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Central Standard Craft Distillery has announced the second slate of inductees into the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame.
The inductees were selected from more than 100 nominations from around the state and from as distant as Virginia.
“We were incredibly impressed by all the nominations,” Central Standard Co-Founder Pat McQuillan said. “Reviewing the submissions reminded us of the passion that everyday Wisconsinites and folks from across the country have for our state’s favorite cocktail.”
The first group of six Hall of Famers was inducted last year.
Here are the inductees in the second annual class of HOF’ers, with descriptions provided by the Milwaukee distillery.
Tim Okonek, from Muskego, received a record 36 nominations, which is triple the number of any previous nominee.
In one nomination, a regular at Wegner’s St. Martin’s Inn wrote of the part-time bartender “Tim makes the best Brandy Old Fashioned. People from all over the state travel to the restaurant just to try it.”
Greg Sopa, from Champaign, Illinois, is a Wisconsin transplant to Central Illinois where he is spreading the love of the Brandy Old Fashioned one handcrafted cocktail at a time during pre-college football game tailgates, holiday parties and beyond.
Lauren Sivak, from Lake Geneva, is a second-year nominee who received 18 nominations in 2023. In her spare time, the working mother of three – Tommy (age 4), David (2) and Ellie (1) – travels to supper clubs with her husband Brian to learn more about the cocktail and hone her locally famous recipe.
Bryce & Kelli Butenhof, from Menomonee Falls, who were married in Hawaii in April, are a welcome addition to any and of their friends’ parties for Bryce’s legendary Brandy Old-Fashioned recipe and Kelli’s ever-growing collection of “Call Me Old Fashioned” T-shirts.
Thomas De Guelle, from Hortonville, received five nominations and is known for carrying his own traveling Old Fashioned kit and muddling every Old Fashioned he makes no matter the location.
Last but definitely not least are 96-year-old Valencia Grunenwald and her son Mike Grunenwald, from Merrill, who co-own the Beacon, which is part restaurant, catering, discount liquor, tavern and gifts all in one.
The Grunenwalds have owned the Beacon since 1960 and according to Mike’s nomination “my 96-year-old mother still helps out daily and is a spitfire with an extreme passion for serving her customers.”
Each inductee gets a year’s supply of Central Standard’s North Wisconsin brandy; two custom bottles of North Wisconsin brandy with their photo on the label; lifetime VIP status at the Central Standard Crafthouse & Kitchen, 320 E. Clybourn St.; and recognition in the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame at the Crafthouse & Kitchen.
“These inductees embody what the Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame is all about,” Central Standard Co-Founder Evan Hughes said. “It was designed to honor everyday folks who truly love and love serving our state’s unofficial cocktail.”
Nominations opened in September, which is Brandy Old Fashioned Month in Wisconsin.
“Brandy Old Fashioned month and the hall of fame were both created to connect Wisconsinites with the great local distilleries we have here in the state,” said Hughes, who also serves on the board of the Wisconsin Distillers Guild.
“The spirits industry in Wisconsin supports more than 39,000 jobs from family farmers and truck drivers to glass-bottle makers and those in the hospitality industries. In all, Wisconsin distilleries impact billions of dollars in economic activity every year in our state and beyond.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
