? Bree, Bree made it. Um
[00:20:40] Charlie Berens: Bree, thank you. You did a wonderful job on this Brandy Old Fashioned. It’s delicious. Thank you. I don’t know if you’re just saying that to make me feel good.
[00:20:47] Charlie Berens: No, I’m not. I would never just say that. What would you rate it? What’s that? What would you rate it? I’d rate this, um, Uh, I’ll give it a 9 out of 10. Wow. 9 out of 10. Cause I can’t give you a full 10. Then you’ll know I’m just, you know, full of it. But no, it’s a 9 of 10. Yeah. You did this professionally for a while.
[00:21:06] Charlie Berens: You did muddle it? Yeah. I can taste that. And you didn’t muddle the rind, which is fantastic. We,
[00:21:12] Richie Burke: um, I don’t know if we want to admit this. We did watch your video, instructional. We want, we wanted to make a good one for you. We got, we got some blackberry brandy from central standard.
[00:21:23] Charlie Berens: That’s awesome. That’s good stuff, man.
[00:21:25] Charlie Berens: Cause yeah. Really good. We did not know what we were doing. I love it. You did
[00:21:29] Richie Burke: a heck of a job. And I’m drinking the, uh, the ready pour, um, cherry mule. There you go.
[00:21:35] Charlie Berens: Well,
[00:21:36] Richie Burke: very good. You’re going very good. Oh yeah. All right, let’s dive in. Um, Sorry, I’ve been a little under the weather. Um, and I’m sure this chair and meals helping me on the, on the bellied up podcast recently, uh, you somehow ended up in a committed relationship with a Canadian woman who, who was looking for a quote unquote, nice log and you just voluntarily threw yourself right in there.
[00:22:01] Richie Burke: Miles really set you up as a, as a fan of the show. I just wanted to, uh, Close the loop what whatever happened with the canadian woman who I believe. Um It was recently single. She was on a date to a canadian sex show and got left Got stood up there and then I kind of fell right into your lap. Yeah, if you it seems like a great catch Are you you know, are you there?
[00:22:27] Richie Burke: Are you single right now? I think we can dive right in we
[00:22:30] Charlie Berens: never got there We never got there She and I you know, so that’s just kind of how it goes, you know Unfortunately, yeah miles did really throw me under the bus there, didn’t he? I thought he was helping you out. No, he’s
[00:22:44] Richie Burke: just, he’s a jackass. She seemed like she could have been a good time.
[00:22:47] Richie Burke: She was,
[00:22:48] Charlie Berens: uh, she was a good time, man. I forget her name, but no, we never connected after that. It’s a gosh darn
[00:22:54] Richie Burke: shame. He was probably high on the, uh, the Hot Crazy Matrix graph. Oh yeah. Maybe in the fun zone or the danger zone. If you had to choose a Mount Rushmore of your favorite Wisconsinites, who would it be?
[00:23:10] Charlie Berens: Um, oh my gosh.
[00:23:12] Richie Burke: Is the four on Mount
[00:23:14] Charlie Berens: Rushmore? Wow. Yeah. So, um, that’s very interesting. Uh, I think he, Bob Bucher just came to mind. Vince Lombardi, um, just came to mind. Oh my gosh. There’s so many great Wisconsinites. We got Liberace here, you know? Um, we, we got, uh, We got Les Paul invented the electric guitar.
[00:23:36] Charlie Berens: I mean, we don’t need, uh, we need several mounts, uh, for the Rushmores, you know, I mean, I just named four there, but there’s way more. Um,
[00:23:46] Richie Burke: top three supper clubs in Wisconsin. Oh, boy. If you want to build two mounts, you can go with six.
[00:23:52] Charlie Berens: Ah, ha, ha. Uh, there’s Wentz’s, uh, uh, Wentz’s Supper Club up there on Lake Winnebago on the, um, on the, jeez.
[00:24:05] Charlie Berens: On the west side of the lake is a great great perch fry there. Uh, old town in Westby. Uh, that’s a fantastic spot. I’ve had dinner there. Were you just there on your stop? I did stop and I was there the last time I went to. I made some old fashions over there. Um, um, let’s see here. Um, Schultz’s over there in Dickeyville, you know, um, that’s not.
[00:24:30] Charlie Berens: Not a bad place. Have you been
[00:24:32] Richie Burke: to Jake’s on Lake Tainter? No, should I?
[00:24:36] Charlie Berens: That’s a good one. Jake’s on Lake Tainter. Here we are talking about Tainter again. That’s a fantastic lake. It’s a great lake. We grew up on that lake. Lake Tainter, huh? Tainter Lake. What was the best Tainter Lake joke you heard? Nobody was joking about that?
[00:24:54] Charlie Berens: Come on. I guess you say it enough. Yeah, Tainter Lake.
[00:25:00] Richie Burke: Hey everyone, thanks again for tuning into Milwaukee Uncut. Before we get to more questions with Charlie, I just wanted to take a second to thank our sponsor, Central Standard Distillery. Charlie and I definitely enjoyed their product during this recording, so if you are looking for some amazing cocktails during this holiday season, make sure to go with Central Standard.
[00:25:17] Richie Burke: One more quick announcement, a couple weeks ago I got roped into a charity donut eating contest with my partner Joe Stanton from Three Leaf Partners to raise money. For the United Way of Milwaukee and Waukesha, and we’re auctioning off some good items, one including being part of the live audience on this Connaughton comes back on, we’re also giving away a Bucks VIP package, I’m giving away some rounds to Blue Mound Country Club, and we’ve got a calves and abs workout led by Matthew Holbrook for you and your friends if you’re looking to get shredded for Spring Break 24, so a lot of good items.
[00:25:53] Richie Burke: That is linked in the show notes if you want to bid on any. Okay, that’s all I’ve got for right now. Thanks again for tuning in. Let’s get back to the show with Charlie Dance. Alright, we got a good next question from Katie Line in Kugel.
[00:26:07] Charlie Berens: Aw, Katie,
[00:26:08] Richie Burke: she’s great. She is great. We’re about to find out how great she is.
[00:26:11] Richie Burke: She asked, Favorite line in Kugel? Human, not
[00:26:15] Charlie Berens: beer. Oh, okay. Um, you know, God. Katie. Katie’s it. There you have it. And that’s going to be really bad news with her sister. It’s going to be bad news with, uh, Dick, you know. But, uh, she asked the question, so I’m going to give it to her. I can’t play that one politically.
[00:26:34] Charlie Berens: By the way, that whole family is a blast, man. I did a show up in Eagle River, and they have a place there, and we had a fish fry before one of the shows. Um, a lot of lineys there, uh, it might have been a little loose on the tongue during that show, because they insisted on, uh, knocking a couple back. Yeah, they’re
[00:26:52] Richie Burke: professionals.
[00:26:53] Richie Burke: They are. You, you drink with them, you’re, it, it’s hard to Keep up. You can’t.
[00:26:58] Charlie Berens: Yeah, I can’t even hang. It’s just in their
[00:27:00] Richie Burke: blood. Can’t even hang. We’ll give an honorable mention to, uh, to Tony and Dick, Tony,
[00:27:05] Charlie Berens: John, Dick, the whole deal. Yeah. I, I, I
[00:27:08] Richie Burke: might push back. I think if you’re looking for a favorite leinenkugel in like a, a, a quick sprint, maybe not the whole day, but just, you know, an hour kind of.
[00:27:17] Richie Burke: I’d probably have to go with John Lyon and Kugel. The guy’s just an absolute
[00:27:22] Charlie Berens: machine of a human being. He is. He’s so, he’s a fun, he was in
[00:27:26] Richie Burke: one of our videos. He’s a fun dude. Okay, um, this, this one. This is a good, this is a good question. So, um, this one’s from, uh, P. Fett, Stephanie Fett and Michael Shepard.
[00:27:38] Richie Burke: Who is known as Sim God because he put a very expensive golf simulator in his house. Okay. Okay. They’re hosting a Packers pot roast and we’re wondering how to throw the best Packers party possible. Um, I’ll just add a little more context. So, I mean, this guy’s gone all out. He has like a putting green in the back, hot tub, balcony, projector screen.
[00:28:01] Richie Burke: And Bree and I were at their Cinco de Drinco party and they had a pinata. And they had some kids around and SimGod picked me up and spun me around, um, he played, he had a stint with the, uh, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn’t quite make it and then played for the Omaha Beef for a while in the AFL, but SimGod spun me around and I knocked the pinata over and there were some kids around and candy poured out, some condoms, some Jack Daniels shots, so I mean, I don’t know if they bought the wrong pinata, but then I got cracked in the head with an, uh, Egg by this guy named joe joe vilmo and he said it was good luck in mexico, even though he’s not mexican and so, um, that that’s Just to add some context.
[00:28:44] Richie Burke: So we’re dealing with uh, p fat and sim god throwing a packer’s pot roast and maybe maybe some advice That’s contextual to them and then for maybe the average human being just looking to have some people over for a low key. Oh, yeah. What
[00:28:58] Charlie Berens: are some necessities? Well, I mean, you got to have enough food for everyone, even though everyone’s going to call you and insist they bring something, you’re going to say, Oh no, just bring yourself, you know.
[00:29:08] Charlie Berens: And usually, uh, they’ll bring excess food, so you gotta have enough, uh, you know, Cool Whip containers to bring leftovers, you know, and, um, the Ziploc bags, you know, uh, that you got going there, those can be reused, by the way. So you just wash them out, and then you can send someone home with leftovers. So start stocking up on those now.
[00:29:28] Charlie Berens: And, uh, Yeah, you know, also be prepared for a lot of Midwest goodbyes. You know, if you want people out of your house at a certain time, yeah, know where your fire alarm is and set that sucker off. That’s, uh, that’s going to be the only way you’ll get people, uh, without staying over there. Um, let’s see here beyond that.
[00:29:47] Charlie Berens: Um. Yeah, if you want to get rid of any, uh, meats you got in your chest freezer, you know, make sure you insist they take them home with you, like meet them in the driveway, you know, kind of get into their door when it’s window down, uh, have them roll the window down, then lean in there and hand them the stuff.
[00:30:04] Charlie Berens: And so it’s super awkward for them. To not take it, you know, that’s a good way to unload some, maybe, uh, older moose you have in your chest freezer. So, there’s a lot of different, uh, I, I could go on and on with that one,
[00:30:17] Richie Burke: man. Yeah, I don’t know if SimGod’s got any moose over there,
[00:30:20] Charlie Berens: but Well, you know, yeah, I mean, maybe don’t pick people up at your, uh, deal, uh, cause some might get cracked in the head, you know?
[00:30:28] Charlie Berens: Don’t put condoms in your, uh, pinata when there are kids there. You know, there’s some simple ones from that standpoint, too. You
[00:30:36] Richie Burke: would think. Just kind of a wild card. Yeah. And an athlete. I’m 200 pounds. He just I mean,
[00:30:42] Charlie Berens: that’s impressive. With
[00:30:43] Richie Burke: ease. With ease. Speaking of Midwest Goodbye, what is, what is the best way to just get out of an Get out of an event, just kind of avoid the Midwest goodbye.
[00:30:53] Charlie Berens: Oh, Irish goodbye is the best way to do it. Just leave. You know, that takes a lot though. You’re going to feel guilty. Just power through the guilt and soon enough, you’ll forget you felt guilty. And then that’ll be the only move you ever do. I like
[00:31:06] Richie Burke: that. Oh, this is interesting. Uh, Jordan Kearns. What’s the most Wisconsin marriage proposal you have ever heard of?
[00:31:16] Charlie Berens: Oh, there’s a few. Um, I was actually at this bar in, was it Menomonee? Could have been Menomonee. Um, somewhere up at Chippewa Falls. It was in Chippewa Falls. And I was just sitting there at the bar talking with some buddies and I see this guy get down on his knees, spills popcorn on himself as he’s doing.
[00:31:35] Charlie Berens: And, um, And then just proposes right there, you know, and she, she didn’t even get up. She was like, Oh my gosh, yes. You know, and then he sat back down and I was like, all right, I’ll buy them a drink. You know,
[00:31:50] Richie Burke: did the bar go crazy or was it just a guy selling his popcorn? And the girl was like. Okay, okay, let’s do this.
[00:31:56] Charlie Berens: Basically, no one noticed. Yeah, it was like, the bar was just, I just, I was like, I think I just witnessed a, uh, proposal, you know? Although some people I hear, some people do that as a joke, and then they get some free drinks. That’s
[00:32:13] Richie Burke: kind of low, although just, yeah, no, but a little. I’m not
[00:32:18] Charlie Berens: a little unethical.
[00:32:19] Charlie Berens: I’m not bringing it up that it’s a good thing to do. I’m thinking maybe that’s what they did, but nobody noticed. So it’s a bummers up
[00:32:26] Richie Burke: to you apparently. Any other, any other good ones?
[00:32:28] Charlie Berens: Uh, quick trips is solid place to get engaged. Fleet Farm is not a bad way to do it. You know, you get yourself over there in the, uh, bolt aisle, you know, and then you get down on a hand in the end.
[00:32:39] Charlie Berens: You, you, you. You bring a few different bolts with you and then you say, will you marry me? You know, she says yes. And then you put the bolt on her finger, you know, and if that doesn’t fit, you use a different bolt and then, you know, you finally get the right bolt and it’s like, okay, there you go. You want that in a tungsten or you want it in a.
[00:32:58] Charlie Berens: You know, just stainless steel or should we go copper fitting? I don’t recommend that if you’re actually trying to spend the rest of your life with that person But
[00:33:07] Richie Burke: probably not but it can it can work in wisconsin in certain places. It could it could apparently. Um, Nate, nate moody. Um Currently finishing up his he’s at marquette high grad.
[00:33:20] Richie Burke: Um, currently finishing up his last semester at marquette and his I think bartending or bouncing at deer camp down in the on third street nate moody I was wondering about your Marquette High experience.
[00:33:33] Charlie Berens: Oh yeah, was he? Uh, yeah, I mean, first of all, I was very lucky to go to that school. It was, it’s a very good school.
[00:33:44] Charlie Berens: Um, what was my experience like? Honestly, I was just trying to play music at that time. So I, I was proud, I wasn’t very focused. I wasn’t a guy who really, uh, you know, fell in love with that school and did all the, um, all the things. You know, I was kind of like a bit of an outsider, I think, there. I was just trying to write and do music and stuff.
[00:34:05] Charlie Berens: That’s kind of how I spent my time, but I don’t have any, um, I did the newspaper there. I did that. I was actually the editor in chief of that, believe it or not. Um, and then, you know, there’s this great teacher there when I was there, a great guy, uh, Jim Carney, and actually he really, um, put in me, um, a really good sense of how to tell a story.
[00:34:27] Charlie Berens: He had this class called American Hero, and his book, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell. It’s all about the cosmogonic cycle and the, the hero cycle, you know? So, um, all Western storytelling kind of is based on that. Star Wars, um, George Lucas basically read Joseph Campbell and made a book to the T to, What that book talks about in the hero’s journey, you know, so I think that’s probably one of the most influential things that happened to me.
[00:34:56] Charlie Berens: Um, they’re
[00:34:57] Richie Burke: very cool. I think Nate could probably use some advice on how to finish up strong on his last semester of college. I think he’s currently single working down on third street. Any. Any advice to Nate? Oh go out strong. I think that’s what he was really.
[00:35:12] Charlie Berens: Oh, you’re talking about Marquette University He went to
[00:35:15] Richie Burke: Marquette High now.
[00:35:16] Richie Burke: He’s at Marquette University. I see you answered the first question, right? I just want to throw in this extra extra part for the
[00:35:23] Charlie Berens: guy, you know, I mean, hey just enjoy it I think cuz you know, everyone’s trying to cram so much in and It’s tough and you know you’re kind of sad that you’re leaving school sometimes, but there’s a lot of great things I had and just take it one beer at a time.
[00:35:39] Charlie Berens: You know And try to
[00:35:41] Richie Burke: pass. Yeah, I feel like you need to have your bases covered. Yeah. Pass your classes, um, maybe take care of yourself a little bit, but other than that, just really enjoy it and soak it in. Yeah, exactly. Alright, Nate Moody, um, Devin Granger, who does all the, uh, content for Pat Connaughton, shout out to Devin.
[00:36:04] Charlie Berens: done and why? Uh, I mean it’s tough to pick, um. You do, you work with a lot of good ones. I do. I mean, Quick Trip, uh, you know, Fleet Farm, um, there’s a lot of stuff that I just use in general. But I think probably my favorite has been, you know, uh, working with the Packers, um, you know, and.
[00:36:24] Charlie Berens: We did this one during COVID, which was called Missing Lambeau and it was no one could go there obviously with COVID. So we did this video called Missing Lambeau, which is probably one of my favorite ones we made. Um, you know, it’s the sadness of not being able to go in the stadium. I’m not gonna describe it very well, but that was a very fun video.
[00:36:42] Richie Burke: Very cool. Joe Arado, um, from the Locations Unknown podcast, which has really taken off. He was wondering, Would you agree to an MMA match against Milverine,
[00:36:55] Charlie Berens: huh? No, that dude’s ripped man. No, not at all Does he do
[00:36:59] Richie Burke: pretty good? I see I see I see some roadmaps over there.
[00:37:02] Charlie Berens: Thank you. No, I Look, I know how to fight I’ve done some of that in my past, but I’m not I wouldn’t say like if somebody really knows how to fight They’re gonna kick my ass, you know but if we’re like if I’m walking in the street with somebody else or something and somebody like You know, jumps or whatever.
[00:37:21] Charlie Berens: I would be able to fight long enough for that other person to get away. That’s about how good I am at that, which is not very good. But, um, you know, I’ve, I’ve, yeah. I’m not gonna win that fight, especially if he knows how to fight.
[00:37:36] Richie Burke: Yeah, Milvarent, just on intimidation alone. I
[00:37:39] Charlie Berens: mean, the guy’s, yeah, the guy’s jacked and, yeah, he looks like a guy who knows how to do, do more than I do.
[00:37:46] Richie Burke: Favorite city or town to visit in the Midwest? Let’s do one in Wisconsin and one outside of
[00:37:52] Charlie Berens: Wisconsin. Yeah, um, I always like, uh, I like going to Fond du Lac, uh, that’s where my grandma’s zoo is, you know, so I, I enjoy going there and hanging out, um, and, uh, Fondy, Fondy. Yeah, that’s good. And then, um, outside of the Midwest, um, side of Wisconsin or outside of Wisconsin.
[00:38:13] Charlie Berens: Uh, let’s see here. Oh, the U P man. They got some, they got some great stuff going up there. City wise. Um, geez, you know, let’s see here. Oh, uh, Iron, Iron River is pretty cool, you know. Um, they’ve also got some, they’ve got some good white water rafting, um, up there, believe it or not. Um, yeah, I’m trying to think of the city that’s in.
[00:38:46] Charlie Berens: Dang. I forget.
[00:38:47] Richie Burke: I have a bad memory. The city of the UP. Um,
[00:38:50] Charlie Berens: Well, I mean, you know, I’m trying to think of the city in the UP where we stopped and we did that, but I’m not gonna think about it. But there’s a lot of great cities up there, man. Um, yeah. Jeez. Minneapolis is fun. You know, it’s a good, it’s a fun city, but that’s not a small town.
[00:39:06] Charlie Berens: That’s
[00:39:07] Richie Burke: all right.
[00:39:08] Charlie Berens: Um, oh, um, Bemidji, Minnesota is pretty cool. They got a great state park there. I know someone who’s from there. Yeah, it’s great. It’s beautiful. I went there in winter. It’s
[00:39:19] Richie Burke: just straight north of Minneapolis,
[00:39:20] Charlie Berens: right? Yeah, pretty much. Okay. Maybe a little, a little west of that. I don’t know.
[00:39:26] Charlie Berens: I’d have to look at a
[00:39:26] Richie Burke: map. Okay. Um, Jack from Tosa. Mm hmm wondering any advice on meeting a cougar in Milwaukee.
[00:39:35] Charlie Berens: Oh boy. Well, yeah. I mean, what’s that one? victors, isn’t that Our victors, that’s a quick time. Yeah, I know There’s another one I, I, you know what? I don’t know that I even get out enough to any
[00:39:51] Richie Burke: overarching advice for Jack, maybe from back in, back in the day when you used to go out
[00:39:56] Charlie Berens: for cougars.
[00:39:58] Charlie Berens: I, you know, I, I don’t come, you know, uh, come to one of my shows, you know, uh, we got a lot of, uh, a lot of, uh, good looking gals there. Nice plug. Yeah, come to one of my shows. Tickets at charliebarrons. com. No, I’m just kidding. Um, where to go? I don’t know, man. I don’t know. Where do you go?
[00:40:18] Richie Burke: I don’t know. Maybe a nice hotel bar?
[00:40:20] Richie Burke: Yeah,
[00:40:20] Charlie Berens: that’s true. Good point. Yeah, go up to the Fister.
[00:40:23] Richie Burke: Convention season’s in the fall? Yeah. For Jack?
[00:40:27] Charlie Berens: Yeah, go to the Fister. What’s the name of that rooftop bar? Blue. That’s it. Blue at
[00:40:33] Richie Burke: the Fister. Um, the trade just went in. Maybe that’s a good one. Um,
[00:40:41] Charlie Berens: the lobby of Northwestern Mutual. I don’t know. Oh,
[00:40:43] Richie Burke: I like that.
[00:40:44] Richie Burke: Yeah. That’s not a bad idea. Just stay, stand there with a sign. I don’t, I
[00:40:48] Charlie Berens: don’t know. Yeah. Lifetime fitness probably, you know, in Brookfield, uh, that’s not a bar, but it’s
[00:40:55] Richie Burke: funny you bring that up. A lot of people have, have said that. Yeah. I think that’s where you get solid talent at lifetime fitness for Jack and Tosa.
[00:41:03] Richie Burke: Yeah. Victims. Um, I hadn’t been there. I’ve not been there in a long time. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Alex Main, former employee here. Good guy. Great man bun. Favorite skit you’ve ever done?
[00:41:17] Charlie Berens: Um, that’s always such a tough one. Um, yeah, I don’t know. Uh, there, the one that’s coming to mind right now is when I played a cow and Miles played a deer.
[00:41:26] Charlie Berens: Um, that was just one of those weird ones where we’re just very random last minute. We improvised a lot of it, but it was just cow meets deer, you know, and we dressed up as a cow and a deer and just. Whatever it was super hot and I was an inflatable cow and miles was in this big old deer thing We were both just sweating terribly.
[00:41:46] Charlie Berens: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. That’s one that comes to mind
[00:41:49] Richie Burke: boston, john um would love a quest this isn’t really a question, but he Messaged in would love a Boston question as he has been elevating Billy Deuce Ah from Boston on his comedy tours and
[00:42:03] Charlie Berens: videos. Nice. I love that. Yeah. So what what is his question?
[00:42:06] Richie Burke: He didn’t have one. He loves that you’re doing it any comments on on Billy Deuce or just the city of Boston in
[00:42:12] Charlie Berens: general Bill is a great guy. That’s at Billy Deuce 86 on the social medias. Make sure you follow him He’s been in a lot of my videos. He’s a very very funny fella Yeah, definitely check him out.
[00:42:22] Charlie Berens: He’s got a He’s does a lot of music too. He’s going to have some more parody stuff coming
[00:42:27] Richie Burke: out. Yeah. Boston, John, just a good guy. Um, a couple of weeks ago, took down probably 10, 12 IPAs. It didn’t even feel, feel a
[00:42:37] Charlie Berens: thing. Just, you know, they, they, they know how to drink out there too. That’s for sure. They’re, they’re a bit of a different breed, you know, it’s a lot of similarities, but a lot of differences.
[00:42:48] Charlie Berens: It’s just
[00:42:49] Richie Burke: a very jolly mass hole. You’ve got to be around, but you know, mass hole comes out. Yeah. All right, you ready for some Wisconsin trivia? Yeah, yeah, let’s hit it. Okay, I got 10 questions for you. Um, what is the official state beverage of Wisconsin? Uh, brandy. Brandy old fashioned. According to Google, it’s milk, but I’ll accept that answer.
[00:43:10] Richie Burke: Um, official dance of Wisconsin. Polka. Correct. True or false, Wisconsin is home to the world’s largest six pack of beer.
[00:43:18] Charlie Berens: Uh, true. If you need a beer, go here. It’s in La Crosse, isn’t it? That is
[00:43:22] Richie Burke: correct. Yeah What city is known as the bratwurst capital of
[00:43:27] Charlie Berens: the world? Um Sheboygan correct
[00:43:31] Richie Burke: if wisconsin were its own country Where would it rank in cheese production?
[00:43:36] Richie Burke: Number one.
[00:43:39] Charlie Berens: Number four. That’s bullshit. False. According to Who? According to who? According
[00:43:45] Richie Burke: to the internet.
[00:43:47] Charlie Berens: No, it’s probably true. But that’s still pretty impressive,
[00:43:50] Richie Burke: man. It is behind the rest of the United States, which would be one. That’s hilarious. Then Germany and France. Wow. Produce more cheese than Wisconsin, according to the internet.
[00:44:01] Richie Burke: Okay. Allegedly. Okay. Who’s the leading scorer in Packers history? Mason Crosby. Correct. Interception leader in Packers history.
[00:44:11] Charlie Berens: Um, I want to say Leroy Butler.
[00:44:14] Richie Burke: No, who is it? Similar era. Maybe right after Leroy.
[00:44:20] Charlie Berens: Oh, Charles Woodson?
[00:44:21] Richie Burke: Correct. Got it. Charles Woodson. All right. It’s a big one. Who was the one quarterback or I think it was the one quarterback.
[00:44:29] Richie Burke: Anyway, one of the quarterbacks. May have only been one who shared the quarterback room with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers during the overlap year. Some hints, he’s from Louisiana, he has career stats of 5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 123 passer rating. God, I
[00:44:48] Charlie Berens: don’t even know. No, no clue. Craig Nall. Oh, see, I still wouldn’t have gotten it, but I, if I had multiple choice.
[00:44:57] Charlie Berens: Have you
[00:44:57] Richie Burke: know who Craig Nall is? Yeah. I played golf with Craig Nall once. Did ya? In an outing. And we got into a playoff to win the outing. And Craig was probably 10 Miller Lights and 5 vodka shots deep on a Monday for it. Good for him. And he goes back in and grabs 2 Miller Lights for the one hole playoff.
[00:45:19] Richie Burke: Uh huh. And I was like, Craig, you’re grabbing 2 beers for one hole. Ha! And he looked at me like I was just an absolute idiot. Yeah. He said, Yeah, one’s for drinking, one’s for sipping and then just drove off. So I’m a huge Craig Nall fan and wanted to work Craig Nall into the podcast. I love that. I love that.
[00:45:40] Richie Burke: Shout out to Craig. I think he’s in Dallas right now and hopefully. Doing great. Nice. Um, last question on trivia, how fast can a red breasted merganser fly? I’m
[00:45:52] Charlie Berens: glad you asked. I know it’s very fast shit. I wish I, I want to say it’s something like 40 or either 45 or 65 miles an hour. 75, a hundred miles an hour, 81, 81.
[00:46:06] Charlie Berens: Shoot. I should have known that. I do. Thank you for that fact. Cause I go for a breast and Merganser’s. I should have known that I’m embarrassed. Embarrassed.
[00:46:13] Richie Burke: I think you got seven out of 10. Hell
[00:46:15] Charlie Berens: yeah. It’s a good rock and roll. Yeah, I see. It’s a pass. There were some
[00:46:19] Richie Burke: tough ones on there. All right. Uh, final question I have, why, why do you choose to live in Milwaukee and did you always want to come back
[00:46:26] Charlie Berens: here?
[00:46:26] Charlie Berens: I love Milwaukee. No, I mean, I’ve lived all over the country and I just, I mean, you know, I, I just like that we have fresh water here. That’s a big win for starters, but also the, I love Wisconsin. There’s great fishing. There’s, um, great hunting, great hiking, camping, all that stuff we got right here. And, you know, good bars, you know, and, um, yeah, my family’s close too.
[00:46:47] Charlie Berens: They’re like family. I shouldn’t have made them like 20th on that list I just put there. But no, I love Milwaukee, man. I wouldn’t live anywhere
[00:46:53] Richie Burke: else. It seems like you got a good family. I watched some of the sisters Cripe cast. Yeah,
[00:46:57] Charlie Berens: yeah. They’re a bunch of BS ers, man. Yeah. Yeah. You can’t take anything they say serious.
[00:47:02] Richie Burke: Oh, all right. Well, it was great seeing you today. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me, man. I appreciate you. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut with Charlie Behrens produced by Storymark Studios, sponsored by Central Standard and in partnership with On Milwaukee. If you are not already subscribed, make sure to do so.
[00:47:19] Richie Burke: We’ve got a lot of great episodes coming up, including the Milverine, Dating Advice to Milwaukee Men with a Plethora of People, and then we got world renowned Dr. Raymond Pryor, who works with some of the top performers in the world, coming on for a series in early January, when everyone’s in self improvement mode.[00:47:38]
Richie Burke: You’re not going to want to miss those episodes, and a lot more good ones, so make sure to subscribe if you’re not already, and please share the show. To family and friends who you think would enjoy this episode with Charlie. We really appreciate any support whether it’s sharing writing or review subscribing, means a lot to us.
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Bre & Richie: The Story Behind Milwaukee Uncut on the Joshin’ Around Milwaukee Podcast
How has Milwaukee Uncut happened? We got to sit down with Josh Albrecht and….. Josh Albrecht on the Joshin’ Around Milwaukee Podcast to talk all…
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How has Milwaukee Uncut happened? We got to sit down with Josh Albrecht and….. Josh Albrecht on the Joshin’ Around Milwaukee Podcast to talk all things Milwaukee Uncut, the growth and our favorite spots around the city. We had a great time so decided to run it on here as well.
Make sure to check out Joshin’ Around for more great Milwaukee content!
Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee on Cuts. So Bree and I got to go on a podcast hosted by our friend Josh Albricht of Visit Milwaukee and a man with the exact same name, Josh Albricht, who is mainly of Wisconsin Sports Radio Network, and they co-host Joshin Around Milwaukee, which is Visit Milwaukee's flagship podcast. We had a great time going on that show, and we don't talk that much about our story or the story of Milwaukee Uncut or even our favorite things to do around the city on this podcast, mainly audio. We do do more of that on social. But anyway, had a great time and decided that we should just run this episode on our platform. So we're running our episode of Joshing Around this week. Before diving in, I want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. We'll kick it off with Nikola, the Midwest Law Firm Injured. Get Nicolet and Russ and the team will take great care of you. That is Nikola. Drink Wisconsin Wheat Beverage Company, best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state, and at the drink Wisconsin Way Pub right across from the Pfizer. And now, as of this week, as of opening day, at Ampham, they got a new bar there in Wrightfield. Make sure to go to the Drink Wisconsin Blee Pub. I believe it's still called that, the Drink Wisconsin Blee Pub. If not, it does say Drink Wisconsin Blea. All over it in Wright Field. They got their canned cocktails, brandy, and vodka available there. I'm excited to go there on Thursday. And last but not least, our friends over at Annex Wealth Management. If you are looking to get your finances together in 2026 and have a goal that deals with your money, your earnings, your investments, go talk to the experts at Annex. They have an amazing team ready to listen and help you with your personal goals. Annex Wealth Management, know the difference. All right, let's dive in with the Joshes.
SPEAKER_04
2:00
Hi everyone, and welcome into another episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. My name is Josh Albrecht, and with me as always is Hey, it's Josh Albrecht. That's right, Josh Albrecht and Josh Albrecht. And we are very, very excited to have on the show today our guests Bree and Richie from Milwaukee Uncut. Welcome, guys. Thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_00
2:17
Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_04
2:19
So uh first and foremost, if you don't know about Milwaukee Uncut, you're not spending enough time looking at a screen because they are everywhere. But talk to us a little bit about uh how you guys came to find the idea and put Milwaukee Uncut together.
SPEAKER_02
2:33
I started a show in 2016, so I was podcasting for a while and we had a marketing agency and the show. Um Bree and I have been together for Ten years. About a decade or so. Holy cow. I love the pause. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03
2:52
That's how we react to too. I'm like, we've been together how long has it been that we've been doing this?
SPEAKER_02
2:58
There there could be some pauses in us looking at each other through throughout the show. Just just a warning, we we are engaged now, we need to be doing a better job at wedding planning at the at the moment. Um But anyway, we uh when did we started working together maybe four-ish years ago? Um you were a data analyst.
SPEAKER_00
3:17
Yeah, so doing totally something different before. Um, but yeah, joined on when your director of operations had left. I was kind of looking for a new thing, didn't really know what I was looking for, so we kind of thought it was a great time to try working together. We're not always recommend working with your significant other, but for us it's worked out great.
SPEAKER_02
3:38
Kind of a desperate moment in time for both of us, actually, where I'm a very disorganized person and our my ops director left, and I was like, what what am I what am I gonna do? And you were uh mining data on agricultural websites.
SPEAKER_03
3:53
And that's really when Milwaukee Uncut took off. Like that's when the you guys really went all in.
SPEAKER_02
4:00
So it it was a little later than that. That was in 21 or 22 that happened.
SPEAKER_00
4:05
I think 22.
SPEAKER_02
4:06
22. And then um business kind of started going downhill after that happened. We had the marketing agency, we lost a couple big accounts. Um our show, our old show is kind of going down to in downloads. So luckily we had a kind of a good year before then. We had some some money and decided not to throw in the towel and hey, let's rebrand and and build out a studio, which you've been to, which is where we are now. And we launched Milwaukee on cut and story mark studios in the spring of 23, so almost three years ago. And I thought Milwaukee on cut was gonna take off right away. I like the brand. We had a good lineup for in those like first six episodes. I think the Mayor Chevy came on and Deaner Novak and Tommy G, the YouTuber. And I kind of like I think cashed in on all the connections I had to really try and like blow that up. And I liked the brand. And uh, we launched it and it was kind of crickets right away. And we ended up shutting it down after the first six episodes from like that August till December. And we were like we built up a backlog, changed our video format, got a different video editor in then December of 23, so a little over two years ago, that's when it started taking off.
SPEAKER_00
5:21
Yeah, I think we also we started doing in the field videos too, outside of our studio, and I think that also really helped to um up our social.
SPEAKER_03
5:31
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've seen a few of those where it's like you're at a Packers game and getting the getting the scoop from the tailgating area. Yeah. Um maybe a few jabs that are neighbors to the south uh to help that along. Uh but you've also gone across the the state too over the last year, right? A few other sort of travel jaunts across the state.
SPEAKER_02
5:48
And that that's thanks to you and your team a little bit too. I know we did that campaign around the draft last year, and you guys made some nice intros, and we've got to do stuff around the state now with some other cities, and then sometimes we'll just randomly pop into places and towns if we're on the road and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_03
6:03
And we just a few dive bar episodes and yeah, some fun stuff.
SPEAKER_02
6:07
I think Nuts Deep was one of our most popular videos of all time over in Marshfield, one out of the way to the establishment after uh after I randomly saw a uh place called Raw Dog on the side of the road when I was driving to Sheboygan and checked it out. I didn't, I thought it might be a bar, a gentleman's club or something, and ended up being a health pet food store. Of course, very well. I remember going in front of in front of the sign and being like, You won't believe what I just found, and then the owner's like, you know, middle-aged older Sheboygan guy ripping a dart in the parking lot. Hey, you like the name? And then turned out he didn't even know uh turned out he didn't even know what what it meant, and it ended up being a really wholesome video about a guy who just wanted to help dogs live longer lives and has a pet food store out there. So yeah, we just try and make you know fun, entertaining Milwaukee slash Wisconsin content and uh Yeah as far as like an elevator statement, is that it?
SPEAKER_03
7:04
Fun, entertaining content celebrating the Wisconsin culture.
SPEAKER_02
7:07
Yeah, the the mission's to bring Milwaukee and Wisconsin together through non-traditional news entertainment and experiences. So yeah, it's a it's a social media show, a podcast, uh a newsletter, and pretty much everything correlates with with that mission and bringing people together, putting smiles on people's faces, and giving giving back as well.
SPEAKER_04
7:26
I mean, I also I I don't want us to bury the lead. So you guys are engaged. She's actually wearing her ring today. A lot of times she does not um how did how did that tell us that story? How did this all come to be from because it wasn't wasn't like you guys were together and then came up with the idea to do Milwaukee on cut, right? Or was it you guys were were together but not engaged? Tell me the story how'd this all how'd you two come together?
SPEAKER_03
7:53
Oh that's a the company who nobody he doesn't care about it.
SPEAKER_00
7:59
Give me the Milwaukee love story, baby. I feel like you're good at telling the story.
SPEAKER_02
8:05
So I I was what about 27-ish. I was hosting a student office visit day for Marquette University at my marketing agency at the time, and Brie happened to be on that visit day.
SPEAKER_00
8:18
We do have an age gap.
SPEAKER_02
8:19
Yeah, about six, seven years or so. Um I do want to make it clear I did not hit on her while I was putting on the office visit, but we did I did think she was very attractive, and we didn't happen to match on Tinder about a uh a month later. And I didn't know if I should should swipe right because she was on on the student office visit. Yeah, and I thought you were I figured the only way she would know if I swiped is if she would also swipe, and then it wouldn't be a bad thing.
SPEAKER_00
8:45
So Yeah, I thought you were super old at the time. I was like, oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_02
8:51
I was 27, I had hair. I would love to go back to the right.
SPEAKER_00
8:54
When you're 21, anyone outside of like 23 is ancient.
SPEAKER_02
9:00
Uh uh. Yeah, no, I got this going on. But um, yeah, so anyway, we we we matched. Oh my first date. Yeah, I had a first date at Balzac over off Brady RIP. That was that was a great spot. And um, we have essentially been to been together since. Yeah. Although Brie did send me like uh a thank you note after the visit, and then I sent her an email, not like directly asking her out, but oh, thanks for sending that if you want to grab coffee sometime.
SPEAKER_04
9:29
I did not have to be able to super interest, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02
9:33
She left me on ice, but uh yeah, then we matched on Tinder and we have been together ever since. Yeah, nice. And now very happily, very happily, and now together at work and at home.
SPEAKER_04
9:43
You guys killing it. All right, doesn't stop. That's uh that's awesome. I was gonna be so mad at myself if we didn't get that in. No. And when we come back, we will dive in to Milwaukee and Cut, what you guys are doing, what you guys have coming up, and more. Stay tuned on Josh and Around Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_01
10:00
This is Visit Milwaukee's Joshing Around Milwaukee on WTMJ.
SPEAKER_04
10:05
Welcome back, everyone, to Josh and Around Milwaukee. Josh Albreck here, Josh Albrick there. We're having a great time with Bree and Richie from Milwaukee Uncut. Um, if you missed the first segment where we talked about everything, including the love story, you'll want to go back and listen to that. But let's get into Milwaukee Uncut and specifically the the point when it blew up, what you guys have going on now, and uh and and what we can look forward to going forward.
SPEAKER_02
10:32
When it specifically blew up, so like I alluded to in the first part, it kind of we changed the video format. I think the first moment where I was like, I can't believe this is happening, we posted a video with Milverine on how far he walks per day. And you know, I'm probably used to getting like 15, 20 likes on an Instagram post or something like that. And I remember just hitting refresh like five minutes later and being like, Oh, oh my god, like this like a hundred likes, two hundred likes. And I think that video got a couple hundred thousand views, and then we had a couple more that did well. But I think the it might it might have been where to meet women in Milwaukee. One that one did well. I remember um I put my buddy Ben Anderson, who was uh uh at Colliers over there. I found a shirtless photo of him on Facebook because anyone who's posting shirtless photos on Facebook deserves to have that that plastered all over the internet. So I think I put a I think I put a Ben is curious of him him on a beach where where to meet women or if Joe Cats is the right place to meet women or something like that. So I mean we just we just started doing that and then experimenting and like Bree was saying, uh we ended up going out in the field, it would have been the the next fall at a brewer tailgate and interviewed um yeah, Owen and Casey from Whitewater, who actually came to the Uncut Open at Ampham last week. We keep in touch with a bunch of those people and uh that stuff started doing well, and it's just been continually finding what's working, trying to just do more and get better at that constantly. And then yeah, started the newsletter around this time last year, and that's um done well too, and add some sanity because we kind of know how many people are gonna open those opposed to the videos, which again go like that.
SPEAKER_04
12:15
Sure. So so what what do you see now being in this world and and media of of seeing uh the landscape of Milwaukee and the media to how do you see that changing as you go through? Because you said how you know you weren't even really sure that this was gonna come on, you know, take off and and now it has. How do you stay kind of ahead of the curve with Milwaukee uncut?
SPEAKER_02
12:39
Um I mean it's changes so fast and the algorithms can switch to it's a lot to uh stay on, but I think it's just having that mindset of you know, you the good the good thing about the environment today is you get instant feedback. It can be the good and bad thing, like I know if something's gonna do well ten minutes after I post it, usually, or not do well. Sometimes you get surprised, and sometimes we create something that we think is gonna do really well and we guess wrong, and sometimes it's something not that'll take off. So it is still kind of a crapshoot on social media. So I I don't know. We're just always seeing what's working and trying to trying to get better. I mean, social media content in general. I'm always thinking of is this something people are gonna save? Is this something people are gonna share? Where are people gonna drop off in the video? What second could people drop off? And um Rick can allude to I'm I'm a I'm a mess in real life and very, very detailed when it comes to that stuff.
SPEAKER_03
13:37
Well, I would imagine your background in data and as a data analyst goes into some of the like analytics of social media, following it, figuring out what's what's working, not working. You take any of that old knowledge of sort of office work into this more fun, crazy content creator.
SPEAKER_00
13:53
Yeah, I mean there's so much data too that you can gather within um the different platforms, and especially Facebook gets gives you great metrics. So you you are able to figure out kind of like trends from that. It's kind of funny. I I'm actually a I would say I'm a type B person when it kind of comes to um how performance of the videos, I'm kind of like, uh, video didn't perform, let's just move on, like let's try something different. Whereas Richie's a little bit more tied to a better job of the numbers a little bit.
SPEAKER_04
14:25
Yeah. Well, I would tell you if you can try to have both people that are hosting it have the same exact name. That's that's that's what we have. It might be hard for us to us to do.
SPEAKER_02
14:36
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03
14:37
I don't know, Richie and Richie? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02
14:39
I mean, we do we we do have very opposite skill sets. Breeze uh Breeze patient and organized and um yeah works for us.
SPEAKER_03
14:51
Yeah. You have a a super crazy idea uh out there. You have you have like like a whiteboard of crazy ideas, you just jot them down all the time, like tomorrow we're gonna throw pumpkins off a roof. You know, is there something like just wild that you have in in mind for the future? Pumpkins off roof. Yeah, you're gonna use it.
SPEAKER_02
15:07
That the pumpkins off the roof, that is all yours. We will not steal that one. Good. Next Halloween season.
SPEAKER_00
15:13
Um we do have a whiteboard at our office where we do brainstorm kind of like all the content that we do have, events coming up, um new ideas that we think could perform well. So we do brainstorm with our team. Um and even like yesterday, we had a writer's room um kind of meeting where we went over like scripts kind of bringing different ideas from each person. So we do stuff a lot of brainstorming like.
SPEAKER_03
15:40
Do you take reader requests or watcher requests? Is anybody like going into the DMs and be like, Walkie Uncut needs to go to a brewer's game and do XYZ?
SPEAKER_02
15:48
Yeah, for go for going to places, we'll get a bunch of comments in the videos. Um, so so that can be helpful. Um, I mean, we get a bunch of people nominating singles for our gem of the week, our bachelor, our customers gem of the week, our bachelor, bachelorette of the week on the email list. So yeah, we definitely get inspired by what about middle-aged dad of the week? Can I apply for that one? I think we will put you in. We are gonna fool the audience with a great time.
SPEAKER_04
16:14
Yeah, with a much better hairline than Richie. Yeah, you can have way more submissions for that, by the way. Like 10 times the amount.
SPEAKER_02
16:21
I think we're gonna test that. You know, we're our Monday send is newer. I think there's room for that in there. And and you'll be the honorary first.
SPEAKER_03
16:30
Yeah, with my wife next to with next to me with an eye roll. I was I was gonna say I was gonna say, what is what is the meaning of the although I don't know how that Josh? What is this? Yeah. No, I didn't say it was for singles. I said just featuring dads. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Dads deserve to be featured too.
SPEAKER_02
16:45
We do we do do a uh yeah, we do do a Milwaukee end of the week. We do like highlighting people doing good things in the in the community. We do that every Friday, but I like the the the dad angle as well.
SPEAKER_03
16:56
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04
16:57
Well, I wanna I want to talk too about why the idea of Milwaukee Uncut works in the city of Milwaukee. You know, obviously we talk about all the amazing things that Milwaukee has to offer, and we're gonna get into that and how people can, as Josh alluded to, be a part, give ideas, and help Milwaukee Uncut grow. When we come back on Josh and Around Milwaukee. Stay tuned. Hey guys, just wanted to take a quick break in the action to ask a question.
SPEAKER_02
17:22
Did you know, according to a recent Schwab survey, Americans say it takes$2.3 million to be wealthy? You may have had your financial plan set on a bigger or smaller number, but if you're looking for added insights on how to get there or how to avoid some tax pitfalls along the way, our friends at Annex Wealth Management are ready to listen. No matter where you are at in your financial journey and if your situation is complex or simple, the Annex Wealth Management team can give you the wealth expertise and guidance on reaching your goals. That is Annex Wealth Management.
SPEAKER_01
17:55
All right, let's get back with the Joshes. Welcome back to Visit Milwaukee's Joshing Around Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_04
18:02
Welcome back, everyone, to Josh and Around Milwaukee. We're having an awesome time with Bree and Richie from Milwaukee Uncut. And it's time uh for Josh, you're gonna host a little game, a little this or that.
SPEAKER_03
18:12
Yeah, we got a little this or that. Because you guys do all kinds of super fun, amazing stuff on Milwaukee Uncut. There's all kinds of just crazy questions you ask people, uh, like I was saying at the tailgate thing or just in even in studio, you do best date night spots, all kinds of stuff. So I'm gonna give you a little this or that. You guys gotta answer in real time. Audience members, no, they have not seen these questions because these are hard hitting.
SPEAKER_04
18:33
Correct, and don't look at each other for the answer. Yeah. Individual face is ordered out and see if you guys match up. Right, right. Don't you match up? Are you gonna say this? Because then I'll no, no, no.
SPEAKER_03
18:42
All right. First one dive bar or rooftop?
SPEAKER_00
18:47
Dive bar.
SPEAKER_02
18:49
Oh yeah. I'm a big dive bar guy. Yeah, yeah. All right, yeah. And I have an elevator phobia that I've been working on. I've been getting an elevator. I'm on a three-day streak. I'm I'm I'm uh doing exposure therapy. So I have an elevator. Anyway, I'll stick with dive bar for now.
SPEAKER_03
19:04
Awesome. Love it. Cheese curds or frozen custard. Cheese curds. Frozen custard.
SPEAKER_02
19:10
Custard. We go. I'm going Kurds.
SPEAKER_03
19:12
Kurds. Oh, okay. Best custard in town.
SPEAKER_00
19:14
I mean, honestly, I love Culver's. Oh, you want to franchise.
SPEAKER_03
19:19
They're local, Brady. They're local, they're Wisconsin. They are Wisconsin. Cops. I mean, the answer is the answer is Leon's, but for a custard?
SPEAKER_02
19:28
Yeah. Oh man, I I don't need a ton of ice cream.
SPEAKER_03
19:32
This is not ice cream, this is custard. Yeah, this is custard. Did we say ice cream? We'll go we'll go Leon's. We'll go Leon's.
SPEAKER_02
19:37
Leon's butter packets. That's yours? Leon's butter pecan. We'll go Leon's. But I do eat a lot of cheese curds.
SPEAKER_03
19:42
They're all amazing. Well, we'd love to give custard tours to guests. That's what we do. Hit like five or six different spots and it's a good thing. That would be a good video. We could collaborate on something like that. We'll do it anytime. Lakefront or river walk? I'm going lakefront. Yeah. Are you I'm not talking brewery here. I'm talking water sources.
SPEAKER_02
20:04
I'm at the lakefront a lot. I love South Shore Park. Yeah. And I do love a hot spell. I've actually been jumping the lake.
SPEAKER_05
20:13
Yeah? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02
20:14
That's awesome. But I do like stopping out. You've got to clarify that it's Lake Friory, not the brewery. I do like stopping at Lakefront on the river. I like doing the Eagle Park walk across the bridge and go to Lakefront, which is right around the river. And I do like the harp as well, so that doesn't mean I dislike the river.
SPEAKER_03
20:30
I know. Well, these are tough choices to choose between these two. They are Milwaukee's a great town. So I apologize.
SPEAKER_04
20:35
You're right. You didn't need to clarify it.
SPEAKER_03
20:37
All right, this is this is a general one that the team came up with, and uh I want to see where this goes. Daytime or nighttime in Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_02
20:44
I'm going daytime. I'm I've gotten a little older in Crogedy. I do like I do like going out during the day and having a good time.
SPEAKER_00
20:51
You like Milwaukee farmers' markets in Milwaukee are amazing in the summer. They are.
SPEAKER_02
20:55
It's not exactly what I was thinking for daytime, but yeah, I really have a big golf.
SPEAKER_00
20:59
Richie's a big daytime drinker.
SPEAKER_02
21:00
Okay. Oh, okay. Just on like the Lake Brother. Which Lake Brother? Are we talking about great breweries? We got great bars, we got good sporting events. I'm excited to go to the Marquette game and then hop on. All right. We'll get some content on the shuffle this weekend. So speaking of day drinking, I know I know you guys are all out really well on this show.
SPEAKER_03
21:21
This is great.
SPEAKER_02
21:22
Daytime. I know you guys are talking about. Only on Saturday sometimes.
SPEAKER_03
21:26
You do have a special beer. So we're joking day drinking, but you guys have a special beer with three sheeps, the tropical pale ale launched last summer in 2025. What what's the what's the flavor profile of the tropical pale ale?
SPEAKER_02
21:45
Tropical toppy. I'd have to talk to Grant and Dr. Nate over there to get the full flavor rundown. I'd take it to the flavor they they brewed it, which is why it's so good. I had no part in that, but it was a it was. Awesome and it's coming back this July.
SPEAKER_03
22:02
Oh, nice. So another summer summer drum.
SPEAKER_04
22:06
Does it taste better if you're drinking it before 3 p.m.?
SPEAKER_02
22:11
I mean, I think I think it tastes good at all all hours almost. If you're drinking one along the way, it does hit nice outside. We had we had we recently, because Third Street, they had the last keg. So um we did a July and January happy hour, and Tropical Paleo still tasted good in January. There you go.
SPEAKER_03
22:29
I can actually think of a better time.
SPEAKER_02
22:30
Yeah. Take it. Take the tropical. We put some inflatable palm trees up right over there. It was good. But yeah, I don't want to butcher the exact flavor profile, but uh Dr. Nate Grant's tropical with all the T. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03
22:47
I actually thought you were gonna go, well, it's tropical and it's uh and it's a pale ale. Uh there we go.
SPEAKER_02
22:53
It is uh 5.8% ABV, I do know that because with my hangovers these days, I do kind of do a mental pitch count and uh try and be productive the next days, which is also why I prefer going out earlier than later. Okay, it all comes back to the road. It's rough, especially if I go down the IPA train. I mean, you sometimes you're waking up. I mean, because I can pound those, and uh, you know, yeah. Sometimes you're waking up at three okay, I'll be back. I digress. I digress. Thanks for cutting me off. Probably don't need that out there.
SPEAKER_03
23:22
One last this or that. Okay. I'm a huge keeping up the the beer, the beer theme, going to the brewer stadium. It's the sausage race. Who are you cheering for? I'm going chorizo. Yes! Yes, chorizo every time. I'm a hard I'm always, always on chorizo.
SPEAKER_04
23:40
You know, the underdog story, always for chorizo. You know? Never gets never gets enough wins.
SPEAKER_00
23:46
There's the Italian. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02
23:49
I knew it, I know, I know it's a few. She's like going to be a big thing. Isn't there just the normal bratwurst? Normal bratwurst, yeah. Is there another one? The Polish. There is okay. I know I know my brewers sausages.
SPEAKER_03
24:05
Which one are you cheering for?
SPEAKER_00
24:06
I'm gonna with the hot dog.
SPEAKER_03
24:08
Classic. Way to go out there. Way to go out on a list. The hot dog does win a lot, Josh. Who's yours? The brat. Bratwurst. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04
24:14
Chairman. Albrecht. Go crew. Go crew. Yep. Oh, absolutely. So excited for the for the season. I can't wait for a custard collab.
SPEAKER_03
24:24
Custard collab.
SPEAKER_04
24:25
Sorry, you said that like four minutes ago, my brain has been a little bit more.
SPEAKER_03
24:28
No, that'll be a good video.
SPEAKER_02
24:28
We could just roam around and uh would you actually eat the custard? Yeah. I just it gives me a bad stomachache. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_00
24:34
I'm also lactose intolerant, so this should be a great video.
SPEAKER_04
24:39
This is a slam dunk. We got nothing to worry about.
SPEAKER_02
24:42
So long as we don't have to take down like a pint at each each place. I think so.
SPEAKER_04
24:46
I think and then in between you drink a tropical pale ale on the way to the next one.
SPEAKER_03
24:50
Yeah, some sort of new like social challenge, right? You can throw up the fastest.
SPEAKER_04
24:53
This is exactly what we need to be doing. Come on, sounds like a perfect summer day. As long as we get it done before the sun sets.
SPEAKER_03
25:00
Alright, so before we close up, because I I can sense it, Josh is getting there. He's like it's almost hot. I am. I am where do people watch Milwaukee Uncut?
SPEAKER_02
25:08
Anywhere. You can just Milwaukee Uncut, yeah, we'll keep it simple. Any social platform, podcast, YouTube, podcast, Milwaukeeuncut.com. You can find anyway and subscribe to the newsletter. Yeah. Fantastic.
SPEAKER_04
25:20
Absolutely. You guys are everywhere, and we appreciate you coming on and being with us here today. We do appreciate it. We love what you guys do, and thank you for having us on. And thank you for joining us on this episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. For more information on Josh and Around, as always, go to visitmilwaukee.org. We'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_01
25:37
You're listening to Visit Milwaukee's Joshing Around Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_04
25:41
All right, everyone. Thanks again so much for joining us on this episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. If you're seeing this part of the show, it's because you're watching or listening on one of Visit Milwaukee's social media platforms, and we truly do appreciate it. We are here with Bree and Richie from Milwaukee Uncut. And guys, this is when Josh asks his big question. Josh, take it away.
SPEAKER_03
25:59
Yeah, it's a big one because around here, we'd like to say that Milwaukee has a ton of momentum. So many cool things going on right now. We affectionately call this as fresh city vibes. So what's giving you fresh city vibes right now?
SPEAKER_02
26:12
I I think it it's staying lighter out later. I think this is the best place to be in the summer. I'm excited for spring. I like playing some golf. I love going to beer gardens around and uh looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_00
26:25
Yeah, well, I think I I feel like for you specifically, a specific thing is actually going into Lake Michigan right now.
SPEAKER_02
26:32
I have been I have been going into Lake Michigan a bit. That is very, very nice.
SPEAKER_00
26:36
So taking advantage of the lake even in the wintertime, um, and then at Hotspell you can go in the sauna.
SPEAKER_03
26:41
Yeah. Yeah, it's a good experience. They're a partner of Visit Milwaukee, they do a great job. Uh fun experience. Oh, we'll see how you feel about going to the sauna when it's 100 degrees out in the summer.
SPEAKER_02
26:50
Yes, no, no, no kidding. I don't know if I will be doing that. But the sauna feels great after going into the lake right now for about 30 seconds.
SPEAKER_04
26:57
Yeah. So that's that's awesome. What uh Brie, what about you?
SPEAKER_00
27:01
Oh, I mean, I think a big thing for us, we're into old fashions right now. So I think just trying different old fashions at different restaurants and places.
SPEAKER_02
27:10
There's only a place to try one in Milwaukee. I mean, honestly, we'll give a shout out. Uh Ray Ray's intosa, they've got a bar on top of the liquor store. We had one of those the other uh last ride. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03
27:23
True Wisconsin. True Wisconsin. Yeah. We we love to feature that when we bring guests in from out of town with Visit Milwaukee. We always make them sure that they get the Wisconsin style, sweet or sour.
SPEAKER_00
27:33
I'm a sour.
SPEAKER_02
27:34
I might I might get uh I'm not gonna get some good tension. I kind of like press. Oh, interesting. I don't want to lie on your show. Well, that's all I can do. We were doing press and then I'm a press guy. I'm not I I don't like rich dressing. I'm like, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03
27:58
Stop. What are you doing?
SPEAKER_02
27:59
You don't like it's gonna lose. We're gonna lose our sponsors after this and cheese.
SPEAKER_03
28:04
I do like cheese. I do like cheese. Cheese.
SPEAKER_05
28:07
Uh I don't really like cheese.
SPEAKER_02
28:08
Uh maybe I'll get a non non-pressed one. Um I like going to I'm gonna drink Wisconsinably right by the Pfizer on Saturday. We'll we'll probably be able to be able to do that. Wisconsin, we'll take care of you. They'll put you on the right path for sure. I do drink sweet and sours as well. I'm not that dick too. They're all good. Richie's a layer. You blew it.
SPEAKER_04
28:27
You blew it. Oh, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much, guys, for for joining us today on Josh and Around. And if you guys miss it, literally Milwaukee Uncut everywhere, just on every social media platform website. Uh you can't miss it. Sign up for the newsletter. It's the content is amazing. We appreciate what you guys do. And again, for joining us here today. And thank you so much for joining us again for this episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. As I mentioned before, you can find out more info on Josh and Around at visitmilwaukee.org. We'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_02
29:02
Hey everyone, thanks so much for tuning in to our episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. If you do like Milwaukee Uncut, you're gonna like that show. So make sure to check them out. Give them a subscribe on this platform. And before signing off, just want to thank our partners, NX Wealth Management, Nicola, and Drink Wisconsin We Beverage Company for making Milwaukee Uncut possible.
Steve “Saz” Sazama: From a bartender with a small loan to building an iconic Milwaukee brand
Retail, Catering, Festivals, Venue’s and of course the State House. Saz’s is a Milwaukee power house of a brand…. but how did it all start? …
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Retail, Catering, Festivals, Venue’s and of course the State House. Saz’s is a Milwaukee power house of a brand…. but how did it all start?
The origin story may surprise you.
We sat down with the legendary Steve “Saz” Sazama who started Saz’s with a $10,000 loan 50 years ago and has turned it into an iconic Milwaukee company with over 800 employees every summer.
Saz’s upbringing
Business origin story
Almost going broke several times while expanding
Stories with Don Nelson, Robin Yount and more
The creation of Saz’s mozzarella sticks and sour cream & chive fries
Giving back and life advice
SPEAKER_01
0:04
Hey guys, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. We've got a special episode with an absolute legend, and this one was not planned. So a couple weeks ago, I was creating a video for Saz's 50th anniversary, thinking I would get a couple sound bites from the founder Steve Sazama, and ended up getting 25 minutes of Milwaukee greatness that included the Saz's origin story and how he went from nearly going broke to building an iconic company with over 800 employees and five divisions, 800 employees every summer. He had some great stories about Don Nelson, Robin Youth, and more Milwaukee Legends. We talked Summerfest, the State Fair, his expansion, best bars in Milwaukee, Dead Are Alive, and more. It was recorded live from Saz's on a Friday afternoon. I walked in and Saz, who I think is 80 years old, was manning the bar, playing dice with some regulars. Apparently, he he's still doing that on Fridays. Um, what a great guy. So wanted to wanted to run this as a full episode. The audio is not in studio quality, but it's it's still good. It's still good. And I thought you would you would really enjoy this one. Before diving in, I want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee on Cup possible. We'll kick it off with Nicolay Law, the Midwest law firm injured. Get Nicolay and Russ, and the team will take great care of you over there. That is Nicolai Law. Next, we've got Drink Wisconsinably Beverage Company. Best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game. I absolutely love their canned old-fashioned, available at bars and liquor stores across the state and at the Drink Wisconsinably pub, right across from the Pfizer Forum. And last but not least, our friends over at Annex Wealth Management. If you're looking to get your finances together in 2026 and have a goal that deals with your money, your earnings, your investments, go talk to the experts at Annex. They have an amazing team ready to listen and help you with your personal goals. Annex Wealth Management, know the difference. All right, let's dive in with the legendary founder of Sazes, Steve Sazama. Thank you for having us down today. Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00
2:21
It's uh a pleasure having you, and it's can't believe it's been 50 years. And you're still man in the bar. You you were right back there. Well, I've got a friend, a bunch of friends of mine that we shake bar dice for drinks on Fridays. So, and the bar chips, but a uh it's it's just a lot of fun. I mean, we walk away, we're not drinking, we end up with a big pile of chips. Yeah. But and bar dice is just uh a Milwaukee traditional game that you play at bars. I I agree. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
2:52
Every Friday you're still down here rolling the dice? Yeah, but I'm in town, yep. Oh yeah. That's good to hear. That's good to hear. So '76, how did this place start?
SPEAKER_00
3:02
Well, a good friend of mine, Pep Palmer, had Pep's Place, and which is Colonel Hart's now. Uh great bar. All right, and I was working for Pep. And Jerry Cohn in 19, he opened in 73, and then Jerry Cohn asked me to go to open up Major Goolsby's. So I was the first general manager down at Major Gouldsby's. At Golesby's. Yeah. Right when it opened. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I opened it.
SPEAKER_01
3:25
You got your footprints on all the iconic places.
SPEAKER_00
3:27
Well, I didn't know it. And Jerry was just a great owner and a great guy, and we're best of friends today. And um, and and from there, uh Pep, after three years, Pep saw this place was for sale. They said, Saz, what you have to, this is a place you have to have it. I suppose he knew I didn't have two nickels and whatever. So he guaranteed the money, and uh, which was ten thousand dollars. Interest rate was four percent.
SPEAKER_01
3:54
You know, yeah, yeah. Not bad.
SPEAKER_00
3:56
And uh we we took it over and uh we were very successful from day one. We knew so many people from major rules which came up and we ran shuttles to the brewer games and just it just great.
SPEAKER_01
4:10
Well what was uh was this a bar or restaurant when it opens or a building or bar and restaurants or oh since uh 1915. So this building's this 110 years old.
SPEAKER_00
4:22
Yeah, and uh there used to be a boarding house years ago. In fact, um again, now you're going back in the 30s, 20s, and 30s, when people used to go like from South Milwaukee to Pewaukee, they would bed their horse down here and they would sleep upstairs.
SPEAKER_01
4:43
And then you turned it into a bar and slept upstairs.
SPEAKER_00
4:46
I did. Unfortunately, how was that?
SPEAKER_01
4:50
So, how old were you when you started this place?
SPEAKER_00
4:52
Well, I was well, this is why it's such a big deal.
SPEAKER_01
4:55
I was uh 30 years old, so it's the 30 years old, having your own bar, living upstairs in the 70s. What was that like? Sounds like a great time to be alive.
SPEAKER_00
5:05
It was very fortunate, and we knew so many people, and it just it was a a story that I I know could be duplicated nowadays because of uh such good, you know, you had 400 people working at the brewery. They were in all the upper upper guys or the uh the factory guys were in. Um people went out for lunch. You know, this is before all your your sandwich shops and and uh you know, it just it just was was a great time. And we were very fortunate. We always had a big party opening day and uh put a tent down. From 76, you you well that was two years later because we started having so many people come here opening day that we finally put up a tent. And our record was I think it was 82 or 83. Uh then the old stadium held 56,000 people. So the brewers had plenty of tickets to sell. I mean, they wanted to sell the taverns, but they had plenty. So one year we had a thousand tickets and we had twenty-six school buses. As far as you could see down State Street, we had school buses. Nowadays you you can't get three school buses.
SPEAKER_01
6:14
No, twenty-six is quite a bit. Yeah. Do you have any great memories from the was it the 82 run that they went on?
SPEAKER_00
6:20
Oh, yeah. They had the tent was up the whole time, and uh it was just just just a great time, and the players were here, and I mean it's just we were the players dropped in here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
6:32
Any good any good stories about any of them?
SPEAKER_00
6:36
Uh not during the World Series so much.
SPEAKER_01
6:38
You know, not the outside of the World Series.
SPEAKER_00
6:41
Yeah, well, some I don't know if he would like Paul Moller's rookie year. He was playing third base.
SPEAKER_01
6:47
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00
6:48
And uh he had one hell of a game, one hell of a series, and it was a Sunday night, and he came in here, and uh he said I said, What are you hungry for, Paul? He says, I need some good meatballs. So uh took him down to the town room on Thurnd, Wisconsin, where you wouldn't eat Thurnd, Wisconsin is is nothing now. Right. But there used to be a town theater, which is the movie theater. Yeah, and then below it was the Maniachi Sicily Cafe. Uh-huh. So we went down there and uh it was just he ordered spaghetti and meatballs. They didn't order a big steak, he didn't want veal. Yeah, he just wanted spaghetti and meatballs, you know. Um but no, a lot of good people today. In fact, you know, Robin Yountwin's in town. He's he's probably the greatest, he's the nicest, the greatest person you'd ever want to meet. And forget about that, he's in the hall of pain. Yeah. But he's that's good. He's a hall of fame guy. You have any good memories with him here over the years? Oh, one time he was meeting Bob Euchre here, and um, and another big week at Miller Brewing Company, and my dishwasher, John Leonard, he was my dishwasher for like 30 years, and he drank Miller Light as Robin did. So he says, Robin came in and he says, Robin, I want to buy you a drink. And of course, Robin's so cool, he said, sure, I'll buy one. Yeah, and I'll I'll take it. And he congratulated on and he said, Robin, just so you know, we're both in the hall of fame. And and Robin says, Hall of Fame? He says, Yeah, I'm in a dishwasher's hall of fame. And congratulations. So about three weeks later, it was uh John's birthday, yeah, and he sent him an honograph ball. And this is right after we got into the Hall of Fame. And it is so it was Robin Young, H O H O E on the baseball.
SPEAKER_01
8:42
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00
8:42
And whenever he was here, he was coaching for a while. Yeah, you know, and little John would go to the table and talk to him, and just just the nicest, nicest man in the world. Still is. Did you did you come in here much? No, he did not. Okay. Yeah. And actually, he was getting a little later then. You know, he really didn't go to many places. Uh but uh we used Of course, Pete Bukovich, of course, what bar didn't he go into? I mean, Vukwood was credit character and um it it was just a lot of them had gift certificates, so they'd come in. We used to we used the sponsor the the pregame interview. So but very nice. And of course, then we had a lot of good friends with the Milwaukee Bucks being at Major Goolsby's. So like Wayne Emory and uh and Don Nelson that would come out, you know. And uh in fact, Nelly, if uh uh don't remember when Don Nelson used to have a a tie out, a fish tie. Yeah, I don't know if you ever saw one, but i it was contrived in a booth by the men's room back there. Really? That's where he sighed uh came up with the his his fish tie.
SPEAKER_01
9:53
At the same size as men's room, basically. Yeah, well, yes. Right outside right outside of here. How was Nelly a good guy to have a beer with?
SPEAKER_00
10:01
Oh yeah, oh yeah, he was great. And in fact, when Nelly got fired, um we both living in the Hermitage downtown. And of course, yeah, that it was not high raise, it was only three floors, right? I was on the second floor, but he was on the third floor, and it was a lot nicer than mine. So he calls me up. He says, Sassy, Sassie, do you want it? And I said, Do I want what? My place. And I said, sure. He said, You got it. And I said, Well, thank you. And then he hangs up. Well, I'm waiting a couple of weeks. I don't hear from him, wondering what the hell is this all about. So he calls me back up and gives me a price. And of course, I I can't say it because the words I used to, but are you effing nuts? You know, I said, here's what I'll pay you. He said, Okay, you know. So I bought his place. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
10:51
Who who would you say um the best guy to have a beer with was over the years? Bunts of brewers who came who'd come in.
SPEAKER_00
11:00
Well, well, Robin and Nelly were right up there. And another good guy was um who just passed away. I get a little emotional now, it's uh Bruce Freddy. Okay. He passed away two days ago. And Bruce was a good guy to have a beer with, be it here or in the uh Umpire's locker room after the game. So it was just a good guy, you know.
SPEAKER_01
11:23
Uh yeah, I'm sorry, I got a little bit of a good. You're good. Um I mean you you have you've grown this so big, you have so many divisions now, you have festivals, catering, this place, retail. Um when you got started, was it was there moments where were there some difficult obstacles you had had to overcome or any time where you were like, wow, I'm I'm in over my head.
SPEAKER_00
11:51
Well, I was very lucky because Pep Hammer was also not only on the bar, but he was an accountant. So he took took care of the bookwork of that. And and Pep is a best friend of mine, but he never had any for surgery of the place. Just helped out. And that was an old story because Morrie's on Prospect, which was a famous East Side Bar, loaned Pep money to go in the business. And part of the part of the deal was in Pep had to loan money to somebody to go in the business. So I was the lucky guy. And uh, no, we just grew so fast, it was and the place was so small. Yeah. The biggest problem we had would be uh we had the fire department, the you know the occupants too many people in here, you know. So I mean we had lines all the ways to the to almost where the where the meat store is, but and then uh built that and built the room and that was in 1980. And that almost bankrupt me because interest rates were 18 and a half percent. It was like a credit card.
SPEAKER_01
12:54
In 1980. Yeah. So you're four years in and you almost go broke? Yeah. What was that like?
SPEAKER_00
13:02
Uh hard to believe, you know. And uh there were a couple other facts because I expanded so much that um I almost went broke. But you know, I I I I had a firm belief that it, you know, you gotta expand. And and a lot of it was forced expansion. When uh people started eating my barbecue pork or the ribs. Well, first of all, they'd wanted the sauce for their Kelgate parties. Well then then they used to pick up their pork here and take it to the ballpark. Well then they didn't want to pick it up. They wanted us to serve them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
13:38
So that's how the catering thing grew, and it grew and it grew and and uh uh So you so you you essentially over the years saw opportunities that I don't want to say they were safe, but you had had clear signals that you should go after them and then you just took them.
SPEAKER_00
13:56
Yep. I mean, I would say but I mean not Kenya, we're just fortunate as as heck, but and I just and I owe it all to my employees too, because I've had I've got so many people that owned me 25, 30 years, and and uh they're just wonderful, and now four of them are are my partners, and it's really kind of neat because so is Kurt one of them? Oh yeah, who's running the show?
SPEAKER_01
14:19
Well, how's he how he started here all a long time ago, right?
SPEAKER_00
14:22
He was like 14 years old. No shit. My my cousin was a Jesuit at Market High, yeah. And he calls me up and says says, You gotta hire this kid. He kind of looked kind of geeky looking, but you gotta hire him. So and and those are the words, I mean, I'm not making them up, and hired him. And now he's what, 45 years old? Run running the show now and so everything. I mean, does the books for everything, and he just he's probably one of the most amazing first he's they'd ever want to be. And I have Joe Bruegerman who's and and Nat Hawkins, and they run the catering end of it, and they've grown the catering so much, and um uh it's just just been a weird.
SPEAKER_01
15:07
What do you think your key to to growing and retaining people has been in this business?
SPEAKER_00
15:12
Well, as you walk in, if you see we won the outstanding employer ward every year, we and that's a Milwaukee Journal base, and that's not one where you give them ten thousand dollars and they give you the plaque to put on the wall.
SPEAKER_02
15:25
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00
15:25
I mean your employees have to have to answer the questions and process. Yeah, yeah. Right. So and you know, you if you don't treat people right, they're gonna leave, you know, and and and also I have a thing where if I I I don't know if much uh when I went to market high school, they had seven classes. The every like 25 kids were in a class, so there's one class, two, three, four, five. Well anyway, I was in seven, the dumps at market high. Yeah. But the sevens where were attorneys, business owners, and and and the ones and twos of the doctors and the physics, and the attorneys also were I say we're in the sevens. And the three, fours, and fives worked for the ones and twos of the six and sevens. They were they just they just had to be comfortable.
SPEAKER_01
16:16
The sevens are probably very entrepreneurial. I would I would think I couldn't I couldn't do well in school either. I I was not. Um let's talk about this. We have some iconic items on here. We've got the the combo platter all over Stay Fair, Summerfest. How how did this all come out in this this mozzarella marinara is yeah?
SPEAKER_00
16:38
You know, it's funny when um Tracy Sprohl was the food and beverage coordinator at Summerfest, and her uncle was one of my original customers, and a very good customer. Well, then there were two gentlemen from Miller Brewing Company, Sigway Saki and Dennis Basie, and they were at fairs and festivals. And Miller used to sponsor fairs, maybe a Jazz Festival in New York or whatever, out easter. And uh they're the only company that did it. So uh Tracy contacted them and said, you know, would you know we need to find somebody in the Miller area because there was an Arthur Treacher's fish and shits. I can't figure out mission chips, I'm sorry, uh there. And uh so they wanted us to um to go in there, and of course, obviously we're thrilled, but not the what the heck we're gonna serve. Yeah, and uh my uh mozzarella marinera in an Italian restaurant is the pan-fried mozzarella cheese. But I thought, boy, if we could eat it with our fingers, we'd have a winner. So my chef, Dick Nash, uh went out with a Chinese chef, and of course, cheese egg roll. So these are all hand rolled in True River Fish. What year what year was that around? Well, we went in the Summerfest in 82, so um not not much before that.
SPEAKER_01
18:07
Hey guys, just a fun fact before we dive back in with SAS. Did you know, according to a recent Schwab survey, Americans say it takes$2.3 million to be wealthy? You may have had your financial plan set on a bigger or smaller number, but if you're looking for added insights on how to get there or how to avoid some tax pitfalls along the way, our friends at Annex Wealth Management are ready to listen. No matter where you're at in your financial journey, and if your situation is complex or simple, the Annex Wealth Management team can give you the wealth expertise and guidance on reaching your goals. That's our friends at Annex Wealth Management, AnnexWealth.com. All right, let's dive back in with Saz.
SPEAKER_00
18:51
This this story is really one of the most amazing stories. I mean, I laugh about it every time I tell us. We used to use a um, you know, you go to a place, you got a cottage fly, the the fresh potato they slice, like potato chips. Well, we used to put all the potatoes in a 55-gallon uh barrel, yeah, and then put water and and uh an antioxidant in there. And then we would open up the drain and drain the water up, and of course, then we use that for the potatoes. Uh well, one day, right before the health inspector came, Bruce Kress, who was a great guy and still alive, the kid missed the drain, so he's like standing over there and opens it up. Snag got water all over the floor, and then comes the health department.
SPEAKER_01
19:42
He misses the drain.
SPEAKER_00
19:43
Yeah. So Bruce says, Well, you know, that's kind of a mess. He says, But I think on a product you may want to try. And he told me about the sour cream and chai French. But had that kid not missed that drain like that, these would not have been a thing.
SPEAKER_01
19:59
And that would have been never would have happened. And I I heard uh after these came out, what year did these come out?
SPEAKER_00
20:04
That came out about 84.
SPEAKER_01
20:06
So in 84, you went to Summerfest with both regular fries and these, right? And these outsold those.
SPEAKER_00
20:14
Yeah. So then we got rid of the other fries. But the original stand, if you ever saw a picture of it, it was so small. Yeah. I mean, we were rolling mozzarella sticks right in the stand to order, you know. It was it was amazing. And with the Miller Brewerin coming, they've been so helpful. We'd had such a good relationship. And of course, at State Fair. Um like Summerfest, when Summerfest they wanted to bring in local vendors, so like Jerry Cohen from Major Goolsby's is someplace else. Uh-huh. They want to bring some legitimacy. Yeah. And the Venice Club went in, and that was the maybe the third or fourth vendor to go in there, local vendor.
SPEAKER_01
20:56
Do you have a I'm gonna give one of these a try, but um, not that I haven't tried them before quite a few times. I'm a fan of them, but do you have a favorite Summerfest or State Fair story that stands out?
SPEAKER_00
21:09
Um well, uh I can do a state fair story. I mean maybe in the future. Miller Highlight used to have the Miller Light All-Stars commercials where they had uh uh Euchar was the main guy, but they had Ronnie D'Ajaville, Mickey Spillane, they had um everybody, everybody. Well, they had a guy named Jimmy Schroeder, and Jimmy was like the babe roof of Bronco Riders. Right. And he was about maybe five, nine. Well, she's obviously shake your hand, you know what I mean. Your your hand would fall off. Well, his bull was Buford T Light, and they betted Beauford T Light right up where the Miller stand is. uh the the miller light yeah yeah they had them bedded outside during the day well the fair ended up making them change it but beautiful tea light they used to take him in the bars at night he went to Billy's old mill and he'd have well the last Sunday of the fair all of a sudden it's getting late and everybody's had a few beers and a couple of guys the Miller and of course Jimmy I'm saying up the road with Buford T Light so Buford comes into the tent and then we had a tent then and we had there was a person in a wheelchair right about this far away maybe three feet away from the tent pole and of course Pam DeRonio at the time was there she had a great band great jazz singer so she's on Buford T Light singing and Beauford T lights making his way in the bull yeah she's on she's singing on the bull in a tent she was just riding she was riding the bull in the tent and and puzzle waitress who we had two people on Buford Buford could take two people. Okay but how he could slink through this little opening without hitting this crystal in the wheelchair was like I still don't know how the heck you guys would just bring the bull into the bars that night? They did he would tour the country you remember there's a famous it was a famous bar called Billy's Old Mill in Milwaukee?
SPEAKER_01
23:28
Yeah was on 76th and uh Forrest home I I I I don't I've been here since 2008 ish. Okay yeah so I that leads to my next question though which I wanted to ask you what do you think the best bars in Milwaukee are dead or alive?
SPEAKER_00
23:45
So best bars of all time they own well you know my I got married in 1991 so my by going out of bar into Mars is okay I would have to say uh restaurants we could put those in there as well the restaurants easy uh but bars uh well it was more's on prospect for years and that was on prospect and Brady okay not I mean sorry prospect and uh no silver on prospect yeah right there yeah yeah yep uh that was a great thing um Gary's at the time and then it's O'Donoghue's and of course now on Donahue's is is in in in Elm Grove uh Bob Cross Carlos's off the clock and that's on South Hull um you know and my light changed as far as going to bars but what what about restaurants that do or don't exist anymore that you you really enjoyed going to well I'll tell you what there's a book upstairs that at all Milwaukee restaurants from XW and I think there's only like two of us left you know yeah um I mean right now I mean I love Katarinas I love pastiche I love BB's pizza on North Avenue any from the 70s or 80s that that stood out well they're not around uh that aren't around they're not around uh you know I I used to love salines for the prime rib okay yeah now I gotta go down I go down and see Brian wore to his prime rib but he was at Brian was at the open hearth and he was a dishwasher there really so he learned uh he learned the recipe so so Brian's been very successful with that uh pizza I love I enjoy Balastraries on uh on Blue Mound yeah and it's a also good vibe for me now uh um yeah things have any other throwback restaurants from the 70s eighties or nineties well with the old ownership Curpris Five o'clock club yeah when they when the original guys owned it and and nothing against the new guys but I mean um but we used to go there quite a bit and it was it was wonderful um oh well of course once in a while you'd have to go down to uh Sally's and that was in the Knickerbocker Hotel. Oh interesting okay and Sally Papia so she very interesting character and and it had great stakes but it was the only place in town where you could get an eight o'clock Saturday night dinner reservation.
SPEAKER_01
26:50
Really so you had the reservation yeah yeah you had the reservation yeah that didn't mean you got your table she's passed away yeah and her daughter's passed away but yeah well the only way you could get in sooner if you used uh a doctor in front of your name if you get in okay and one of the best ones that I'm sorry I didn't bring it up in Mannias Susan Cafe when they moved over to uh uh Whitefish Bay yeah Fox Point and Arnie and Rosie they were just fantastic very cool in fact they had a they they they had a a very clicky clientele and they couldn't seat certain people next to each other so when they got a reservation they had to figure out where are we gonna sit 'em I wasn't one I would have you don't strike me as that kind of guy um coming up on fifty what what are you most proud of?
SPEAKER_00
27:57
Well I guess I'm most proud of that um now you're getting the goosebumps there uh you know the good people that I know and the good relationships and it's something I stress to the all all my employees but basically to the owners and is that you have to have relationships. Now you look at the relationship you have with Kirk he's amazing and and with our vendors and that and it's all about relationships you know and you don't worry about this is ten cents a pound or this and you know yeah you know you don't have to say I I know some guys I won't use their name but you know sales are waiting in line and they're you're you know they're 75 cents high in a case of toilet paper you know you know and uh but it's all about relationships and the other part about is we're very active in the community as far as giving back and I'll tell you I myself been on quite a few boards very very proud of it and and we've got uh uh Hannah Kitzrow Hannah's on the Sharp Literacy Board uh Kurt's on the the State Restaurant Association board he's on the Visit Milwaukee board and he's on the Wisconsin State Bear Foundation board which he he replaced me and uh so we're very very active in why why why is giving back important to you well I paid my own way to market high so I I I had nothing and you know you paid your own way through market high at 14 to 18 yeah what what jobs it was a hundred dollars done how much was tuition back then well the first year it was a hundred because I had a brother there so it would have been it would have been a year high little different yeah well then because I had to pay my way own way through school but at at one time and I'm not making this up and it may take minutes but I had I believe six jobs and eighteen credits at Marquette. High school no college college college I drove truck for Boltman trucking for like three to eight and then uh I had referee basketball uh on some days I didn't drive truck I I I had referee basketball or or touch football that's job number two job number three at one o'clock in the morning one a Saturday morning or Friday night I'd go to Bolton trucking and we used to wash 20 trucks and half of them were outside you had to bring them in yeah so that lasted till about eight in the morning at nine in the morning ten nine three in the morning then I'd referee youth basketball at uh sixth and walnut I don't know what the name of the school is now so that's the fifth job or sixth job and Saturday night about one in the morning I used to take a bakery truck you know those bakery they're not very big and I used to drive it down to Bernie Brothers in Chicago and pick up bakery and I'd have about eight stops somewhere in Illinois and some were the parties west I went to was Brookville Square which was there was a Woolworth there and I went as far north as uh well forget the name of the wrestle but the Sibrus is right next to it. Mekwan Mekwan yeah so I went that far and then um just a couple here yeah well there were like six eight stops and then Sunday afternoon I ran the Division IV CYO which was St. St. Bernard's St. Thomas Mother Good Counselor and um St. Sebastian's so I used to hire the officials and they went to school when when did you sleep I don't know you just got it done um I love it any uh what but one thing it did cause though is that I couldn't make it to a class I needed to graduate from you needed Father Pierre wrote said Marquette had the theory of business ethics so it was eight o'clock on Monday morning well by then I was a noodle there's no way am I going to make did they let you graduate no they wouldn't let me graduate if they didn't think of did you ever graduate no you did all right you did all right I didn't have the theory of business ethics no that's amazing you you've done you've done just fine um do we want to end it what's your favorite piece of life advice would you say to give to give to someone well it just seems like the harder you work the luckier you get you know and and even as I tell my wait staff here the bartenders you know I know this up it's a part-time job for you but when you're here you've got to look at this as it's a profession and and that it our guests demand nothing but the best service yeah and that's where we come up with the finest.
SPEAKER_01
33:19
Well then thank you so it was an honor spending some time with you today and um congrats on everything you've done and thank you for everything you've done as well. All right before signing off want to give a huge thank you to Saz what a what a great guy an amazing Milwaukee story and an amazing company that does so much for the community so it was it was great getting to know Saz and before signing off just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut Possible annex wealth management Nicola and drink Wisconsinably beverage company
Orey Laev: Ray’s Wine & Spirits Rise & Expansion, Best Bottles Under $30, Craziest Alcohol Purchase Witnessed and Industry Trends
And we literally taste 75 to 150 wines each and every week, just so we know what we're putting on the shelves. And that's where a lot of these high-end tequilas are are really taking their moment and shining.
SPEAKER_00
0:11
What do you think the best bottle of liquor under$25 that people are sleeping on is?
SPEAKER_01
0:16
Can we uh can we bump it up to 30?
SPEAKER_00
0:19
What's the most eye-opening purchase that you've seen?
SPEAKER_01
0:23
I would have to say we had one person.
SPEAKER_00
0:28
Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. If you like drinking or a great local business story or both, we've got a good one for you today. We're joined by my friend Ori Liv, who owns one of Bri and I's favorite spots, Ray's Liquor in Tosa, which has an amazing bar on top as well, and has been a staple since the 1960s, and they just expanded to an amazing new building in Mekwan this past fall. We go over the Ray's story, what it's like running a liquor store, best bottles under$30, how the industry has changed, and what sectors are hot right now and which ones are struggling, and more. Before diving in, I just want to thank our partners for making Milwaukee Uncle possible. We'll kick things off with Nicola, the Midwest law firm injured. Get Nicola. Annex Wealth Management. If you're looking to get your finances together in 26 and have a goal that deals with your money, your earnings, your investments, go talk to the experts at Annex. They have an amazing team ready to listen and help you with your personal goals. Annex Wealth Management, know the difference. That is annexwealth.com. And last but not least, something that is sold at Rays, we've got Drink Wisconsinably Beverage Company. Best brandy, vodka, and canned cocktails in the game. Personally, I love their canned brandy old-fashioned available at bars and liquor stores across the state and at the Drink Wisconsinably pub right across from the Pfizer. All right, let's dive in with Ori. Raise Liquor, an absolutely iconic spot in Tosa since 1961, known for its parking lot parties, amazing bar upstairs, which I've spent a lot of money at. Willingly, willingly spent a lot of money at. You are welcome. It's well deserved. And its selection of 6,000 plus wines, a couple thousand liquors, and a thousand beers. But you have recently expanded the Raborhood, opening up a new 13,500 square foot location. According to Google, is that correct? It is correct. You did your research today. 13,500 square foot location in Mekwan, which was years in the making. It's got an event space, it's got a delicatessen, it's got a temperature-controlled wine cellar for ballers like SimGuy in Buddy J. It is an amazing space. I appreciate it. Over in Mekwan. Ori, good, good to have you here. Thanks, man. Great to be here. Thank you so much. Um everyone loves Raze that I talked to. It's obviously been around for a while. I didn't I didn't go there much before we moved right by it in 2021. It's right on North Aventos. Uh how did how did what's the story behind it?
SPEAKER_01
3:16
Raise, yeah. So it's always been a family business. Um, that's what we like to promote first and foremost. Uh so in the early 60s, the Dietz family, um, the only other family to own the shop uh before me and my uncle um many decades ago, opened it as a small grocer, um, paper goods, a few spirits items, uh, kids' toys, things of that ilk. Um, and eventually became morphed into a more of a beer depot and then a liquor store as the liquor business proliferated in the 70s and 80s. And then, you know, when me and my uncle took it over in 2002, he was a wholesale wine salesperson for the original owner for decades. They were great best friends, in fact. And he took it over in 2002. I graduated in 2003 and joined him to help with the marketing. And we really kind of pivoted from being this old school beer depot, which if you've driven by, it still certainly looks like that, to being more of a wine-centric location. And from there, we just sprouted up as, you know, trying to be one of the premier wine destinations for an independent wine shop in Wisconsin. When did the bar upstairs get added? The bar upstairs, so a fascinating story. It was never meant to be a bar, uh, sadly. So around 2010, there was the absolute explosion of craft beer in America. And we'd been reading about these things called Growlers, uh, which on the coasts, you know, there would be these filling stations where people would get their beer from their local establishments and get their vessels and then fill them up and take them home to go. So we thought it was this genius idea to open an entire establishment on top of the store at a growler filling station. I appreciate that. So that started uh in 2013, and for about a full year, that's all it was. We tried to get the best craft beer that you could not find in a bottle or a can and have those exclusive beers on tap at the at the filling station. We called it the Growler Galleries. So was there even a bar where people sat down and had pints, or was it just fill the fill a growler and leave? So we did things a little backwards. We had a bar poured, but that was just for folks to wait in line. We didn't, we never meant to open up a bar because we didn't know anything about running a bar at the time. So we'd only have these exclusive fills for about the first year, and people kept asking, hey, can't we just sit and have a beer? Can't we just sit and have a beer? And after a year, we're like, you know what? We should let people sit and have a beer. So then it just sprouted from there, uh, from our eight-tap system, um, eventually, you know, churning out slushies, uh, a lot of whiskey pores and wine, and then we ended up building out the event space. So that's been going on about a decade now.
SPEAKER_00
6:11
Yeah, it seems uh it seems like the core mission has remained though. I love going up there as a beer guy because you guys rotate, you have eight beers, some some you've heard of, but there's usually three or four or five or six on the menu that I've I've never heard of. And you can get samples, you can try them. It's just 100%. It's a great place to go. You did a great job on the interior. Just sit down and thank you and pound some beers for an afternoon.
SPEAKER_01
6:37
I mean, I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Yeah, it was just uh supposed to be a cozy neighborhood spot, and we've always tried to just keep it that way. Uh, it was never supposed to be the biggest. We just wanted a nice place to have a drink. And the whole thing about not changing from eight taps to more was so that we could rotate them out, have the freshest, most fun, unite, unique, and exciting selection.
SPEAKER_00
6:59
Yeah, I like checking the website most weeks, seeing what you got going on over there. They keep it up to date, very nice. Uh raisewine.com. Razewine.com on Raise Bar. I know where to go. Okay, so so you have that going on in Toast. It seems like business has has been good for you guys from what I can see. Why take on this massive second location? Tell me about that. When did you want to do that? How long did it take?
SPEAKER_01
7:24
I appreciate that. Yeah, so so, like I said, I came on in 2003. Uh, me and my uncle had the pleasure of working together um for nearly 20 years. And when he came on board, our whole business was just to grow our location and give folks uh the best quality of life we could and have a ton of fun being a family-owned shop, and we had an absolute ball. And by the time he had retired, you know, this was shortly after COVID. Obviously, the industry has changed quite a bit in the last four or five years with COVID and the patterns of drinking in America. And every day when I drive home from work down 76, I'd see this gorgeous building. And I live, you know, close to this new shop. Of course, at the time we didn't know we were opening the new shop, but there hasn't been a proper wine and spirit shop in Mekwan in going on 20 years, and it was always my dream to bring something to the North Shore, uh, a kind of new vision to provide the best customer service and have a great selection and have folks from the North Shore enjoy that.
SPEAKER_00
8:29
Yeah, and do you wanna do you wanna talk about it at all?
SPEAKER_01
8:32
It is a it is a huge building you walk in, and there's a lot of different areas within the it looks massive, but there's actually no basement. So it's actually the exact same square footage essentially as our location on North Avenue. Really?
SPEAKER_00
8:46
I would not have thought that. Right.
SPEAKER_01
8:47
It's a beast, and you know, while we use kind of every piece of the buffalo in Wawatosa, if you've been in the shop, there's there's things everywhere. I I really want to have a more free open space concept for the new location and and just put a different spin on it and just make a beautiful mark for the building because as the custodian of this building, it's gorgeous, it's been there for decades, and we want to give it a good home and really make it shine.
SPEAKER_00
9:12
Very cool. And it's it's more than a liquor store. You guys got the delicatessen in there.
SPEAKER_01
9:16
We do. Yeah, so Ray's Deli actually, the Dietz family, the original family, did have a very small space right around the time they opened uh Ray's Liquor that was a delicatessen. So that's actually where we had the building or different building. It had been a different building, but also on North Avenue, but a very, very small space. So that's how we got the name. We've always wanted to have a food component. Uh, due to size restrictions, unfortunately, we could not do that uh for Wawatosa. We've always wanted to do it, not a full-blown restaurant, if you will, just a few snacks, uh, really fresh, delicious goods that you can enjoy with a glass of wine, a sip of bourbon, or a beer.
SPEAKER_00
9:55
So the Dietz family, did you uh and your uncle work with them at all, or did you just buy it from them in the early 2000s?
SPEAKER_01
10:02
No, so my uncle was great friends uh with Ron Deets, and him and his mom were really the ones that blew up Rays in the 60s and 70s. He called on Ron as a wholesale wine salesperson from the 80s on, and in 2002, when Ron retired, uh my uncle took over.
SPEAKER_00
10:20
Very cool. Yeah, very cool. And what was um your uncle's retired now? He is how how was working with him?
SPEAKER_01
10:28
It was awesome. It it really was. I mean, family business has definitely no stress at all, right? None whatsoever. Uh the first two or three years presented a few different challenges. We literally shared- you would have been in your early 20s when I would have, yeah. I graduated University of Arizona in 2003, so I came aboard right after college. Um, and I moved up here to Wisconsin. Yeah. But we shared an office literally with no windows for almost 20 years. So it was it was definitely tight quarters. So communication's the key, though, every single time, and that that's really the key to any business, but especially family business.
SPEAKER_00
11:08
When did you all start doing events? It seems like um even in the winter, and obviously you have your parking lot parties and you have the new event space in Mekwan. It seems like bring it bringing people together has is an important thing that you do.
SPEAKER_01
11:22
Right. So when we started the bar, the Growler Gallery, as it were, and now just known as Ray's Bar, we did a tremendous amount of tap takeover events, really trying to highlight different breweries and beers week after week. And then one year, this was roughly 10 years ago, we decided to do an anniversary party in our parking lot. And we just had an absolute blast. Uh, from there, the proliferation came when we'd work and partner up with other breweries and have just sole events predicated on one brewery or a certain type of food, like a barbecue bash we've had uh during the summer for many times. And now uh through the last number of years, our Rose Fest, which we've had every year in Wawatosa, and this year we'll be utilizing our Mekwan parking lot uh due to its robust size to have an awesome rose day where you can try over a hundred roses on Sunday, June 7th.
SPEAKER_00
12:15
What what gets what gets better than that? Yeah. What would you say um are the biggest misconceptions of owning a liquor store? What what do people not know?
SPEAKER_01
12:26
I think there's a lot more intricacies um than folks probably realize. We uh many businesses obviously try to make it look as effortless as possible um when they're front-facing with their clients. But I we have to be honest, uh in 2026, brick and mortar is not like the cool thing, right? Everything's available online, social media, you can get dang near anything from any website in the world, right? So it's really a constant it trying to be constantly innovative to be fresh and new and excite your client base and grow your client base by being kind of landlocked in your one or now two locations. How do you decide what uh products you take in?
SPEAKER_00
13:12
You have so many of them.
SPEAKER_01
13:13
Right. So we have a really robust staff. Our staff is like our family, and we literally taste 75 to 150 wines each and every week just so we know what we're putting on the shelves. We do spit everything, or else it would not be a very productive uh. No, that would not be a very productive thing. But but but our team has specific days where all they do is taste and we go through everything, compare notes, and then buy as a group. What's the most eye-opening purchase that you've seen? Oh, for sure. Um I would have to say we had one person try to supply his entire company with Jack Daniels and purchased 40 cases of Jack Daniels one very random afternoon in the summer.
SPEAKER_00
13:58
You had it.
SPEAKER_01
14:00
We did.
SPEAKER_00
14:00
40 cases.
SPEAKER_01
14:03
It was a 1.75, so 240 bottles.
SPEAKER_00
14:08
241.75.
SPEAKER_01
14:10
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00
14:12
How large is that tab?
SPEAKER_01
14:15
Uh it was over five figures.
SPEAKER_00
14:19
Good sales. There was a lot of God bless them. Yeah, there was a lot of phone calls back there. I mean, if you're buying probably your highest end bourbon, you could run up a five-figure tab if you're walking out with a bunch of those, but it's great Jack Daniels.
SPEAKER_01
14:35
At the time though, bourbon wasn't, you know, it didn't have this explosive nature that it does, you know, over the last four or five years. So but it was just a top seller, and that and that's what they purchased.
SPEAKER_00
14:45
Speaking of, what's the most expensive item someone's bought from you? Single item?
SPEAKER_01
14:51
Recently, um, a Louis the Thirteenth, uh, which was a little north of$4,000.
SPEAKER_00
14:56
Okay. How often do you guys sell one of those? Uh, usually one to two times a year. What do you think the best bottle of liquor under$25 that people are sleeping on is?
SPEAKER_01
15:06
Can we uh can we bump it up to 30?
SPEAKER_00
15:08
Hey guys, just a fun fact before we dive in with Ori, did you know, according to a recent Schwab survey, Americans say it takes$2.3 million to be wealthy? You may have had your financial plan set on a bigger or smaller number, but if you're looking for added insights on how to get there or how to avoid some tax pitfalls along the way, our friends at Annex Wealth Management are ready to listen. No matter where you're at in your financial journey or if your situation is complex or simple, the Annex Wealth Management team can give you the wealth expertise and guidance on reaching your goals. Just head on over to annexwealth.com and let's get back to the episode with Ori. Sure, you can bump into the let's do that then.
SPEAKER_01
15:50
Uh, I would say number one with a bullet uh to me is uh Green River, their weeded bourbon. You should be able to find$30, maybe$35 a bottle. Freakishly good if you're a whiskey fan. Uh just beat out some very culty uh whiskeys at at a whiskey fest just this last year and was named the best bourbon in the world. But for at$30, and it's fairly easy to find, it's an absolute steal. Uh great mixer, great on its own. And what's cool about it is whiskey has become uh as such where there's a lot of folks chasing certain things, and and that's great if that's your hobby, obviously. But it's really nice to find a product that's so consistent at such an affordable price that you can get almost anywhere.
SPEAKER_00
16:38
Any uh any vodkas or brandies or anything that you think are a steal right now as well?
SPEAKER_01
16:45
That are a steal or tequila's well, tequila's, I mean, tequila's having its moment right now, right? And I mean, tequila and rum has absolutely exploded, and there is a wonderful array of distilleries, you know, to the point where some tequilas are now becoming allocated. You have things like Arete, Cascahuin, Fortaleza, all these distilleries, you know, mom and pop shops that are making their way here, and they're becoming really hard to get. So I wouldn't say there's one quote unquote steel, um, but there's some wonderful additions that you can still find fairly readily on the shelves at your local wine and spirit shop that are really exciting to watch right now.
SPEAKER_00
17:24
Yeah, it's um it's interesting because liquor itself is getting a lot of bad press recently, or a lot of people aren't drinking anymore, etc. But you've seen certain categories doing well in this environment.
SPEAKER_01
17:36
100%. I mean, like I said, uh post-COVID, you know, uh many folks went, you know, went the other way in terms of their consumption habits during COVID.
SPEAKER_00
17:46
Well, co I like judging everything off like 2019 numbers, basically, because COVID was not real life. I mean, it was like it was the end, we would call it the end of days, right?
SPEAKER_01
17:56
So people a lot of industries just shot out of a cannon and then revert it. It was it was something obviously we've never seen in our lifetimes, um, but the numbers were absolutely out of control. Uh, we we definitely called it kind of a hollow victory uh to see sales numbers rise in such a difficult period of time in so many folks' lives. But yeah, that's totally a fair assessment, 2019. And I would say things are akin to that. Certain categories are way lower. Uh, wine consumption, for instance, over the last three years has taken a pretty good dip. It's it's slowly, I think coming back now with things like Sauvignon Blanc is absolutely on fire. Italian reds, French reds in the$20 category absolutely on fire. But things like beer taking a massive hit, a lot of California wines taking a massive hit. Um even Tito's uh experienced a dip last year, which we haven't seen in in years. But but I would say things like those value-priced wines, bourbon is still holding steady. I'd say it's kind of at this happy plateau right now. It's not like this, like it has been, but certainly still maintaining. But tequila, absolutely on fire, rum absolutely on fire, rose is holding its own, sparkling wine is doing quite well. Um, what else would I say is absolutely doing quite well? I mean, for Wisconsin specifically, THC is explosive, and that has been the big thing akin to seltzer's or white claws a few years ago.
SPEAKER_00
19:27
Yeah, how much how much THC drinks do you sell compared to a year ago?
SPEAKER_01
19:30
It's the number one growth category. I mean, with a bullet, emphatically. Uh well over double-digit growth the last few years. It's it's explosive.
SPEAKER_00
19:40
Is that gonna be legal this year?
SPEAKER_01
19:42
It's gonna be something. I mean, there's definitely gonna be some regulation coming down towards the end of the year. So right now, it's for lack of a better word, kind of a free-for-all. I think you might not see things like a 50 milligram drink come the end of the year, but right now, I mean, people are going to go.
SPEAKER_00
19:59
I don't know how people drink 50 milligrams.
SPEAKER_01
20:02
It's um that's gotta be a special talent, or you know, maybe sharing with friends and family.
SPEAKER_00
20:08
I felt a bad after like a 10, right? Yeah, I could feel it after a 10.
SPEAKER_01
20:12
And I will say fives and tens are really the go-to for 99 out of 100 people. But it I if you're feeling squirrely or you know, I guess our I guess our guy Billy Deuce had about what seven seventy milligrams?
SPEAKER_00
20:25
Yeah, he what do you throw he he had like a four pack and then another four pack? He had in the eight eight to ten, ten milligrams, he took down eighty to a hundred milligrams. How is Mr.
SPEAKER_01
20:35
and Mrs. Deuce's kid after that? Was he okay? Billy Deuce? Yeah. But was he doing all right after that? Oh yeah. Well, guys a machine. Seasoned pro then. He's a seas he's a seasoned pro thing for everyone.
SPEAKER_00
20:46
I'm sure I'm I'm sure, sure, sure am not. Um, but yeah, Billy.
SPEAKER_01
20:50
Well, that's why they start a yeah, two milligrams and up is is really the the show right now.
SPEAKER_00
20:55
So tequila, I feel has has I don't know if you feel the same way. I think its brand of being a healthy liquor sculpt it. I hear a lot of people talking about how if you're gonna drink alcohol, like tequila is is the way to go.
SPEAKER_01
21:11
Well, I think more people are stepping away from the mixed drinks with tequila in terms of like a sugary margarita and doing more like tequila and tonic or just you know, lime juice, or just literally by itself or on the rocks with a with a wedge of lime. And certainly if you have the distilleries that don't have the additives in them, and that's where a lot of these high-end tequilas are are really taking their moment and shining, as opposed to like a Cuervo or something like that. So if you look at a a Fort Laza, a Valan's, a Cascajen, I mean, those things, there's no additives in them, very clean tasting spirit, so that really gives them, you know, a healthy healthier in essence, not in terms of the alcohol content itself, but but what comes along with that in terms of the additives, sugar content, etc. Why do you think rum is taking off? I think again. It's these smaller producers. So it's a higher end. We're not talking about Captain Morgan, you know, exploding right now. Those are drinking high school right there. Captain and Coke. I mean, delicious. But I mean, as of right now, you know.
SPEAKER_00
22:16
Do you consider Malibu rum or not?
SPEAKER_01
22:18
I mean, it's it's categorized as rum. That was yeah. Good to do. Those aren't booming. It is not booming. Yeah. Those are what we'd like to call mature brands. Small the small batch high. Yeah, if you're looking at things like Hamilton and Foursquare, these are not cheap selections, but uh a lot of the things you know, when you talk about the liquor industry shifting, a lot of individuals have taken away the quantity and supplanted that with quality, right? I'm gonna drink a little less, but I'm gonna do it right. 100%. Same thing with wine. I'm not buying a full case of a perfect bread. If that's what you enjoy, I know I was I was a volume shooter back in the day, not anymore. Shooter. Not anymore. Okay. And that's all right. I mean, you have to drink what you enjoy, and that's our number one rule. It's just it's what you if you think it's good, then it's good. The Carlo Rossi, that was a while ago. Get a get a jug of that in the this isn't this is a judgment-free podcast.
SPEAKER_00
23:14
Those those those those were good times over in Schrader Hall on Marquette's campus. I think you know what? We got we got caught um by our RA when we were moving out because there were ceiling tiles, so we weren't allowed to drink in there, obviously. It was a software dorm, so we would take the empty drugs and that's where we keep them to the ceiling. Wow, okay. Well, that's pretty innovative. I don't remember how he found it, but Remington, our R A uh busted us. Sorry, Remington, we apologize. Yeah, he was cool though. He would he would drink with us sometimes. He was he was he was a fantastic RM, all-around good guy. He's down in Houston. We should look him up. Very smart guy, one of the smart and and a good people person. He's he's got a deadly combination of skills. You you brought up one earlier, but any any bottles that are just on fire right now, or any, even though beer is going down, any beers that are doing real well.
SPEAKER_01
24:10
Yeah, I think surprisingly, things like Micelobe Ultra are are making this huge comeback. You know, you still see things like Three Sheeps, uh New Glaris, Third Space, a lot of local breweries are still hitting home, are still doing quite well. You know, Spotted Cow is is certainly the name of the game. Uh a lot of folks are still loving those beers and they're still doing really well at a local shop.
SPEAKER_00
24:35
So is it kind of like uh turning into a winner-take most game in the craft industry? Well, I think I think we saw that coming. Absolutely well. Good people, good beer, and it seems their their chaos pattern has shot off.
SPEAKER_01
24:51
Absolutely. I think when there was just this explosion 15 years ago, you knew at some point, unfortunately, there would be this retraction and the independence that really stayed true to their brand, you know, didn't come out with a new flavor every other week and kept to the recipes and really maintained that high level of quality. You knew at the end of the day those were going to be the breweries that stood the test of time. And that's unfortunately really what we're seeing across the country with a lot of breweries.
SPEAKER_00
25:19
Destination hits them. What do you got, Ori?
SPEAKER_01
25:22
Well, I think a lot of the places, if you're looking just to go to our neighbors in Chicago, if you go down to Pipe Works Brewing, that's always been a favorite of mine. They're Lizard King, I think, is one of the tastiest beers you can find with a lower ABV.
SPEAKER_00
25:35
I've had that in the in Rays Bar before. It's I've heard of that place. Lovely establishment. Make sure to check it out.
SPEAKER_01
25:42
Right. No, I'm a big fan of kind of sub 6% ABV hoppy beers. So I think that's absolutely delicious.
SPEAKER_00
25:48
The Milwaukee Uncut tropical pills.
SPEAKER_01
25:51
Love it back this summer.
SPEAKER_00
25:52
5.5 ish percent.
SPEAKER_01
25:54
We should do another keg race at Rays Bar. I thought it was a delicious beer.
SPEAKER_00
25:57
We'll get that on the calendar.
SPEAKER_01
25:58
Absolutely. I think you know, three Floyds, they're gumball head hoppy wheat beer, exceptional. I think once you see some of the IPAs coming out of the East Coast, the other half IPAs are exceptionally delicious. They're obviously a lot more robust in their ABV and their body type. Trillium, when those come around, absolutely superb. I love it. But West Coast IPAs also having a major moment right now. And kind of those crispy pilsners and everything, people are really taking a step back from the you know, five, six, seven years ago, beer was just like every single one, you're like, I can't feel my face. Like a lot of people now, when they have a beer, they want to taste a beer and maybe be able to have a second or a third one.
SPEAKER_00
26:39
The uh yeah, the um the milkshake IPAs are those on the decline. I l I loved a good milkshake IPA or three by you know, five years ago or so. Yeah, I think the days of the meal replacement or the meal replacement beers are are probably on the decline. They are for me. I just my body can't take them anymore. That's that's when you know you have a few of those. You're waking up at 3 a.m. with night sweats and a racing heart, and it's just not not not the party it used to be, Richie. It's not no, no, it's not the evolution of Wisconsin alcoholic food.
SPEAKER_01
27:11
I mean, literally, when I started, it was just brandy, brandy, brandy, right? For Wisconsin liquor. For Wisconsin specifically. I can't I can't speak to the early 2000s. Right. I can't speak to the rest of the country. Amen. So when when I first started, it was Corbell all day. That that's what you sold. I mean, even with thousands and thousands of SKUs, that was number one with an absolute bullet. Even if the rest of the country was on the uh the E and J tip, if you will, Corbell was just number one, punched above everything in the weight class. And I think while that still does sell quite a bit, you're really getting people into things like Armagnacs, higher-end brandies, cognacs, shifting to other drinks outside of brandy and old fashions, which, you know, when people are branching out, rums, tequila's, lesser heavy selections. Um Tito's has become an absolute juggernaut since I, you know, it wasn't a thing when I first started, but that is a brand that's unlike anything I've seen in the 20 plus years I've been in the industry. Tito's shot out of a can of what like five years ago? More more than that. More than that. Okay. I mean, it's on a run. I've I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, you know, for for Austin, right? Out of Texas, no flavors, no other brand extensions. I mean, they did just uh purchase a tequila brand, Lalo Tequila, but but at the time there was no flavors, no other uh any other brand extensions. It did, it did, and Deep Eddy still sells well, but T Dos, it's just a beast. It's just you know, you hear it everywhere you go. I'll have a T Dose, I'll have a you know, it's like it's like when you go to the pharmacy to say, I'll grab band-aids. Well, that's the that's the brand name. Now for vodka, you're supplanting just I'll have a T Dose. Fascinating to me. From a marketing perspective. As someone that studies marketing, I think it's just wild to me. Yeah. Any other brands that you think are really doing it right? Locally, nationally, internationally?
SPEAKER_00
29:10
It could be either.
SPEAKER_01
29:11
Yeah, no, I think bears looking and into going to your local wine spirit shops and checking out other family-owned wineries. That to me has always been a big, big thing, especially out of California. We love supporting local. Y'all are local. My my shop is local, and I think that speaks volumes, especially in this day and age, when you have certain wineries that are family-owned, local. We have a producer um from Sonoma, uh, they produce higher-end Zinfandels, and their their last name is Gamba, so it's a Gamba Gamba family winery, G-A-M-B-A, just for as one example. They've been farmers since the early 1900s, you know, over the last 25 years, they started making their own wine instead of selling their fruit. And folks like this are literally the American dream. So when you grab a bottle off the shelf, it really tells a story. They produced three different Zinfandels, all small production, under a thousand cases. This is not easy to do when you have these marketing juggernauts, you know, producing millions of cases of wine. And it's really cool to speak to that when you go to your local shop and ask for a family-owned producer and you get just this beautiful bottle of wine or or spirit or beer. And I think that's something to be incredibly proud of. At Central Waters, they've been doing it over 20 years. And you can go to the brewery in Hammerhurst, Wisconsin. You can, you know, you shake the hands of the owner while you're there. I mean, that that doesn't that experience doesn't always exist anymore. And I think that's a really special thing to say.
SPEAKER_00
30:47
Um go going off that a little bit, you've kind of ki carried on the torch and are building such a cool business and a community hub. What what are you most proud of when it comes to Rays?
SPEAKER_01
30:59
My goal is really to try and provide the best in customer service and selection. We try we try to make uh going to Raise more of an experience, not just someplace to get a a bottle of wine or booze or beer. We really want you to have a great time while you're there. As as I mentioned earlier, you can really find a lot of the products almost anywhere. So it means so much when when people step through that front door and know that you're supporting a local family-owned, owner-operated establishment. And I think that's really the most important thing. Um, our staff is like our family and our customers are too.
SPEAKER_00
31:34
Hey guys, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut with Ori Lave. Before signing off, I just want to thank our partners for making Milwaukee Uncut possible. Annex Wealth Management, Nicola, and Drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company.
Dating in Milwaukee: A Cougar Hunt, Date with a Musician gone wrong and a kidney stone issue…
We kick things off with some stories from Marleigh and then we get into the callers which included a date with a guy who had…
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We kick things off with some stories from Marleigh and then we get into the callers which included a date with a guy who had a kidney stone, an eventful date with a musician and a cougar hunt in North Dakota with Pat from the Crash Dummies.
He played the iconic character Todd Packer & Champ Kind. He was as Second City with Chris Farley, Amy Poehler and Steve Carell and has…
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He played the iconic character Todd Packer & Champ Kind. He was as Second City with Chris Farley, Amy Poehler and Steve Carell and has appeared in over 200 movies and different shows, most notably SNL, the Office and Anchorman.
Actor & Comedian David Koechner was nice enough to join us at Drink Wisconsinbly Pub when he was in town performing at the Improv In Brookfield this past weekend, we talked:
Packers/Chiefs
Growing up in the Midwest
Second City with Steve Carell, Chris Farley and Amy Poehler
