The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
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The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 111 - From Cocktails to CranFest: A Northern Wisconsin Journey
Ever wonder if those ready-to-drink cocktails are actually worth your time? This episode takes you on a journey through five different canned cocktails that might change how you stock your cooler this summer.
Mike (fighting through a springtime bug) and Suzy start by revisiting their experience at Between the Bluffs beer festival, highlighting their discovery of Meaningful Brewing—a 100% gluten-free beer line from O'so Brewing that impressed even their celiac-affected friend. After sharing stories about their Kentucky Derby gathering (complete with mint julep bourbon) and the fascinating lineage of this year's winner, they dive into the main event.
The cocktail showdown features three offerings from Leinenkugel's partnership with Central Standard Craft Distillery—Cherry Vodka Lemonade, Brandy Old-Fashioned, and Bourbon Old-Fashioned—alongside Crown Royal's Peach Whiskey Lemonade and Welch's Vodka Cranberry. What unfolds is a surprisingly definitive ranking with the Brandy Old-Fashioned emerging as the clear champion, capturing the unique Wisconsin supper club experience in aluminum form.
Between sips, Mike and Susie share fascinating glimpses into Wisconsin drinking culture, from the state's distinctive approach to Old-Fashioned's (with brandy and a splash of soda—heresy elsewhere) to legendary supper clubs like the Monkey's Roost, where the bartender has crafted tens of thousands of perfect cocktails over 40 years. They even detour into Wisconsin's cranberry country and the explosive growth of Warren's Cranberry Festival from 30 vendors to over 3,000.
Whether you're a cocktail enthusiast or simply looking for convenient alternatives to beer this summer, this episode offers practical insights, honest assessments, and a generous pour of Northwoods charm. Which canned cocktail will become your go-to? There's only one way to find out.
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Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast.
Speaker 2:Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy, and, as you can tell, I believe that I caught a bug, or I caught allergies, but I'm thinking it's a springtime bug. So I apologize up front for my voice, but today I am being joined once again by my lovely wife, susie.
Speaker 3:Hello there.
Speaker 2:How's it going today? Good, that's good. So today, well, first off, I want to kind of go back Now last week's podcast. We had recorded some at Between the Bluffs and we had talked about 10 breweries in particular. You know, one thing that I forgot to mention is that, oh so, brewing has come out with their own line of gluten-free beers, and a friend of ours is like uh, what do you?
Speaker 3:she's got celiac disease, which is a crazy um gluten intolerance, and she gets any gluten and it could send her to the hospital. So we have to be very careful when eating out, and especially when we enjoy a beverage or two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I remember the guy at the at Oso's booth made a special point to point out that these I think there was three of them, yeah, there was three that they were gluten-free and then the ones on the other side of the table were their normal ones and it was oh, what was the name of it? Meaningful? I'll look it up. Anyway, they had a like a lager or like a dark lager, an IPA and a sour, and it was kind of funny to me because the first thing that Noelle said was when she took a drink.
Speaker 2:She was like oh my gosh, this tastes like beer, you know, because they don't use sorghum in it, they use something else, and I can't remember what they said that that was. I don't know if you remember or not, but they said it wasn't sorghum and because that's what most other companies use in a gluten-free beer and it changes the flavor. And so, anyway, long story short, she enjoyed it. We had to go to the grocery store in La Crosse the next day and I'm not exactly sure how many four-packs she bought, but she cleaned them out of that lager, and I think she bought three four-packs of the IPA as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and interesting that they branded it differently than their normal beer. So it doesn't indicate that it's made by Oso. It's a different brand because they wanted to make sure that they separated the gluten-free from their normal beer. So just kind of interesting that their marketing, I guess process and how they are doing that.
Speaker 2:Was there any things that you tried there that you thought really stood out to you that we didn't cover last week?
Speaker 3:There was a power. It was like a zero calorie, zero carbonated. What was it called?
Speaker 2:Was that the one that had the coconut water in it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was made from coconut water.
Speaker 2:It was good, I was impressed and it's available at Quick Trips.
Speaker 3:Looks like it's in a Gatorade bottle.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:But it was very refreshing, something that you could definitely, and, if I remember, it was 5% ABV.
Speaker 2:I believe, yep, that you could definitely and if I remember it was 5% ABV.
Speaker 3:I believe, yep, they had a lemon lime and a I think it was a tangerine, mango tangerine or something.
Speaker 2:I forgot about that one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was interesting. That was really good too.
Speaker 2:So there's some interesting things that are coming out. Speaking of that, this week we've got some things that we picked up and I know, susie, you're probably thinking I can do, you know, taste more than just cocktails in a can, but these ones seemed kind of interesting to me, especially since they were made by. Three of them were made by Leinenkugels. I never even realized that they had these until basically a couple of days ago, and once again, quick Trip had them. So it was. It was, I guess, a good thing that way. What else have we had going on? Oh, we got the camper open.
Speaker 3:Yes, got the camper open, did a little. It was the Derby last week, so we did a little Derby party Part. Took in a little of some mint julep, bourbon Bourbon yeah, not the actual mint julep cocktail, but mint julep flavored bourbon by Old Forester.
Speaker 2:Old Forester, yeah, which was good, because the last couple years we've, and I don't know if I made them right or not. I've never had an actual mint julep to know what they are supposed to taste like. But you know, we made them in the past. People drank them but again I don't know if they were too sweet or not. I don't know because I've never actually had a legitimate one. So it was just seemed way easier to have this bourbon that was mint julep flavored.
Speaker 3:So yeah, we had. I think the first time that we got interested as a couple in watching for the Triple Crown was when I think it was American Pharaoh when it was going for the Triple Crown because there hadn't been one for years. And we had taken a little road trip to a little vacation spot north of where we live and ended at a little pub where we had lunch and then watched the race there and it was kind of neat because there were a lot of people that were tuned to the TV as well.
Speaker 3:And it was kind of neat to witness that in a different setting and very cool. But this last derby I thought was cool. One of the interesting facts was that every horse that was in the field was a direct descendant of secretariat that's, that's pretty crazy and the one that won it sovereignty was actually descendant of not only secretariat but Affirmed. And there was another one. There was like three Derby winners that were in the lineage there, so that's kind of cool.
Speaker 2:So he's probably set yeah pretty set.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I'm sure it was because we talked about it so much, but I have all sorts of feeds on my phone now that are talking about Secretariat and the different race winners and it's kind of neat to kind of get some history and some back history on. You know the horses that have won in the past and it's just, you know, like Secretariat never the records that he set in the three races will probably never be broken.
Speaker 2:I mean it's just crazy.
Speaker 3:I mean, he was the GOAT.
Speaker 2:He was yeah.
Speaker 3:And I think I had heard at one time, wasn't his heart like extremely large for?
Speaker 2:a normal horse or something like that. I think so, something like that, you know. So it's pretty crazy. But you know, and it's funny because, like you said, the Derby it seems like there's a lot more people are real interested in watching that one. But then, like when the, I don't know if the Preakness is next, or I think it's the Preakness. Preakness and then the Belmont, but it doesn't seem like you know, you don't have the pomp and circumstance like you do for the Derby.
Speaker 3:Well, it's because of the hats? Yeah, I think so. We always have a little hat party too at the camper, and everybody wears their favorite.
Speaker 2:Well it's not just us, but I mean, you know every place. You don't hear of people having oh, let's have a Preakness party, Right? You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's always, let's have a Derby party. Well, I think that's because it's, you know, the first race of the year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so yeah it was a muddy one this year. Oh yeah it. The horse goes to the winner's circle. They're actually hosing them off before they get to the winner's circle.
Speaker 2:That was kind of weird it was funny, because when you showed me that one picture, he was just covered and I thought how in the world? Did he not get it in his eyes?
Speaker 3:you know, it was just, it was wild yeah, the jockey had goggles, but not the horse. Not the horse that was wild.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you know it was. Uh, it was good. So, yep, it's always interesting to me when you open up the camper or close down, but when you open up, there's a lot of work. There's a lot of work, so you always got to come home and recuperate from going up to the camper to have fun, because you had to work your tail off to get it ready for the rest of the summer. So that's kind of where we're at there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we worked ourself up to a thirst but unfortunately had to get on the road so we couldn't even partake. So we waited until today.
Speaker 2:Yes, there you go. Well, yeah, so I guess let's talk about these cocktails in a can. So, like I said, I never realized that Lion and Kugel's had a line of these, and we just saw that they came out with another one, but that's not out in the stores yet, so that we have the first three and they sound interesting. Now they're based on drinks. So the first one that and now this is by it's with central standard is the name, and I don't know if you hear that, but our kitty is deciding she's going to crawl around in the bar, so if you hear some crashing, you'll know what it is. This one, the first one we have, is their Cherry Vodka Lemonade, and it's a ready-to-drink cocktail. Now I think it's vodka-based it's vodka-based.
Speaker 2:But I was going to say I think it's sure they have the writing on there so small you can't.
Speaker 3:I think these on there so small you can't. I think it's these are probably five percent is typically so. It has a like a proof on it. Yes, um, it says 16 proof oh, that'd be eight percent eight percent, eight percent by volume, vodka with real lemon and door county cherry juice there you go ready to drink cocktail so I don't know if they're.
Speaker 2:I was going to see if I could get some information on it, but we'll skip it and just go right to. I guess it is a little bit of a reddish tinge. I was thinking with cherry juice it might be a lot more red, but it's kind of a pinkish, kind of pinky. Ooh, that smells like cherry.
Speaker 3:Oh, it does it kind of smells like a kitty cocktail.
Speaker 2:There you go. I was trying to think what does that smell like? Like cherry juice, yeah, oh, it's very cherry. A lot of cherry.
Speaker 3:I can taste the vodka as well. It's a little flat for me.
Speaker 2:I would agree. It seems like I definitely get the cherry, the lemonade's a little bit. I don't know if I get rid of the lemonade flavor. Do you waiting for the bubbles?
Speaker 3:You know what I mean, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Because a lot of the other ones we've had are more carbonated.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Well, I mean it poured carbonated. Yeah, I mean there was a lot of bubbles when it came out. There was a head on it.
Speaker 2:And when you look at it, you can see the bubbles coming up from the bottom, but there's not a lot of carbonation to it, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say I would drink a lot of these.
Speaker 2:I would agree.
Speaker 3:A little bitter on the end. Yep, almost like a cherry pit. Kind of yeah, kind of yeah.
Speaker 2:I was going to say at first. I was going to say well, you know, if it's hot out and on a cold day, I don't necessarily know if I would reach for one of these if it was in the cooler per se. I mean, it's not offensive or nothing, but it just kind of leaves you wanting a little bit something more, you know. So it's not bad, but I guess I think I don't think it'd be my first choice right now.
Speaker 3:Even though it is the first one Right right. It's number one right now. It is right now.
Speaker 2:So you know our score from zero to five by a tenth of a point. What do you think for this one?
Speaker 3:I don't know the more I drink it. It's not as bad as the first couple tastes. I might do like a 2.1.
Speaker 2:Okay, I was going to say I'm at like a 2.3 is what I was thinking, a little below average, but you're right, and we're doing taster glasses, so it's not a huge amount. But the closer to the bottom I got, it did improve a little bit. But again, I guess it. To me it just seems like it was missing something Like I don't know if it's the, if it would have been a little bit more carbonated or not, I don't know, but it's just that's my opinion. It just seemed like it was a little bit lacking. I did enjoy the. I mean, I like cherry flavor and you could definitely taste the cherry. But yeah, I guess that's.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say it's. I think it may be the lemonade that's given it a little bit of the funk taste.
Speaker 2:Could be because I didn't taste, or, you know, pick up much of a lemonade flavor, though that's the sad part. I wonder if we should have rolled it.
Speaker 3:Yeah we'll try the next one and do that it could be.
Speaker 2:I don't know that it could be, I don't know now. Um, yeah, it's because we've had, you know, everybody's had, like vodka lemonade before and all that. Maybe not cherry, but, um, I was just expecting to have more of a lemonade flavor to be honest I thought the cherry would be the secondary flavor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean the cherry smell I think was more prevalent than the actual taste. I mean I like the smell better than I like the taste of the cherry. I'm not a huge cherry person but like the fruit I would pass in a line. I mean I wouldn't eat like raw cherries.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:However, kitty cocktails.
Speaker 1:Well, that's different. Dirty Shirley's.
Speaker 3:Yes, I could definitely do that Our daughter. When she was little, she used to call them Mary Moo Cows. Yeah, I don't know why or where she got them from, where she got them from or whatever.
Speaker 2:Yep, so that was always. Did I have a Mary Moo Cow? That was always funny, mm-hmm, so too much fun. Well, before we have the second one, a little bit of a story and it also involves our daughter. So the next two are actually a variation of an old-fashioned and apparently in Wisconsin is the only state in the union that has like mix in an old-fashioned apparently.
Speaker 3:It doesn't mix.
Speaker 2:The rest of them are just straight booze Are straight booze or like booze and vermouth or booze and bitters or whatever, and we I can't remember if it was The- first one we had was Empyrean Right yeah. And she had ordered one, and she took that first sip and she was like I think I need a pop she goes uh, dad taste this, and I'm like, okay, and I taste it. I'm like, yeah, she's like what's wrong with?
Speaker 3:it.
Speaker 2:And I go that's how other places make it that there's no soda.
Speaker 3:It's more like a Manhattan versus a.
Speaker 2:So it was funny. And then in Missouri they do the same thing, yep, so she had one someplace and said that she had to. Whoever made the bartender gave like a can of pop with it or something, because she was like, oh, thank you. So it was just kind of funny that I guess you know, being in Wisconsin, you just figured that's how everybody makes them, you know. But apparently not so kind of interesting. So the next one now I suppose we can do this one. So the next one, like I said, is an old-fashioned, but this is a brandy old-fashioned. Now you were able to read the deets on the first one, and this is the same.
Speaker 3:It's 8%, 16 proof, old-fashioned, made with North Wisconsin brandy, whatever that means. Yeah, you know, brandy, I think, is more of a Midwest, northern Midwest thing, though, because I know when we like to cruise and they don't really have, you know, they'll have like cognac or and that's like a aged or cognac.
Speaker 1:I've never had that. I don't know what that's even like.
Speaker 2:Isn't cognac like a type of brandy or something? I've heard it's kind of a shirt tail relation to almost to a wine. Oh, but I don't know, I've never actually had cognac. But yeah, you don't find as many brandies around as you do bourbons. Now this one is more red. I guess you could say it's a color of an old-fashioned.
Speaker 3:Oh, it smells like an old-fashioned.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, it smells, really good. All right, I hope I'm not disappointing.
Speaker 3:I hope, I hope, I hope.
Speaker 2:So let's give this a shot. That doesn't taste bad. That's not bad. That's good, that is not bad. That is better than the vodka lemonade one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Wow, I taste the orange, I taste the cherry, you get the cherry, but that orange, I think, overpowers it a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that's again like a secondary flavor almost.
Speaker 3:That's kind of a if people like whiskey, old fashions. One of the popular ones now is that Jameson Orange using. Jameson Orange to make an old fashion.
Speaker 2:So Jameson, like the Irish whiskey, yeah, the Irish whiskey, yep, Huh, mm-hmm, because of the orange, I suppose. It gives it that little more of a punch Interesting.
Speaker 3:This is good. I would drink more than one of these.
Speaker 2:This is yeah, and we're not drinking them on ice. No.
Speaker 3:Which we're just drinking them straight, which?
Speaker 2:You know, on the aftertaste I definitely get the orange.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:And it's a good orange.
Speaker 3:It's not, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow, that is wild. Very good Score-wise on this one. I like this. I think I'm going to go like a three.
Speaker 3:Oh, I would definitely go three, three, two, yeah, I think this is. I'm not a big brandy drinker because I had an episode one time with brandy. We won't go into that.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 3:But I don't drink a lot of brandy. If I have an old-fashioned, I'm a Southern Comfort or a Bourbon old-fashioned person versus the Brandy.
Speaker 2:Yep Boy, if you're ever in the, is it the Melrose area in Wisconsin? There's a little restaurant out in the middle of nowhere. It's called the Monkey's Roost.
Speaker 3:The Monkey's Roost. It's been there forever.
Speaker 2:Yep and the gentleman that owns it.
Speaker 3:Well, his name is Kevin.
Speaker 2:Kevin, yes's the bartender. I mean I think every time we've ever been there he's been bartending. He makes probably the most amazing old fashioned. And it was funny one time we were talking. The story starts out in Northern Wisconsin. We were talking to a younger guy that was working at a resort and we asked him how many old fashions he's made. And he said, well, in five years I've made about 50,000. And I thought, man, that's a lot of old fashions. And then we were at the monkey's roost and we talked to Kevin and I go how many, you know? I was telling him that story and I go how many, how many do you think you've made? And he goes well, first off, I've been doing this for 40 years. I don't know how many he makes when we're just sitting there waiting for a table or whatever. I mean everybody gets old fashions there and it's kind of an old fat time supper club kind of thing.
Speaker 3:Very, very typical Wisconsin supper club where you walk in and there's a bar that's dimly lit and you get your before dinner drink and put your name in for a table and they have a nice little salad bar, have a great fish fry fry, they have one of the best seafood platters ever yeah, that's um and they actually have german heritage and used to have quite a bit on their german menu. But I believe now you, if you call ahead, you can get some oh, you can get some things, but they used to have like pork hocks and sauerkraut and different kinds of schnitzels.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:German potato salad, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, very good, very typical Wisconsin supper club.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, yeah, Very much so. But like I said, boy, you want a good old-fashioned, go there.
Speaker 3:And one of his trademarks was always to give. I think back in the day I can remember my dad's been dead for you know 35 years we would go and they would. When they gave change I think the old fashions might have been like $1.50 or something like that Back in the day Back in the day.
Speaker 1:And he would give you a 50 cent piece as change and he still does that. I think I'm sure they work better.
Speaker 3:I think the old fashions are more like $6.50 or $7.50.
Speaker 2:But the change is still 50-cent pieces, so that's pretty wild. It's kind of their signature deal.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they have not, other than maybe the kitchen, I'm not sure. But as far as the decor, it's the exact same as when I went there, when I was with my parents when I was 12 years old. Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I'm going to be pushing what.
Speaker 2:Just slightly over 58 this year. Yeah, yeah, interesting. But you know there's other restaurants we've been to as well. That, yes, it's like a time warp at times, but it's like, if it works, why change it? Yeah, honestly For sure.
Speaker 3:We have some friends that will occasionally like during the winter, pick a Saturday in a month and do a different supper club, like travel a little ways to go to a different supper club. What was the name of the last one you went to? The one in?
Speaker 1:was it Trempealeau or?
Speaker 2:Galesville, galesville Was it Galesville, or Ettrick, or one of those?
Speaker 3:No, not Ettrick, it's. Was it Wash? It started with a W.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't remember the name of it.
Speaker 3:I should have wrote it down I should have. I'll look it up.
Speaker 2:You know it's rather interesting and I said that to say this. That was a pretty good ready-to-drink cocktail. I was impressed. We have one more and again, this is their Linnies and their Central Standard. Now I think that's the distillery that partnered with them, I believe.
Speaker 3:Craft Distillery Yep.
Speaker 2:So the last.
Speaker 3:So the logo is kind of cool. It's this guy and he's got like a Like a still or something Like a still or something on his back.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's pretty cool and we'll take a picture and post it so you can get to see it. This one is their bourbon, old fashioned, so it should have a little different flavor than the uh, the brandy. So we'll see here how it is. So I don't know if you're ready, or, and I'm sure, is this also the 16 proof, correct? Okay, and was there any?
Speaker 2:old-fashioned, made with bourbon whiskey okay, short, sweetened to the point. So it'll be interesting. Because the one thing I remember when, uh, kevin, we're talking to kevin about it, he, he basically said you can make an old-fashioned out of any kind of booze. Because he was like oh yeah, I make all sorts of them out of scotch and out of this and out of that.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't think you'd make it out of gin, though yeah, you wouldn't think so, or tequila or anything, I don't know, but he was just like he's probably tried, or had people ask for it, all right. So this one looks pretty similar in color to the brand, maybe a little bit darker maybe. Ooh, you smell the Bourbon Smell a little bit of a bourbon smell. A little bit of almost a deeper smell, kind of a darker smell.
Speaker 3:It's different.
Speaker 2:Definitely different Interesting. I might have to take another taste of it because it's got a different thing to it. I don't know. It's interesting, I don't know. I know I've had old fashions with bourbon before, but I'm trying to think if they tasted like this.
Speaker 3:Wasson's, wasson's Supper Club. Oh, there you go, s-w-a-s-o-n. And one of the cool things about Wasson's is their bar has like on the backside there are steps and they have like little baby Jesus chairs. So, the bar is like the bartender's, like below you, you know, and you are kind of sitting in these chairs.
Speaker 2:Like an elevated yeah yeah, it's kind of cool.
Speaker 1:It was different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember they used to have that in, I think it was West Salem, at the Westview I think they used to have a back bar like that. I haven't been there in years either to see if they still have that, but that was pretty cool and you know they always have, you know, like the popcorn and the games Now, so much they don't have like the bowling games or the games or the. Do you remember the trap shoot?
Speaker 1:duck game yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they don't have those Now they have the poker machines, pretty much Right, yeah, no, it's just a little different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is, it's not bad.
Speaker 3:It's not bad, but I wonder if we had tried them in reverse order, if it would have been different, different.
Speaker 2:Boy, because I hate to say it, but I I almost like the brandy better.
Speaker 3:I like the brandy one better, almost. It's a little bit sweeter.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't get as much as the orange.
Speaker 2:No, no, I think the bourbon might kind of knock it down a little bit. Yeah, Maybe I don't know, but it it has a different flavor to it. Again, it's not offensive or anything like that, but it's just, it's definitely different. And you know, I'm sure if you were a huge bourbon and I like bourbon, don't get me wrong, but I don't know. Of these three, I just, I think that this is my number two. So for a score, what are you thinking?
Speaker 3:Oh, I definitely liked it better than the cherry.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:Maybe like a 2.7, 2.6, 2.7.
Speaker 2:I was going to say a 2.6 is what I was going, a little better than average, but I do think, like I said, of those three, I think my order is the brandy, then the bourbon, then the cherry lemonade.
Speaker 2:But that is interesting. I'm glad that we tried them Because, like I said, I've never even heard of them before and it's been a while since we've tried any kind of cocktails. So we got two other ones that we're going to try as well, a little different from. They're not made by lineys or anything like that, so I'm not exactly sure what, uh, what, they're going to be like, so we're going to give them a whirl and, uh, keep our fingers crossed that hopefully they're decent, are you uh?
Speaker 3:I'm not quite done, not quite done.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I may have to try that brandy one again when we're done. Uh, so the next one we have is the crown royal peach whiskey whiskey, lemonade peach okay, so this should be interesting, because I don't.
Speaker 3:You're not necessarily a big I'm not a big peach fan and I peach is okay.
Speaker 2:I'd rather have mango. I guess for a flavor, but we'll see how this is.
Speaker 3:So we had vodka, we had brandy, we had bourbon, and now we're at Crown Royal. I can smell the peach already.
Speaker 2:Oh, jeepers, yeah, that's a lot of peach.
Speaker 3:I'm not. It's like half a foot away from me and I can smell it.
Speaker 2:Ooh the peachness.
Speaker 3:It's definitely kind of that peach color you know, you know what it smells like Shirley's Peach Moonshine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sure does. I was going to say it almost had a. No, that's definitely peach At first I was going to say like a tangerine-y kind of smell, but no, that's peach.
Speaker 3:So my sister, Shirley makes a makeshift moonshine with peaches in it and that's pretty good.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's.
Speaker 3:So you took the first sip. What is?
Speaker 2:it. I took the first sip. It's peachy, holy peach. I was going to say Wow, that's like biting into like it's peachy.
Speaker 3:I mean it's good. I mean, if you like peach, I think it's like biting into, like a fresh peach, right. You know, it's almost, I don't want to Without the slurpy stuff going down your face.
Speaker 2:Right, it's almost like it's more.
Speaker 3:I don't get a lemonade though.
Speaker 2:No, I don't either. I get 100% peach. I'm trying to think, especially compared to the last one, that bourbon one, this one seems like the taste is almost more of a brighter, you know what I mean, more of a, I don't know. You know what I'm trying to say, like whoa, you know, but boy, it is peach all day long, that is for sure. Did we see what the percent was 7% right here Yep 7%, so 14 proof.
Speaker 2:So just 1% under the. So it's in the same category, you know. As far as ABV goes, it's not bad.
Speaker 3:I mean, I think this is a little better than the bourbon old-fashioned what did you say? Even though I'm not a big peach fan, Right?
Speaker 2:right, it's good, I mean it's different. There's a lot of peach going on there, a lot of peach. I think I could do one. Maybe and I think, maybe then it would be, I got enough peach, I'm going to get something else?
Speaker 3:Does it say that it's blended Canadian whiskey, lemon peach, lemon peach, punctuation and other natural flavors?
Speaker 2:I don't know if I, like you said, I don't know if I get a lemon flavor, maybe right after you swallow and right before the peach really kicks in, but that's the only spot I could really even somewhat pick up any of a lemonade type flavor.
Speaker 3:So, oh, so, this is interesting 21 plus. It has right on the can it says 21 plus, except USVI, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, which is 18. I didn't realize they only had to be 18 to drink in.
Speaker 2:Puerto.
Speaker 3:Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Speaker 2:Interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I learned something new today. Yeah, see, on the side of a Virgin Islands Interesting. Yeah, I learned something new today.
Speaker 2:See, on the side of a peach can.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh Drink responsibly.
Speaker 2:Score-wise, I do agree with you. I think I like this one a little bit better than that bourbon one, Mm-hmm, I went what 2.7? On the bourbons, I'll go a 2.8. It wasn't as good as the brandy, my opinion, but it's good. But like I said, I just I could drink a can of it, I think, and then I'd probably get peached out a little bit. I wouldn't want to drink, sit and drink this all night.
Speaker 3:My opinion and for not being a peach fan. It's not offensive to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the part that's interesting because, I've never had any of these and usually I'm not a big, you know, cocktail in a can person, but we've definitely. This is our third episode that we've done some of these and they're good. I give them credit In a pinch yes.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, or whatever, but there are times when it's like, wow, yeah, that's not bad, you know. So we got one left and this one is going to be somewhat interesting. This is made by Welch's Welch's Like the juice people, and right on top of the can they're getting into the alcohol game Yep. Right on top of the can it says contains alcohol.
Speaker 3:And then it says what does it say? Welch's craft cocktails ready to drink vodka, cranberry vodka with natural flavors. Real fruit juice, 5.9% alcohol by volume 12 fluid ounces juice, 5.9% alcohol by volume 12 lb.
Speaker 2:So you would think, for juice-wise Welch's should have the advantage over all these other ones, wouldn't?
Speaker 3:you Hypothetically.
Speaker 2:Because I mean Welch's. That's what they were known for is fruit juice, so this is vodka. Cranberry did you say cranberry lemonade?
Speaker 3:No, just cranberry Vodka, cranberry Vodka, cranberry. So if you had issues with your kidneys, See there you go, you can tell your doctor look at that, it's functional.
Speaker 2:See, not only do we entertain, but we educate.
Speaker 3:We educate right.
Speaker 2:So Susie's just reading the can Reading the can here.
Speaker 3:Oh, I think they're bottled in New Berlin, wisconsin. Produced by Coop Beverage Works New Berlin, wisconsin. Produced by Coop Beverage Works New Berlin, wisconsin. Interesting yeah.
Speaker 2:I did not know that. Now, this one, I did pick up at the beer shop and they had the cranberry and they had a grape one, I believe. But the last time our daughter was home she took that one.
Speaker 3:She's a big fan of the juice ones yeah.
Speaker 2:So she tried it and she said it was very good. So we'll see how the vodka cranberry now this one, I would think, would be red, wouldn't you think I'm?
Speaker 3:I would think I don't know. Pink oh, it's red, it's really red it is really red, so Like cranberry juice.
Speaker 3:And we are in cranberry country. For those of our listeners that are not from the Midwest, wisconsin is a very large producer of cranberries. We have a little town not far from here Actually, my father was born in Warrens, wisconsin and they have every year in September towards the end of September, during the cranberry harvest, they have what's called Warren's Cranberry Fest and it's a craft swap meet type festival. They have a parade, they have royalty, the cranberry queen and all of that and the very first Warren's Cranberry Fest. I remember going to. My parents owned, believe it or not, a ceramic studio which my mother still has all of the molds in the basement. We went there to display our wares and we were one of 30 booths that they had at the very first Warren's Cranberry Fest and now they have over 3 000 oh, my word yeah, and they bus people in from all over.
Speaker 3:It's a huge, huge revenue generator for the area, obviously because warren's itself is is unincorporated right, they have, they have a little post office they do have a fire department too yep, they do have a brewery there, but they and that's been there. What a couple years.
Speaker 3:A couple years, yeah, bog's edge yeah, we were there a couple month or two or two months ago maybe, yeah, it's, it's out in the middle of nowhere, warren's so when you first were there, there was 30 booths, 30 booths. We were yeah, yep what. The last year that we were, I think we went probably five or six years, and the last year that we were there it was always the last weekend in September. It was so cold we had snowmobile suits on because it snowed, and my dad was like we're done with this, and they were getting older at that point.
Speaker 3:And it was a lot of work because ceramics obviously are breakable.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 3:So every day you had to tear down and put things away and all of that. So it was a lot of work, for at the time, you know, there weren't that many people, but I can't even I don't even know how many people they draw. Now I should look it up. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3:It's a crazy amount of people that come through the area. The last time that I went with a friend you have to make it all day because you got to get there early if you're going to get a good parking spot. And then you have to take a cooler and you have to take.
Speaker 3:You know things to drink your beverage of choice Beverage of choice and some snacks and some lawn chairs, and because every time you need to unload you want to park close so that you can go to the car, drop off your stuff and then have a little snacky, have a little beverage.
Speaker 2:So basically it takes over the entire town.
Speaker 3:Oh that there's a huge, huge field and all of the streets are shut down.
Speaker 2:So like in people's yards and stuff. Do they have booths there? Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3:There are so many booths there that there are some people that are not very smart and decide to bring like strollers and kids and dogs and that kind of thing. But there's hardly room for a row of people to go through each way down the aisles.
Speaker 3:But they do have, like you know, I don't think they necessarily have like a map of the vendors, but I know that they'll have all the food kind of in one area and then like the swap meet, like flea market, stuff might be in one spot but then they'll have crafts or um homemade items like you know, like lotions or soaps, or you know woodworking or antler art, or I think the last time I was there I bought that um antler chandelier from that guy in fairchild.
Speaker 2:So I and I I would imagine if, if a person or whatever, if they, if they're going every year, they probably get maybe the same booth space yes, they do and you yep, and so people that have been going they know where to go back.
Speaker 3:Right Interesting Yep.
Speaker 2:Hey, why don't we try this vodka cranberry from Welch's and see if they know what they're doing? Tastes like cranberry juice I didn't get a lot of aroma.
Speaker 3:No, not a lot of vodka either, which is not a bad thing.
Speaker 2:No, for sure, but yeah, I don't know if I.
Speaker 3:It's very cranberry. It's very tart, very. I don't know if I.
Speaker 2:It's very cranberry.
Speaker 3:It's very tart Very cranberry, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:So that's interesting. Well, I suppose you'd really have to put a lot of vodka in there to kind of dilute that cranberry flavor. Mm-hmm, and maybe that's when people have a vodka cranberry, that's what they're more wanting. Is that cranberry? I can say this it definitely has a little better flavor than most of the cranberry beers that I've ever had. Usually those are not the best, for some reason, on the taste scale, but this one it's not bad.
Speaker 3:It's not bad, but it's.
Speaker 2:But I definitely wouldn't be drinking it all day.
Speaker 3:No, no. So the 2024 festival donated $97,000 to local organizations.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:It's a fundraiser for a lot of people and things. If you would think they'd have like fun facts page or something.
Speaker 2:Well, I think the one thing we can get out of that is if you're going to go, go early.
Speaker 3:Yep got to go early.
Speaker 2:Interesting. I have never been there and I'm guessing know there's so much stuff that I would probably run out of gas before we got through you wouldn't like it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's not a guy thing, it's more of a chick thing sure all right. Well, that's good so yeah, I mean cranberry, I mean it's definitely cranberry and, like I said, I don't mind it.
Speaker 2:I don't mind drinking the juice. Part of it is good, I mean take another sip.
Speaker 3:I mean it, but, but cranberry is tart anyway. It might be good with a little spritzer of Starry or like Diet 7 or something.
Speaker 2:I just don't taste any vodka.
Speaker 3:Which it's 7%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mean it's or no, 5.9. Oh, it's 5.9. So this is, this is a loss, okay, which?
Speaker 3:is Again. It's not. It's not bad, Not bad. It could sneak up on you if you don't taste the vodka.
Speaker 2:I would agree. If somebody just thought they were drinking cranberry juice all day, then I think it would get you in trouble.
Speaker 3:I don't think I could have more than one. No, it's very tart. It's very tart.
Speaker 2:And it's good. I like cranberry juice. It does have that like it dries your mouth out at the end, you know, yeah, so yeah, it's not like having a.
Speaker 3:you know where they have, like the cran raspberry or the you know the juice or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that has a little bit of sweeter sweetness to it.
Speaker 3:There's no sweetness in this whatsoever.
Speaker 2:No, no, not at all. Well, all right, I guess, score wise I would.
Speaker 3:I'm torn on it a little bit, I think the Cherry Vodka Lemonade is probably the worst one for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I would agree. And then the Vodka Cranberry, yeah, and the Bourbon.
Speaker 2:Score-wise, I'm going to put that Vodka Cranberry at like a 2.3. Yeah, you know somewhere in there, mm-hmm. So I think we're pretty much in agreement. So we're going to put the cherry vodka is number five, welch's number four, the bourbon old-fashioned is three, the peach, surprisingly is two and we're going to have the winner be the brandy old-fashioned from Limey's.
Speaker 3:Now there is another company that has a canned brandy, old-fashioned too.
Speaker 2:We should probably try to I don't know if they make it, but isn't it like branded under the drink, wisconsinably?
Speaker 3:I think so, I think so yeah.
Speaker 2:So we'll have to look for that and, like I said, I do know that Lainey's has a new flavor coming out. Yeah, and that is a.
Speaker 3:It's a rocket, pop, rocket pop, yeah, so I don't know Rocket pop yeah.
Speaker 2:So I don't know. I'm guessing it's going to taste maybe like a bomb pop. So we'll have to keep an eye out for that. And, like I said, the nice thing when I found these, the Lainez ones, they were at Quick Trip in Wisconsin. I can't say they're going to be in any other states that a Quick Trip is in, or maybe they're not at every location, but they were where I was at and you could buy a four pack of them or individual cans, so I just bought one of each of them to try them today. It was interesting. I'm glad we did it and, like I said we'll, we'll definitely try the, the bomb pop.
Speaker 3:And it's called rocket pop, rocket pop, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:So I'm sure bomb pop is trademarked.
Speaker 3:So blue raspberry and real, so that one is cherry flavored vodka, blue raspberry and real lemonade.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, we'll see. The one thing I've noticed it doesn't matter who made them, so far lemonade doesn't stand out very well. Not so much, not so much.
Speaker 3:I do think we need to look at. So before we close we should go back and just look up that Oso stuff.
Speaker 2:Oh yes.
Speaker 3:So Oso gluten-free Look up Oso gluten-free.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to remember if there was any other thing.
Speaker 3:Like you said that coconut water thing. They were on the end, the coconut water one, yes. So what was that they were?
Speaker 2:over by the Humble Forager van, but that's a brewery and they were over on that right next to them.
Speaker 3:it wasn't that beat box thing that was a different, that was a different another thing I should have wrote it down oh so brewery, yeah, so right yep, oh, apostrophe s o oh, it's old apostrophe yep, I'll look as well.
Speaker 2:Meaningful brewing company and it says they also have gluten-free options on their menu, including pizza and other dishes. Meaningful Brewing Company is a 100% gluten-free brewery focused on making great-tasting low-ABV gluten-free beers. So that one, like I said, I was.
Speaker 3:I wonder, if it's certified gluten-free, they probably have to have it separated from their other. I would guess they probably have. They wouldn't probably have to have it separated from their other. I would guess they probably have.
Speaker 2:They wouldn't be able to run it through the same machines.
Speaker 2:Right they're in Plover, wisconsin. I've not been to their new, the newer building. When we were there it was in a like a strip mall. It was a tasting room and the brewery were in the strip mall. So, let's see, okay, gluten-free spirits they also have their hashtag. Collection of spirits are also gluten-free and gmo free, let's see. So, yeah, they've got. They also have a line of 70 dark chocolate bars that are also gluten-free. Oh, so that's interesting because, again, like we said, our friend, she is like deathly allergic to gluten and we did go with them, uh, to a brewery up in the cities that was gluten-free and they had the food, snacks, everything was gluten-free. Um, but I think they use sorghum in their beer, so it does have a little bit different flavor what did they use?
Speaker 2:did it say um, I did not see, let me, let me look. Do you have, uh anything you want to talk about while I'm looking?
Speaker 3:I was just trying to look up that coconut alcohol drink.
Speaker 2:Right, what did I say? It was Meaningful.
Speaker 3:Meaningful.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's see, here we go. Meaningful Brewing Company. All right, At Meaningful Brewing Company, we've embarked on a mission to redefine the boundaries of gluten-free beer or gluten-free brewing, ensuring that everyone can enjoy the rich flavors and aromas of exceptional beer. We meticulously select gluten-free grains and ingredients to create a range of brews that captivate the palate. At Meaningful and this is kind of interesting from a marketing standpoint it's capital M-E-A-N-I-N, capital G capital F-U-L.
Speaker 3:Oh so gluten-free.
Speaker 2:Gluten-free.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a cool idea so that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:So they make a pink guava sour, a hazy IPA and a dark mild is what it's called, and I'm trying to see if it says what they use, because I know that the gentleman that was at Between the Bluffs did tell us and I it's not saying on here. Let's see if I blow up the, I blow it up and it gets real pixelated.
Speaker 3:um, I want to say. It was like the coconut water thing was like zero something or it could be, it could have been, but it was really good.
Speaker 2:And when you said here, taste this, I had no idea that there was. That was five percent abv.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was the cool thing about it was it was not carbonated. So if you have friends that can't do carbonation, we have a friend that can't do anything with bubbles in it, and she loves the Happy Thursdays, which we've done on here before, I think, haven't we?
Speaker 2:Have we done the Happy Thursdays? I don't think we've done those yet. They're by Liney's as well, aren't they? They could be. Yeah, yeah, we've never. I don't think we've done those. We've done Carbless a couple times, because we did the regular and then the Margarita flavors.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And then these, so yeah, but the Happy Thursdays are, they're. It's almost like drinking a, which is kind of scary because you can just drink it and drink it and those bubbles don't get you full Gotcha.
Speaker 2:Interesting. Yeah, well, cool. So yeah, I guess I'd say the brandy, old-fashioned is the winner today. Yeah, if you get a chance, stop by Quick Trip or wherever else they're sold. I'm sure that's not the only place, but that was the closest place to us. Pick them up. Like I said, you can get them in four packs or you can buy just individual cans. Uh, I think they're worth, they'll be worth your while to try them. Like I said, the, the, the vodka, the cherry vodka one I think they need to tweak a little bit, but uh, they're good. And the other two I mean all of these actually they were good.
Speaker 3:Just kind of varying degrees of goodness I guess yeah, yep, um, we're kind of dedicating this episode to the Mary Mukau girl, callie, who when she was younger liked the Mary Mukaus, but this weekend is going to be graduating from college. I can't believe she's that old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, she's crazy so.
Speaker 3:Yep, the pigtails and Mary Mukaus have turned into other adventures in college, basketball and life in general.
Speaker 2:So pretty crazy. And I just can't figure out how she's 22, because I'm only 26.
Speaker 3:And she actually got to see her first armadillo in Missouri. It was dead on the road but she still. I didn't know that they had armadillos there, but apparently they do you learn something every day, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So kudos and shout out to Cal for making it four years. So I didn't know that they had armadillos there, but apparently they do you learn something every day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So kudos and shout out to Cal for making it four years, Yep and going on to her master's degree and life, jobs and all All that stuff, Big person jobs Yep yep Adulting.
Speaker 2:There you go, because it's not always that fun. No.
Speaker 3:Yes, adulting, there you go. It's not always that fun. So no, yes, but um yeah. She'll hopefully be home soon to be able to join us at her special place. She's named after the lake that we have our camper on, callahan lake in hayward, wisconsin yep um, so she'll be able to go up there and enjoy a little bit of time this summer, so, and now that she's done with basketball, we'll actually I'll be having her on the podcast at some point because we just didn't want to do anything that could be bad.
Speaker 2:So, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you really enjoy this and, like I said, try these canned cocktails. They've honestly been really surprising to me, because sometimes you just got to have something other than beer at times and, like I said, I think these are all worth your while to try.
Speaker 3:And if it's in a can, you don't have to worry about the pour. I'm a heavy pourer and can sometimes get out of hand. Yeah, there you go, it's all measured for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you just pour it into your glass or into your mouth. So you're good, well, awesome, well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening and, like we always, say I hope your campfire is always warm and your beer is always cold.
Speaker 3:See ya, See ya.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. If you have a question, a comment or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom. You can also find us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. If you're on untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a front request Until next week. I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
