August 8, 2025 • 44 mins
Ever wondered what happens when farm heritage meets craft beer tasting? This episode delivers both in a refreshing blend of Wisconsin history and stout comparison.
Jim's family farm just received Wisconsin's prestigious sesquicentennial award, recognizing 150 years of continuous family ownership—an honor bestowed on only 1,065 farms in state history. As we sample three distinct stouts, Jim shares the remarkable journey of his ancestors who immigrated from Norway in the 1860s to establish what would become a six-generation legacy. From the original boundary deed describing a road "wide enough for a team of four horses" to the surprising revelation that tobacco was once their primary cash crop, the farm's history provides fascinating context for our beer appreciation.
Our three-way stout comparison features Hillsboro Brewing's Badger Sweat (vanilla bean milk stout), Tallgrass Brewing's Buffalo Sweat (oatmeal cream stout), and Sand Creek's Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. We evaluate each beer's distinct characteristics—creaminess, chocolate notes, smoothness—while discussing what makes these approachable stouts perfect gateway beers for those hesitant to explore darker brews. The verdict? Buffalo Sweat and Oscar's essentially tie for first place, with Badger Sweat placing third due to its more muted flavor profile.
The parallels between preserving agricultural heritage and appreciating well-crafted beer aren't lost on us. Both require dedication, attention to detail, and respect for tradition while adapting to changing times. Whether you're interested in Wisconsin farming history, craft beer exploration, or simply enjoy hearing stories of family legacy, this episode offers something to savor.
Join us next time as we look ahead to our annual Augustoberfest beer exploration—our third year diving into this seasonal favorite. Until then, we hope your campfires are always warm and your beers always cold!
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.
If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen,welcome back to the Northwoods
Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and, as always, I am
joined by Jim.
Hey, buddy, how you doing?
Doing good man, how aboutyourself?
Another?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
exciting day.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yep, yep, we are, I think, officially getting into
the dog days of summer.
Yes, it's been warm, toasty,humid.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Looks like toasted oats All the things I don't like
.
Yes, I can actually see in someof your fields around here it
looks like they're starting toget a little bit of heat
pressure on them.
Yeah, drying out a little bityou know they were.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
They started off this spring.
They didn't look very good, Ithought, and then then they got.
Well, I thought, pretty good,uh, and like you said, now
they're getting to the point.
I think they're getting alittle stressed.
Possibly.
I don't know, I'm not the.
There's another gentlemanthat's actually farming my field
.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
But I look at it and go, hmm, I don't know you can
kind of tell when you look outthere now, the color is a little
bit bit different than what itwas.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yep, it's not that nice dark green on the soybeans.
So we'll see what happens.
I'm sure the deer still like iteither way.
Oh, they're in there everynight.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I don't mind that part.
They don't distinguish betweenheat stress and Apparently not.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, you thought the deer would have learned that
the parents would have taughtthem Right, Exactly, Right,
exactly.
Yeah, well, I don't know, I'mguessing.
Well, we'll get into this in alittle bit.
This week we're doing a littlebit of a different podcast.
We're going to do ahead-to-head-to-head comparison.
Ooh, head-to-head-to-head.
Do we got a third person?
We got a third beer?
Oh, not a third person, no,just the two persons, but three
(02:00):
beers.
There you go, and these are allones.
I know we've had two for sureon the podcast and I can't
remember the first one we've had.
We probably have, but we'venever actually really compared
them head-to-head.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And why are we comparing them head-to-head For
something to do?
But I mean, are they the samestyle or is it a brewery?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
No, they're different breweries.
Okay, so we've got.
I'll tell you what they are.
First off from HillsboroBrewing in Hillsboro, wisconsin.
We have Badger Sweat Okay, andthat is a vanilla bean milk
stout.
Okay, now, I always figuredthat Badger Sweat was kind of
their version of Buffalo Sweat.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh, from Tallgrass.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Okay, so we have a Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat and
that's out of Kansas Yep,actually Wichita, kansas.
Now, okay, and that's anoatmeal cream stout.
All right, that's so far, sogood.
And then I thought, well, wecan't just have two.
Okay, you know, we got to havesomething else.
So we're gonna be even morelocal and we've got an oscars
(02:57):
from sand creek, which is inblack river falls, wisconsin.
Now, this is a chocolateoatmeal stout.
So they're technically not thesame but they're real close,
very close.
And you know, buffalo sweat andOscars has always kind of been
my just go-to Standby, yeah, youknow, like an easier drinking
stout.
(03:17):
When Tallgrass quit makingBuffalo sweat, then I switched
to Oscars being that go-to.
You know, I had a Badger Sweatthis weekend and I thought, you
know, we should just comparethem just to see how they
compare to each other.
You know we can still give ascore or you know what we can do
is just go first, second, thirdin this comparison.
We could do that.
(03:38):
So we've only got three beersand honestly, the reason we only
have three beers is we havesome information to talk about.
Oh, do we?
Yeah, so if you remember, justa few days ago, on Tuesday, you
had kind of an interesting, kindof a special day.
I guess you could say yeah.
So I thought we should maybetalk about it and tell the folks
(04:00):
what went down.
All right, we can do that.
So what did you do on tuesdayto start with, all right?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
so we um were recognized by the state of
wisconsin, we being the olsenfamily, because we have had our
farm in continuous family, thesame family ownership, for more
than 150 years.
Wow, so we received a let memake sure I say this right
(04:28):
sesquicentennial farm awardprogram at the Wisconsin State
Fair on.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Tuesday Awesome, so now has it been?
Is it just 150 years or has itbeen a few more years?
Do you know?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So that's an interesting question, and the
reason why it's interesting isbecause we have records that
show when the Olsen familyimmigrated from Norway to the
United States and we actuallyhave some of the historical
documents from the town theylived in, okay, which shows that
they left there in 1860.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Okay, that they left there in 1860.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay, and then the challenge is then the first
recorded like actually writtendown documentation here in the
United States is 1874.
Okay, so you and I both know itdidn't take 14 years for that
ship.
That would really be a slowboat and I don't know if they
would have survived.
So I know that.
(05:25):
But the hard part is there's no, they didn't leave a diary.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
But even in the county registrar's office or
anything they don't have.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So the only thing that is there because I did this
research, there was the census.
Oh, okay, so that shows censusthat they were, you know, and
that's every 10 years, so 1860,there was nothing but 1870, it
does show that they, so odds arein the 1860s at some point is
(05:58):
when they probably got I don'twant to say bought the farm.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That sounds terrible, but you know that they started
on the farm Right.
Terrible, but you know thatthey started, uh, on the farm
right interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
So the uh, but the challenge that I think I've seen
is that it looks like from whatI found is that the olsen
family is one of the very firstsettlers in the leon valley area
part, you know, part of monroe,county nice.
Okay, so there was, I think,just one gentleman he was a
logger from New York, wow whohad moved there in the 1840s.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And his name was James Cannon.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Ergo Cannon Valley.
I had no idea.
I was going to ask you that youknow how that came about too.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So he actually married one of my.
You know, the first peoplemoved over.
They had it was a husband andwife and children.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And when the children , and when the children, when
the girls got old enough, shemarried james cannon and is
buried in that there's all threeof them are buried in a small
plot out by the farm.
Wow, that's interesting.
Now, when they first settledthere, did you find out how how
many acres the farm was to beginwith?
Do you know that, or so is thatanother kind of tough well it
thing to find it?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
looks.
So the challenge with that onedoing because it doing a of
research, it was a little toughto figure out all these because
I wanted to know myself too.
Right, the way that they wouldarticulate a lot of these was
like the half of a section or aquarter of a quarter of a
quarter, like today.
They talk about parcel numbers.
Yep, there were no parcelnumbers then, it was all.
(07:23):
They tried to keep it in thedimensions of the 640-acre
section, right?
Yep, so it appears that therewas about 300 acres initially.
Initially, and it looks like,and again, the challenge was
they would use topographical orgeographical boundaries rather
(07:44):
than like today, where we havelike a straight azimuth.
There were no straight lines inthe way the farm was put
together, right they?
Even one of the boundaries wasconsidered a crick oh really,
and that's still one of theboundaries today and then
actually another one when youlook in the deed it talks about
that.
The right of way, which todayis supposed to be 66 feet, was
(08:06):
wide enough for a team of fourhorses.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Oh really.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Right, that's how it's written in the deed.
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Huh, yeah, you know it is pretty crazy when you
think about how far we've comein.
Just that you know thesurveying and all that kind of
stuff too.
So now this, like you said, wasback in probably the 1860s,
Right, man, you think about it.
So Wisconsin had only been astate for very few Since 1848,
yeah, less than 20 years, yeah,not that many years.
(08:32):
The Civil War was just over.
Wow, that's pretty wild.
So they moved here from Norway.
You said, okay.
And now, I'm sure, when theyfirst got here, of course it was
set up.
Was it always, you know, didthey always have crops, or was
it a farm, or was it more justyou know?
Like they built a house and itwas all wooded and then they
(08:53):
started to grow stuff, or youknow what I'm saying?
I mean, I'm just kind ofinterested to see how it's
transitioned from when it wasprobably forest to today, when
it was probably forest to today.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So, from my understanding because my father
actually seen the original cabinthat they built, so that was, I
think, the very first they musthave from what he remembered
got to the current farm in thespringtime and it was fully
wooded and they were able to usethe existing trees to build
that first cabin, because Ithink that was I think six of
(09:27):
them that lived in that firstcabin and then they eventually
started clearing some of theland because it's also part of
it's.
You know, got the swamp with it, so there wasn't a lot of trees
, so I'm sure they started nextto the creek In the front and
worked their way in and thenworked their way into the Gotcha
.
So I think there was some thatwas open already.
But they, I think, were always,you know, working on trying,
(09:49):
because they once they built thefirst house and then, with
those parents, when they passedaway, then you know my, it'd be
my great grandparents, jens andCaroline.
They had 12 children, so theyhad to get a bigger house.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Oh sure.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So then they built, and right now our neighbor still
uses it as a hunting cabin.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
That house is still there and I have seen that and
it's pretty incredible, honestly, to think it's that old Right
you know from the 1800s.
Yeah, it's pretty wild,especially in Wisconsin with the
winters, and you know what I'msaying.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
all that kind of stuff, it's not like it's uh
easy to preserve things, what'seven more interesting is I can
remember growing up and goingwalking by that house and I was
before I joined the military andI can still remember walking by
.
All the windows are broke outand having cows walking through
that house and they were, youcan see the cows and so it
wasn't like you know.
(10:40):
It was very well preserved,right.
It had been left open andunkept for 25, 30 years and then
the neighbor, he took it over.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
He took it over Okay.
And got it refurbished, and Iknow he still uses the stove to
heat the house and to cook hisfood on it too, when he's there
hunting, because there's noelectricity or running water,
Right, Because I remember theyhave like a I don't know what
you want to call it, but it'slike the water thing on the yeah
it's like a little hose thatcomes from the spring, From the
spring and it runs into like abig bucket and then the overflow
(11:10):
goes and that's nice and coldwater.
Oh yeah, Well, on that we needsomething cold to drink.
There you go.
So we're going to start withHillsboro Badger Sweat.
Now Hillsboro is in Hillsboro,wisconsin.
Yep, and the first time that Iever went there and I think you
guys were there with us at onetime, remember it was on the
corner right in town.
(11:30):
Yeah, it was downtown Downtownand it was a nice building but
it was pretty small.
They had a lot of old kind ofMemorabilia stuff.
Yeah, it was really cool.
Well, they've since expanded.
Apparently they're doing wellbecause they bought I don't know
what was initially creamery.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Is that what it was?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I say it's a pretty good size building and the
floors two floors and upstairsthey have for wedding dances and
things like that, and then downon the main floor it's, of
course, the bar.
You can get food there andthings like that, and it's quite
an impressive building nowcompared to the old one, and
they didn't really do a lot ofremodeling.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
they didn't like drywall up.
It's just pretty much the oldwood the way it was.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yes, and that's what I always think is cool, right.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know, because remember, keep things old.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
A few weeks ago when we were in Lanesboro at what was
the name of it Sylvan Sylvan,remember and that inside was
really cool because it was thatold wood and all that kind of a
brewery or a bar area, you know,like that tap room.
That's how it should be, right,really really cool.
Right, that's going to attractmore people.
(12:30):
Yeah, at least up here.
Yeah, well, you can smell thesweeter.
Yeah, you can kind of smelllike the roasted malt for sure,
a little bit of a coffee.
hint of a coffee flavor a littlebit, but it's not overly
flavorful.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
No, it's a little bit on the muted side.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I would agree with you.
It's kind of it's not offensive, no, you can drink it, right,
but I can drink it.
But.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I think if you're looking for a little bit more
flavor, yeah.
Because I guess I was kind ofexpecting, you know, vanilla
bean milk stout.
I don't know if I even tastethe vanilla.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
That was what I was just going to say.
I don't know if I get muchvanilla out of it, and that's
when we go back to.
If it's on the can.
It should be in the can, youknow, and I just wish that it
was a little more pronounced.
I'm trying to look here andjust see what ABV is 6%, okay,
all right, okay, and they have alittle write-up.
It's just like our brewery,this great state of ours, was
(13:24):
founded on the blood, sweat,capital S sweat and tears of the
men and women.
We're excited to bring youvanilla bean milk stout, so kind
of, I guess, the milk stoutpart of it.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
it does taste smooth.
Yeah, I mean there's asmoothness for the mouthfeel,
but not an overly amount offlavor.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Not really Kind of a bummer, A little bit.
You know, when I had it thisweekend I had a couple of them.
That's the only beer I had youknow what I mean.
So you weren't Right, you know.
And now sitting here looking atthe other two going hmm, you
know, I don't mind it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
I can definitely drink it.
It's not bad yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
So that's our first contestant.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Do you just want to do one, two, three, I think, on
this one we could probably justdo first, second and third,
don't you?
Think.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
That's fine and, honestly, I think anybody could
drink it.
Oh yes, you don't have to bewell-versed in bourbon barrels
or anything like that to drinkthis one, and I don't think if a
new person tried it I don'tthink they would consider it
that it's like, oh man, that'sway too dark or way too heavy a
taste.
My opinion, you know they, theymight still, if they really you
(14:30):
know.
But I mean, if you're lookingto get into like a milk stout, I
think that's a good one tostart with right.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I mean I wish there was a little bit more of that
vanilla flavor.
Yeah, I think that would give alittle, because we've had some
pretty good vanilla stouts and Imean if they could just put
that a little bit more on there,I think that'd be great.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yep, I agree a hundred percent with you.
All right, so getting back tothe history of the farm, you
said it was 300 acres and thennow it's.
They sold some of that off,correct?
No?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
They did not.
No, so what had happened was somy great-grandfather, jens and
Caroline, when he passed away inI think it was 1902.
So it was then Caroline and her12 children, and then she put
in her will that when she passedaway the farm went to all 12
children.
So then when she passed away Ithink it was 1934, it got
(15:20):
subdivided 12 times, 12 times,okay.
So then through because therewas a period of time probably I
think it took four or five yearsfor all those 12 kids to
finally figure out what landthey did want and what they
didn't want.
So it ended up with mygrandfather, walter, and his
brother William, taking over themain part of the farm, and then
there's three siblings thatwere unmarried Okay, oscar
(15:45):
Johanna and Harold.
Okay, oscar Johanna and Harold.
Okay, oscar Johanna and Haroldwere the three that were
unmarried that stayed at thefarm and they were, you know,
older, so they were able to helpCaroline raising the kids.
So then they actually took over200 of the acres and it was
maybe, it was a little under 200.
(16:05):
Those three did Right, okay,that was actually put in their
name, so nobody actually soldland, but it was just the way it
was divided up among the 12.
And then they were just alljust dealing back and forth and
then you know who would livewhere.
So it was a little, I mean,when you look at the deed,
because of what's interesting,because I have an abstract when
they put all the deed paperworktogether, how things were
(16:27):
written, because you know, like,your will is in there and
everything.
So it actually shows what herthoughts were.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Oh, really, wow, so that had to have been a pretty
thick deed.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Well, it's probably like an inch thick, because it
covers every single aspect.
Wow, all the way back from whenUlysses S Grant signed the
paperwork to give them thatproperty.
Wow, that's pretty wild, right.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So that was that's interesting.
So when they started off, didthey grow crops?
I mean, do you know when wasthe farm initially for for crops
?
Or did they do?
Did you have like livestock?
So I guess, how did that?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
way that I understand was they would always, you know
, they were pretty muchself-sufficient, so they they
had a few cows, they had gardensand then they would develop
what other crops they needed sothey could keep over the winter
for those animals yep okay andit wasn't like they were
producing extra, but it may havebeen.
You know, with a family thatlarge they had to have quite a
bit right just to keepthemselves yep going.
(17:24):
And I think back then therewasn't, the money thing wasn't
as necessary as what it is today, so they were always looking
out for each other.
Then they might.
I think there's a lot oftrading and bartering at that
point.
So, like, if you had extra milk, you could take that somewhere
and get something from somebodyelse and vice versa.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I do have one question Do you think they put
that scary bridge in back then?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
No, actually, if you ask your mother-in-law, that was
not the case.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Oh, really no it was actually.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
they just kind of sloped off the sides of the
creek, oh really, and just droveright through, Really.
And then in the springtime itwas even worse.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
So at Jim's farm I always joke with him because he
has a bridge over the creekRight.
And my wife was always kind ofthe same way that when she said
when she was younger she wouldlike make them stop so she could
get out and she'd walk acrossbefore they drove across.
And it's always kind of funnybecause you drive across and I'm
always like, oh okay, I made it.
You know, because when you'rein a truck you can't really see
(18:21):
right the sides.
You know what I mean, so it'sjust kind of fun.
I'd rather drive though overthe bridge than have to try and
drive down through the creek andI mean especially then when it
would you know they don't.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
they didn't have the machinery like we do now to make
a nice slope, or it was justmud.
So I'm sure I think actually Iwas talking to joyce at the
state fair.
She even mentioned that heruncle gave her a ride in a buggy
from the house to the whereshe's gonna get picked up by the
bus, and the buggy was actuallyscraping the bottom of the
buggy, so it was at least two tothree feet.
(18:52):
It had sunk in the mud, oh myword.
And then the horse got him outso she didn't have to get muddy
going over to wait for the bus.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Now I do remember she had said that, told that to
Susie and I the one time I'msure she told you where she said
that the kids on the bus wouldmake fun of her because she was
in a horse and buggy when theypicked her up and when she told
her dad that he had said thatyou know, mark my words, someday
people will be paying to ridein a buggy.
And she said I've actually donethat twice.
She's paid to ride in a horseand buggy.
(19:21):
So it is kind of funny when youthink about it Makes a little
circle.
Now I know, like you said, yourdad of course had draft horses.
I believe you said you haddairy cows at one time, or the
farm did, and then they went tobeef cattle.
But crop-wise, the thing thatreally was amazing to me,
because when I think ofWisconsin I don't think tobacco,
(19:42):
Okay, but they grew tobacco onthe farm.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yes, I think that was actually one of the first crops
that they were using as a cashcrop.
Okay, To actually make moneyBecause it was.
But tobacco was a very laborintensive.
Oh, is it so?
There's not many, I think, evenwhen you plant it, because I've
seen some of the old tobaccoplanters that be pulled behind
either horses or tractor, but aperson had to sit on a seat
(20:08):
right at ground levelindividually planting each of
the tobacco seedlings into theground.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
No thanks.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And then you know, part of their job would always
be out there going on the hold,oh sure, and then to harvest it
you'd have to be by hand.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, I suppose of course you think back in the day
you probably couldn't spraypesticide or any.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
They didn't have any of that stuff, right spray
pesticide or any.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
They didn't have any of that stuff, right.
But even that you wouldn't wantto spray that on tobacco, I
wouldn't think, because thatwould be some chemicals on there
you know you'd be inhaling.
So I'm sure they didn't haveany of that.
That's wild because, like Isaid, I just I don't picture
wisconsin being, you know, youthink down south, right, so I
don't know how.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
But what's interesting, you will see.
I don't know if I've seen it somuch around here, but, like
towards the farm, there is wildtobacco growing.
Oh, really, yeah, you can seeit all over, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
If you know what to look for.
Probably remnants of what wasgrown out there before.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Right, because part of one of the steps in the
tobacco process is just beforeit's completely ripe.
There'll be a bunch of seeds atthe top and they have to go
through and take those.
Those cut that part of theseeds off and dispose of those
interesting, so they just grew,I'm sure one of those fell, or
(21:16):
maybe it was just outside thefield, yep, and then it turned.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You know, just like weeds are growing out there, and
I suppose now, when that getsmature, now they just fall off
the plant and they start thenext year so all right, crazy.
Well, we're gonna go to the nextbeer.
All right, this one isat.
We really don't have a wholelot we need to say about it.
I'm hoping.
No, we've always thought thatwas a pretty good.
Oh yeah, standby, yep.
And then I was really upsetwhen they quit making it.
(21:37):
Right, but now they brought itback and I have not seen it yet
in Wisconsin or Minnesota.
Oh, you can get it in Iowa.
Okay, so I'm hoping thateventually they're expanding
this way it gets back to theirnormal distribution.
Yeah, that smells pretty good,pretty good.
Yeah, and this is an oatmealcream stout, so they don't
really say vanilla, right, butthis one definitely has a little
(21:59):
sweeter flavor than the BanjoSweat.
I mean they're both very smooth,but this is a little bit
sweeter.
I think, yeah, that's still,that's still pretty, that's
still pretty good.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I mean, I definitely give it a little bit of a step
up from the first fromhillsborough.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yep, you know, and this one here I again, I think
anybody could drink it, but Ithink a lot of people that they,
as soon as they see the colorof the beer, they're instantly
turned off, right you know.
So they won't even give it afair shot.
But again, I think this is oneanybody could try and it's good.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
I like it.
You know you might actuallywant to have another.
Can if you, if you try this Iagree with you there.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I mean that's, that is good and, like I said, I just
always thought it was somethingthat it's buffalo sweat, and
then all of a sudden badgersweat came on, so I was like
okay is this their version right?
I don't know for sure, butthey're both good.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
So I do have one final thing to wrap up about
tobacco Okay, that we kind ofmaybe touched on a little bit
earlier and that deals with andI didn't even know this at the
time, but they did like wetalked about plant tobacco and
harvest tobacco on the farm.
I had never seen that for megrowing up.
So from the 60s on forward, Inever saw that.
Okay, I never saw that Okay.
(23:06):
But apparently you know, whenmy grandfather passed away in
1968 was the last year that theyactually did tobacco.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
And the reason why I know that there was.
Actually, when my grandpapassed away, it was like, I
think, the end of July that year, so then it was just a few
weeks later.
They were doing the harvest andall the neighbors from the
valley had came and they took apicture out in front of the
house of all the people thatwere helping harvest tobacco
that day and I was, you know,only a year and a half old.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So I was running through the picture, I wasn't
standing still.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
But I actually had my great grandmother who was from
Eau Claire, down from mymother's side Okay, that had
never, it's not even from a farmand she wanted she knew they
were doing it that day, so shecame out.
Huh.
But the other interesting partwas that nobody had ever done
tobacco at the farm since Okay1968.
And in the early 2000s my dadwas notified by the county farm
(24:01):
service agency, the FSA, thatthe State wanted to buy back our
tobacco credits and I was notquite sure what a tobacco credit
was yeah, I was just going toask what exactly is a tobacco
credit?
So apparently, from myunderstanding, was that each
farm was allocated so manycredits and that's as much
tobacco as you could grow.
So credit, I think, amounted toan acre.
(24:22):
Oh, okay, Okay, the way Ibelieve it, because I didn't see
the tobacco Yep.
So apparently they had around20 acres.
That didn't mean they had toplant that much, but that was
the most that they could plant.
Okay, so apparently that's howthey regulated, so that the
tobacco industry didn't getoverloaded with a whole bunch of
tobacco.
They kept it.
Everybody had a certain amountbased on how many acres you had.
(24:44):
So in the early 2000s the statebought my dad and my credits
back from us.
I think it was only maybe likewe were each getting like $100 a
year for like 10 years.
So it wasn't anything great,but it was just that they were
paying us back.
So now we officially the farmdoes not have, You're officially
out of the tobacco business,but we don't have the tobacco
shed anymore or anything likethat.
(25:05):
So that's, you can kind of seethose.
Well, there's still a fewtobacco sheds around, but not
many.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
I think that one of the first times that I was out
at the farm there was an old wasit a tobacco planter that was
out in the Way in the back, wayin the back Was that it was a
planter, right, right.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
And I remember going what's?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
that and really it just looked like Yep.
Exactly they use that to planttobacco.
I'm like huh.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It didn't look like much.
No, that's for sure, you'rejust almost right on the ground.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Yeah, it looks like a lot of work.
I'm glad you're not doing thatanymore.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if they, but they must
have made money from that,because that was other than
selling their milk, that was theonly other cash crop that they
were doing.
Huh, that's wild.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
So now, when I listened to that, the interview
you did was with was it?
Midwest Agri, midwest FarmReport?
Now you're the sixth generation, right?
So that's, that's wild when youthink of just the that many
years, you know how many farmshave.
Well, how many, basically, howmany farms have come and gone,
right, you know.
So I mean the nice thing is isit's been successful.
(26:07):
I mean you've been able to keepit that long, you know, and
well, the way of the world, Imean there's people that come in
and, you know, throw moneyaround like crazy and it's, it's
impressive that it was neversold, right, you know?
Now, one thing I was going tosay is I remember the first time
that I went there.
From then until now, that'sbeen 20, 22 years, 24 years ago
(26:29):
maybe you've done a lot of work,you know.
And and the fields I canremember.
You know it was shorter, right,because you took that fence out
, so it's longer now, and thenyou've widened out.
I think every year you're outthere cutting trees and branches
and keep pushing it back, andit's, it's now.
I know when your dad wasfarming he used cow or cows.
Oh, oh, my word, he was usinghorses to plant.
Yes, boy, that would have been.
(26:50):
I mean, just the amount offield that he planted I thought
was an incredible amount withhorses, right, you know.
But now what you've, you knowit's kind of grown to that way
for around here anyway, I meanit's.
You know a lot of people aregoing to say, oh, it's a hobby
farm or whatever.
But oh, it's a hobby farm orwhatever, but I mean it's, it's
(27:14):
a good amount of acreage.
So you got to use farmequipment, right, you know, to
do that.
So, like I said, it's just anincredible the difference that
I've seen from the first time Iwent out there till now.
You know where it's, it's, it'simpressive.
I mean, that's a lot of work.
So I give you credit.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Way to go, I mean and I think part of the other part
of farming too, is you have tobe smart how you farm, because
all of my equipment is 30, 40years old.
It's not anything brand new.
If I bought all brand newequipment, granted, I could
probably do things even quicker,more efficient, but the
payments for all that newequipment is astronomical.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
It's staggering.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I guess, since I'm not farming thousands and
thousands of acres, it's only, Ithink, total.
The tillable is between 60 and70 acres, yep, so it's a
manageable amount, but I thinkyou have to make sure you're
making the right decisions aboutyour farm, because you can I
mean the machinery's out thereyou could spend a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
You could spend millions Right.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
But just being smart about what you buy and how you,
you know, maintain it and takecare of it.
I think you can go a long ways,because you know that's usually
when I talk to some of themechanics, you know they ask me
do you want brand new stuff?
Or I usually say, let's justmake sure I can get by, you know
, because I'm only harvesting 20or 40 acres.
Right, I don't, it's not likeI'm doing a lot, but it's just
(28:25):
keeping it in a good condition.
Yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
It's still workable, right, you know?
And now you have corn, soybeansand hay, yep, yeah.
So the animals that you'rereally feeding are the deer,
right, and they?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
sure like to eat yeah .
There are almost too many ofthose things out there now.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, well, hey, we're going to, we'll taste this
last beer, and then I'd likeyou to kind of give us a little
rundown of what went on ontuesday, okay, if you would, you
know to.
Uh, because, I mean, you had togo to the state fair.
You're recognized at the statefair, and so I find that
interesting.
Uh, you know, my wife was ableto go, and my mother-in-law,
which is your aunt, right, alsowent, and because she'd have
(29:03):
been the fifth generation, right, so I'd just kind of like to
find out, you know.
So, what went on, you know, andthat kind of thing.
So, before we do that, though,we're gonna go to black river,
all right, and we're gonna do alittle oscars right down the
road, right down the road.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Now, this is a little bit bigger can this is?
Speaker 1 (29:19):
yeah, sand creek, and boy, I foamed yours up big time
.
So we'll have to wait for aminute.
Uh, sand creek, you know, for awhile.
I mean that's what they werereally known for, I think was
Oscars and then for a littlewhile they weren't making it.
And when all of a sudden I sawit back in the store, it was
four 16-ounce cans.
They weren't doing it.
It wasn't a six-pack, but itwas four 16-ouncers, right?
(29:40):
So that's what we got today.
We got a 16-ounce can, and thisone, like I said before, is a
chocolate oatmeal stout.
All right, you can feel thequote-unquote, feel the
difference between the milkstout and the cream stout, and
then this one.
It's not quite as smooth, right, but that chocolate gives it a
nice little flavor.
I was going to say thatchocolate makes up for it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I think that is a good beer, and you know, I know
that we don't have that for thisepisode, but they do have this
on nitro, which makes it evensmoother.
You can get in trouble drinkingnitro, because that is really
good.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
You know, and they had one time that I was up there
I'm trying to remember if youwere up there at the same time
but they had made a mint Oscarsfor I don't know, it was for a
wedding or something like thatand they had some left.
So they had it on tap for likemaybe a week.
Oh wow, and we were up thereand I actually bought a growler
(30:35):
of it and I believe that Ron, mybrother-in-law, pretty much
helped me finish that off in onesitting.
So, it was mint chocolate chip,it was mint chocolate oatmeal
stout, and that was unbelievableand they've never had it since
see what's weird is?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
you know, with the craft beer you would think that
boy that's, it has a very goodtaste, where they can sell a lot
of it.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Let's, let's produce it again yeah, and you just
wonder, is it?
I'm sure it was more expensivejust because they had to put
mint in it, but still it wasreally good.
Yeah, you know, and that's whatyou want is what your customers
think has a good flavor.
Exactly, so yeah, this one dude, yeah, this is still good.
It's a good one.
Like I said, it's not as smoothbecause it doesn't have that
(31:16):
milk or the cream kind of feelto it.
But boy, the chocolate makes upfor that.
Yeah, it's really really good.
It's really good.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
And again, anybody could drink it if they're
willing to.
I mean, give it a fair shot,right, you know?
And I think anybody would like.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
I mean, there's nothing.
I guess maybe we're biased, butI don't think there's anything
negative about the beer, right,right, not really.
I, I can't think of anythingeither, so interesting, all
right.
Well, now we've tried all three.
We'll let it stew a little bit,all right, when we come back,
uh, to the beers, then we willuh, kind of, here's our order,
the way we position them.
So, anyway, let's get back totuesday, okay?
And so you went to milwaukeefor the state fair and that's
(31:57):
where they were.
Now, did you have to likecontact them and fight and like
turn stuff in to say, hey, thiswe've had it for 150 years, or
did they contact you, or how didthat process?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So I knew that every year they did the awards at the
state fair.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
What my challenge was .
Another one of the challengewas that the uh, my father and,
I think, both of his sisters,Jane and Joyce, and his mother,
alice, those four went in 1985for the century award.
So when I started doing myresearch I'm like, well, they
didn't get the farm in 1885,they got it in 1875, so it's
(32:39):
like 10 years earlier.
So I what I don't know is, whydid they wait till 1985 to ask
for the 100 years?
So that's why we're not 50years from 85, which would be
2035.
We're 40 years.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
And what I did was I went to the county register of
deeds and I talked to the ladiesthere, because there's a whole
staff there and I told them whatI was working on and they
actually had the forms there tooto help me.
So they helped me go throughand find all the original
documents, because all theoriginal documents are on file
in the county Register of Deedsoffice and we found all the
(33:14):
people.
We found everything that wasever turned into the county as
an official document they have acopy of it.
So that's how I was able to getstarted and they actually had
the forms and stuff for me tofill out.
So we were able to fill it outand turn it in to the state,
because as long as the Registerof Deeds looked at it, the state
then took the Register of Deedsword, as it was legitimate.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Okay, gotcha, all right.
So then you sent that to thefarm, or what?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I don't know if there's actually.
I think it was.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I honestly don't know , so it's some organization
anyway, right, I don't know ifthere's actually, I think it was
, I honestly don't know.
So it's some organizationanyway.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Right, I don't know if it was the state fair or if
it was, because it didn't seemlike it was the state itself it
was.
I think it was more of thestate fair.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Oh, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I think that's who's.
And then they have all theseother sponsors that were there
helping support it, Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Okay.
So when on Tuesday, yep, whatwent down?
I mean I guess, how did theypresent it?
Or I'm guessing there was otherpeople there for other farms as
well.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Okay, so once you so the so a little bit of it was I
didn't realize until we got someof the paperwork is that there
were 30 farms, so 29 plus ours,that received the 150-year award
.
Oh, wow.
And then that brought the totalto only 1,065 farms ever from
the state of Wisconsin that havegot that 150-year award Wow.
(34:36):
Also.
Then there were 69 farms thatreceived the century.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
For 100 years.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Right, and I think it's almost a little over 10,000
farms have received the century.
So when you got there you'reregistered, had to put a little
name tag on and you got a littlebutton.
Okay.
I think maybe we'll be able toshow that.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah, you sent me a picture, so I'll put pictures of
that online.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
So the button just said the sesquicentennial
honoree, and then there was onefor the century.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Okay, and they actually.
What was nice is they actuallyhad a parking lot and then a
gate for us to be able to like,because joyce doesn't walk that
well, so I mean we only had towalk maybe 50 yards from the car
.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Okay, that's nice, because normally you go to a
state fair, you're parking way,a long walk, yeah, and the tent
was right there, so they hadeverything under a nice tent
just by the gate.
So it was real convenient.
Um, and they got us in and Imean I was truly amazed at how
efficient everything was.
I mean, as you sat down at thetable, they already had the
water, milk, coffee for youthere, some breakfast rolls, and
(35:41):
then, when the lady said, allright, it's time for breakfast,
they had a company that wasdoing the catering and they
served all, because each farmhad four people.
Okay so it was probably 250people.
They had everybody served inunder five minutes oh my word,
their entire breakfast.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
So it was you just.
They brought the food to you.
You just sat there.
They brought it right to you.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Oh, my word, and everything was warm.
I mean so it wasn't their firstrodeo.
No, it was very well-oiledmachine.
I mean it was very good.
I mean you know food fromhillshire farms had sausages of
eggs it was real really goodsure okay, very efficient.
And then, after you get donewith that, they came by, picked
it all up so I mean by theirtime like everything was like
(36:21):
clicking off, just like theywanted okay so then after we ate
then they had a lot of peoplethat were telling you know,
saying thank you, because youhad the state fair people,
hillshire Farms, compere,financial.
Then Allison Dairyland was there.
She talked Fairs to the Fair.
I didn't know they even hadthat lady.
No Well, she goes to everycounty fair and the state fair
(36:44):
during her reign.
She's done with fairs after awhile wow, during her reign of,
so she's done with fairs after awhile.
And then um, the department ofegg trade, consumer protection,
and then the last one was thelady that did the interview that
the midwest farm report okay,yep so they all kind of you know
, basically just saying thanksfor, you know, being a farmer,
keeping everything egg relatedbecause you know wisconsin is
(37:05):
based so much on egg correct.
Yes, so that was that, and thenthey read off everybody's name
by county.
Had everybody stood up, bigclap, and then after that it was
finished.
The set took a little over anhour.
We went to another tent, we gotour plaque and they took our
picture.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Oh, nice, okay, Because you had sent me that
they gave you like a certificateas well, like an award
certificate commemorating the150 years.
And then you had another Likecardboard yeah, it almost looked
like a license plate a littlebit, but it was again about for
150.
Because, yeah, it almost lookedlike a license plate a little
bit, but it was again about for$150.
Because I know at your farm nowyou already had the one for 100
years hanging up, Right.
(37:43):
So yeah, that'll look nice tohave the $150 up there too.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, so I mean it was nice.
I mean the only difference wasthe 100-year was a tin sign that
I think could be outside alittle bit easier.
This one's made out of likethat.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
It was like it's not cardboard, okay, but it's some
sort of I know.
I kind of know what you'retalking about.
So well, we have to keep itinside.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yeah, because I mean I don't think, even if you had
it enclosed, I don't know if itwould be good outside.
Yeah, probably not.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
You don't want to ruin it because you only get one
.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
But yeah, so that was pretty much so from 8 o'clock
to 10, so it was about two hoursand then after that you already
had your admission in so youcould go walk throughout the
fair or state fair and oh sure,see what else I mean this.
Looking online, they hadprobably 30 different foods on a
stick if you were into that,you could have tried a lot.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You could try a lot of foods on a stick, deep fried
yeah, I mean all the way from.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
They even had the frozen banana dipped in
chocolate did they?
Speaker 1 (38:37):
yes, yes, oh boy, you could have had that too Frozen.
Well, there you go, you couldhave worked on both extremes
yeah.
There you go, you got to eathealthy when you're at the fair.
Yes, well, cool man.
Thanks for sharing that because, like I said, that's quite an
accomplishment and a lot ofpeople will never be a part of
like that.
You know, and I know this, thisepisode's a little different
(38:58):
because we were talking moreabout the farm, but again, this
is, it's pretty incredible,right, you know?
So that's why I thought weshould.
Uh, I wanted to give you, youknow, a shout out for that
because it's, it's really cool.
And, uh, you and I probablywon't be here for the next
hundred, for the 300thanniversary of the, maybe not
even 200, oh no, we'll be herefor that, but uh, you know.
(39:18):
So I mean, it's just, it's acool accomplishment.
So I just wanted to say that'sawesome.
You know way to go and keep upthe work.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I don't know if we'll be able to put it out there,
but there is a link to theMidwest Farm Report where it
actually has the written historyand what they when they
interviewed us too.
So yeah, I'll see if I.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
I'll see if I can link that somehow to where
people can see it and hear youtalk to them about it, because I
know you went into a littlemore detail on some of the stuff
with that lady.
Right, we're trying to keep itmoving a little bit Right.
It's a little bit different andyou didn't have to taste beers
with her Right.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
The important stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
All right, Well, hey, getting back to the beers man,
I guess what are your thoughts?
How would you lay this out asfar as your ranking?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
So for me there's, I think, almost like a 1A, 1B and
then a number two.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I am thinking we're thinking the exact same thing I
like both the Oscars and theBuffalo Sweat.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I don't know if I could differentiate between them
very much.
I mean, they're really reallyso close together in all their
attributes.
The only thing for theHillsboro that sets it a little
bit lower is the flavors are notnearly as strong.
The other two are not over thetop, but the Hillsboro is just a
little bit muted and didn'tcome through like the first two.
(40:32):
I hope that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
I agree 100%.
I was thinking and either way Icould flip-flop either way.
I could flip flop either way,right you know, for buffalo
sweat and oscars, because, youknow is, the only difference is,
do you want more of a chocolatetaste or do you want a little
bit of that creaminess?
Right, you know, and they're.
They're both really good.
Uh, hillsborough, it's stillgood, but I agree with you,
compared to those other two, theflavor is definitely muted a
(40:55):
little bit.
So I guess, hey, I guess that'sour Either way Buffalo Sweat
and Oscars.
However, you want to flip themaround, right hand, left hand
doesn't matter.
And then Badger Sweat.
I think again, you could drinkany of them and they're good.
Oh yeah, for sure, I like them,I mean, I think, the challenge
you're going to find is thattraveling You're going to have
(41:16):
to go to probably Iowa or Kansasor some other places to get the
buffalo sweat.
Unfortunately, we know somepeeps that go to Wisconsin.
Luckily enough, they brought ussome and then actually, like I
said, my family lives close toIowa.
They're in Minnesota, but it'sclose to Iowa and they found it
in the town that's five milesaway, so they're able to get it
(41:37):
there too.
Well, hey, Jim, there's oneother thing that we've got more
episodes coming up.
Okay, this is August.
You know what we're going tohave to be on the lookout for.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
I think it's getting that time of year, getting that
time of year.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
You know, the last two years we've had August,
Toberfest, yep.
So we're hoping, I'm hoping wecan find.
Yeah, it's going to be moredifficult this year to find ones
we haven't had.
Yes, because we we went crazylast year.
Yeah we.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
We had quite a few episodes like three three or
four, I think I'd have to lookback, but we had a bunch.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
We might have to stretch way out to find some.
Well, that, or we're gonna haveto hope that they're the 2025
version isn't right.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yes, we can keep doing a little.
They, they change the recipe,just a little bit exactly.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
so we're we're going to have to be on the lookout for
those.
We do have some ideas for someother ones and I think it's
going to be an interestingcomparison that we're looking at
doing.
Okay, Am I invited?
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah, sure, if you want Well since I think they're
the beers that you sent me alist of you need to kind of be
there, all right, well, thatmakes you have them, so it makes
you even better than yeah, uh,jim had sent me a list and
there's some really interestingbeers on there and it's going to
be.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
It'll be good, yes, uh.
So yeah, we've got uh thatcoming up.
I guess you know we've got.
What else do we got coming up?
Well, labor day is coming up alittle ways we might have a few
bourbon ones.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
We're gonna have some bourbon barrel ones uh that.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I'm sure We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
We might have to do that just so we can get some
space, so I can get some more.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Get some more coolant , and then we'll have to be on
the lookout again, of course,for pumpkin beers.
I don't know if I've seen anyyet.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I have not, but it's usually around the time
Oktoberfest starts popping outthat some pumpkin ones should.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
So yeah, we're getting back into that time of
year already.
I can't believe it.
This would be our third AugustOktoberfest episode.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
We might actually know what we're doing now.
Well, I'm not saying that butwe're going to give her a good
shot.
We're going to keep trying, yougot that right.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Well cool, hey, jim.
Thank you so much for sharingthat information on the
sesquicentennial.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yes, say that five times yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
I was practicing on the way home and I messed it up.
This is the time I got it out.
You did good, yeah, so that'scool and I'm glad we can share
that with the people.
And again, look at any of thesethree beers they're all really
good.
Yep and, ladies and gentlemen,thanks for listening.
We'll be back again next weekwith probably a little bit more
(44:01):
of our normal episode, but Ireally wanted to focus this week
on this award.
So anyway, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening and, like
we always say, we hope yourcampfire is always warm and your
beers are always cold.
See ya, bye.
Thank you for listening to theNorthwoods Beer Guy podcast.
If you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
(44:24):
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
your beer is cold.
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen,welcome back to the Northwoods
Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and, as always, I am
joined by Jim.
Hey, buddy, how you doing?
Doing good man, how aboutyourself?
Another?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
exciting day.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yep, yep, we are, I think, officially getting into
the dog days of summer.
Yes, it's been warm, toasty,humid.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Looks like toasted oats All the things I don't like
.
Yes, I can actually see in someof your fields around here it
looks like they're starting toget a little bit of heat
pressure on them.
Yeah, drying out a little bityou know they were.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
They started off this spring.
They didn't look very good, Ithought, and then then they got.
Well, I thought, pretty good,uh, and like you said, now
they're getting to the point.
I think they're getting alittle stressed.
Possibly.
I don't know, I'm not the.
There's another gentlemanthat's actually farming my field
.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
But I look at it and go, hmm, I don't know you can
kind of tell when you look outthere now, the color is a little
bit bit different than what itwas.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yep, it's not that nice dark green on the soybeans.
So we'll see what happens.
I'm sure the deer still like iteither way.
Oh, they're in there everynight.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I don't mind that part.
They don't distinguish betweenheat stress and Apparently not.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, you thought the deer would have learned that
the parents would have taughtthem Right, Exactly, Right,
exactly.
Yeah, well, I don't know, I'mguessing.
Well, we'll get into this in alittle bit.
This week we're doing a littlebit of a different podcast.
We're going to do ahead-to-head-to-head comparison.
Ooh, head-to-head-to-head.
Do we got a third person?
We got a third beer?
Oh, not a third person, no,just the two persons, but three
(02:00):
beers.
There you go, and these are allones.
I know we've had two for sureon the podcast and I can't
remember the first one we've had.
We probably have, but we'venever actually really compared
them head-to-head.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And why are we comparing them head-to-head For
something to do?
But I mean, are they the samestyle or is it a brewery?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
No, they're different breweries.
Okay, so we've got.
I'll tell you what they are.
First off from HillsboroBrewing in Hillsboro, wisconsin.
We have Badger Sweat Okay, andthat is a vanilla bean milk
stout.
Okay, now, I always figuredthat Badger Sweat was kind of
their version of Buffalo Sweat.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh, from Tallgrass.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Okay, so we have a Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat and
that's out of Kansas Yep,actually Wichita, kansas.
Now, okay, and that's anoatmeal cream stout.
All right, that's so far, sogood.
And then I thought, well, wecan't just have two.
Okay, you know, we got to havesomething else.
So we're gonna be even morelocal and we've got an oscars
(02:57):
from sand creek, which is inblack river falls, wisconsin.
Now, this is a chocolateoatmeal stout.
So they're technically not thesame but they're real close,
very close.
And you know, buffalo sweat andOscars has always kind of been
my just go-to Standby, yeah, youknow, like an easier drinking
stout.
(03:17):
When Tallgrass quit makingBuffalo sweat, then I switched
to Oscars being that go-to.
You know, I had a Badger Sweatthis weekend and I thought, you
know, we should just comparethem just to see how they
compare to each other.
You know we can still give ascore or you know what we can do
is just go first, second, thirdin this comparison.
We could do that.
(03:38):
So we've only got three beersand honestly, the reason we only
have three beers is we havesome information to talk about.
Oh, do we?
Yeah, so if you remember, justa few days ago, on Tuesday, you
had kind of an interesting, kindof a special day.
I guess you could say yeah.
So I thought we should maybetalk about it and tell the folks
(04:00):
what went down.
All right, we can do that.
So what did you do on tuesdayto start with, all right?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
so we um were recognized by the state of
wisconsin, we being the olsenfamily, because we have had our
farm in continuous family, thesame family ownership, for more
than 150 years.
Wow, so we received a let memake sure I say this right
(04:28):
sesquicentennial farm awardprogram at the Wisconsin State
Fair on.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Tuesday Awesome, so now has it been?
Is it just 150 years or has itbeen a few more years?
Do you know?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So that's an interesting question, and the
reason why it's interesting isbecause we have records that
show when the Olsen familyimmigrated from Norway to the
United States and we actuallyhave some of the historical
documents from the town theylived in, okay, which shows that
they left there in 1860.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Okay, that they left there in 1860.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay, and then the challenge is then the first
recorded like actually writtendown documentation here in the
United States is 1874.
Okay, so you and I both know itdidn't take 14 years for that
ship.
That would really be a slowboat and I don't know if they
would have survived.
So I know that.
(05:25):
But the hard part is there's no, they didn't leave a diary.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
But even in the county registrar's office or
anything they don't have.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So the only thing that is there because I did this
research, there was the census.
Oh, okay, so that shows censusthat they were, you know, and
that's every 10 years, so 1860,there was nothing but 1870, it
does show that they, so odds arein the 1860s at some point is
(05:58):
when they probably got I don'twant to say bought the farm.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That sounds terrible, but you know that they started
on the farm Right.
Terrible, but you know thatthey started, uh, on the farm
right interesting.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
So the uh, but the challenge that I think I've seen
is that it looks like from whatI found is that the olsen
family is one of the very firstsettlers in the leon valley area
part, you know, part of monroe,county nice.
Okay, so there was, I think,just one gentleman he was a
logger from New York, wow whohad moved there in the 1840s.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And his name was James Cannon.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Ergo Cannon Valley.
I had no idea.
I was going to ask you that youknow how that came about too.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So he actually married one of my.
You know, the first peoplemoved over.
They had it was a husband andwife and children.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And when the children , and when the children, when
the girls got old enough, shemarried james cannon and is
buried in that there's all threeof them are buried in a small
plot out by the farm.
Wow, that's interesting.
Now, when they first settledthere, did you find out how how
many acres the farm was to beginwith?
Do you know that, or so is thatanother kind of tough well it
thing to find it?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
looks.
So the challenge with that onedoing because it doing a of
research, it was a little toughto figure out all these because
I wanted to know myself too.
Right, the way that they wouldarticulate a lot of these was
like the half of a section or aquarter of a quarter of a
quarter, like today.
They talk about parcel numbers.
Yep, there were no parcelnumbers then, it was all.
(07:23):
They tried to keep it in thedimensions of the 640-acre
section, right?
Yep, so it appears that therewas about 300 acres initially.
Initially, and it looks like,and again, the challenge was
they would use topographical orgeographical boundaries rather
(07:44):
than like today, where we havelike a straight azimuth.
There were no straight lines inthe way the farm was put
together, right they?
Even one of the boundaries wasconsidered a crick oh really,
and that's still one of theboundaries today and then
actually another one when youlook in the deed it talks about
that.
The right of way, which todayis supposed to be 66 feet, was
(08:06):
wide enough for a team of fourhorses.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Oh really.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Right, that's how it's written in the deed.
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Huh, yeah, you know it is pretty crazy when you
think about how far we've comein.
Just that you know thesurveying and all that kind of
stuff too.
So now this, like you said, wasback in probably the 1860s,
Right, man, you think about it.
So Wisconsin had only been astate for very few Since 1848,
yeah, less than 20 years, yeah,not that many years.
(08:32):
The Civil War was just over.
Wow, that's pretty wild.
So they moved here from Norway.
You said, okay.
And now, I'm sure, when theyfirst got here, of course it was
set up.
Was it always, you know, didthey always have crops, or was
it a farm, or was it more justyou know?
Like they built a house and itwas all wooded and then they
(08:53):
started to grow stuff, or youknow what I'm saying?
I mean, I'm just kind ofinterested to see how it's
transitioned from when it wasprobably forest to today, when
it was probably forest to today.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So, from my understanding because my father
actually seen the original cabinthat they built, so that was, I
think, the very first they musthave from what he remembered
got to the current farm in thespringtime and it was fully
wooded and they were able to usethe existing trees to build
that first cabin, because Ithink that was I think six of
(09:27):
them that lived in that firstcabin and then they eventually
started clearing some of theland because it's also part of
it's.
You know, got the swamp with it, so there wasn't a lot of trees
, so I'm sure they started nextto the creek In the front and
worked their way in and thenworked their way into the Gotcha
.
So I think there was some thatwas open already.
But they, I think, were always,you know, working on trying,
(09:49):
because they once they built thefirst house and then, with
those parents, when they passedaway, then you know my, it'd be
my great grandparents, jens andCaroline.
They had 12 children, so theyhad to get a bigger house.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Oh sure.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So then they built, and right now our neighbor still
uses it as a hunting cabin.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
That house is still there and I have seen that and
it's pretty incredible, honestly, to think it's that old Right
you know from the 1800s.
Yeah, it's pretty wild,especially in Wisconsin with the
winters, and you know what I'msaying.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
all that kind of stuff, it's not like it's uh
easy to preserve things, what'seven more interesting is I can
remember growing up and goingwalking by that house and I was
before I joined the military andI can still remember walking by
.
All the windows are broke outand having cows walking through
that house and they were, youcan see the cows and so it
wasn't like you know.
(10:40):
It was very well preserved,right.
It had been left open andunkept for 25, 30 years and then
the neighbor, he took it over.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
He took it over Okay.
And got it refurbished, and Iknow he still uses the stove to
heat the house and to cook hisfood on it too, when he's there
hunting, because there's noelectricity or running water,
Right, Because I remember theyhave like a I don't know what
you want to call it, but it'slike the water thing on the yeah
it's like a little hose thatcomes from the spring, From the
spring and it runs into like abig bucket and then the overflow
(11:10):
goes and that's nice and coldwater.
Oh yeah, Well, on that we needsomething cold to drink.
There you go.
So we're going to start withHillsboro Badger Sweat.
Now Hillsboro is in Hillsboro,wisconsin.
Yep, and the first time that Iever went there and I think you
guys were there with us at onetime, remember it was on the
corner right in town.
(11:30):
Yeah, it was downtown Downtownand it was a nice building but
it was pretty small.
They had a lot of old kind ofMemorabilia stuff.
Yeah, it was really cool.
Well, they've since expanded.
Apparently they're doing wellbecause they bought I don't know
what was initially creamery.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Is that what it was?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I say it's a pretty good size building and the
floors two floors and upstairsthey have for wedding dances and
things like that, and then downon the main floor it's, of
course, the bar.
You can get food there andthings like that, and it's quite
an impressive building nowcompared to the old one, and
they didn't really do a lot ofremodeling.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
they didn't like drywall up.
It's just pretty much the oldwood the way it was.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yes, and that's what I always think is cool, right.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know, because remember, keep things old.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
A few weeks ago when we were in Lanesboro at what was
the name of it Sylvan Sylvan,remember and that inside was
really cool because it was thatold wood and all that kind of a
brewery or a bar area, you know,like that tap room.
That's how it should be, right,really really cool.
Right, that's going to attractmore people.
(12:30):
Yeah, at least up here.
Yeah, well, you can smell thesweeter.
Yeah, you can kind of smelllike the roasted malt for sure,
a little bit of a coffee.
hint of a coffee flavor a littlebit, but it's not overly
flavorful.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
No, it's a little bit on the muted side.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I would agree with you.
It's kind of it's not offensive, no, you can drink it, right,
but I can drink it.
But.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I think if you're looking for a little bit more
flavor, yeah.
Because I guess I was kind ofexpecting, you know, vanilla
bean milk stout.
I don't know if I even tastethe vanilla.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
That was what I was just going to say.
I don't know if I get muchvanilla out of it, and that's
when we go back to.
If it's on the can.
It should be in the can, youknow, and I just wish that it
was a little more pronounced.
I'm trying to look here andjust see what ABV is 6%, okay,
all right, okay, and they have alittle write-up.
It's just like our brewery,this great state of ours, was
(13:24):
founded on the blood, sweat,capital S sweat and tears of the
men and women.
We're excited to bring youvanilla bean milk stout, so kind
of, I guess, the milk stoutpart of it.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
it does taste smooth.
Yeah, I mean there's asmoothness for the mouthfeel,
but not an overly amount offlavor.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Not really Kind of a bummer, A little bit.
You know, when I had it thisweekend I had a couple of them.
That's the only beer I had youknow what I mean.
So you weren't Right, you know.
And now sitting here looking atthe other two going hmm, you
know, I don't mind it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
I can definitely drink it.
It's not bad yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
So that's our first contestant.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Do you just want to do one, two, three, I think, on
this one we could probably justdo first, second and third,
don't you?
Think.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
That's fine and, honestly, I think anybody could
drink it.
Oh yes, you don't have to bewell-versed in bourbon barrels
or anything like that to drinkthis one, and I don't think if a
new person tried it I don'tthink they would consider it
that it's like, oh man, that'sway too dark or way too heavy a
taste.
My opinion, you know they, theymight still, if they really you
(14:30):
know.
But I mean, if you're lookingto get into like a milk stout, I
think that's a good one tostart with right.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I mean I wish there was a little bit more of that
vanilla flavor.
Yeah, I think that would give alittle, because we've had some
pretty good vanilla stouts and Imean if they could just put
that a little bit more on there,I think that'd be great.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yep, I agree a hundred percent with you.
All right, so getting back tothe history of the farm, you
said it was 300 acres and thennow it's.
They sold some of that off,correct?
No?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
They did not.
No, so what had happened was somy great-grandfather, jens and
Caroline, when he passed away inI think it was 1902.
So it was then Caroline and her12 children, and then she put
in her will that when she passedaway the farm went to all 12
children.
So then when she passed away Ithink it was 1934, it got
(15:20):
subdivided 12 times, 12 times,okay.
So then through because therewas a period of time probably I
think it took four or five yearsfor all those 12 kids to
finally figure out what landthey did want and what they
didn't want.
So it ended up with mygrandfather, walter, and his
brother William, taking over themain part of the farm, and then
there's three siblings thatwere unmarried Okay, oscar
(15:45):
Johanna and Harold.
Okay, oscar Johanna and Harold.
Okay, oscar Johanna and Haroldwere the three that were
unmarried that stayed at thefarm and they were, you know,
older, so they were able to helpCaroline raising the kids.
So then they actually took over200 of the acres and it was
maybe, it was a little under 200.
(16:05):
Those three did Right, okay,that was actually put in their
name, so nobody actually soldland, but it was just the way it
was divided up among the 12.
And then they were just alljust dealing back and forth and
then you know who would livewhere.
So it was a little, I mean,when you look at the deed,
because of what's interesting,because I have an abstract when
they put all the deed paperworktogether, how things were
(16:27):
written, because you know, like,your will is in there and
everything.
So it actually shows what herthoughts were.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Oh, really, wow, so that had to have been a pretty
thick deed.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Well, it's probably like an inch thick, because it
covers every single aspect.
Wow, all the way back from whenUlysses S Grant signed the
paperwork to give them thatproperty.
Wow, that's pretty wild, right.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So that was that's interesting.
So when they started off, didthey grow crops?
I mean, do you know when wasthe farm initially for for crops
?
Or did they do?
Did you have like livestock?
So I guess, how did that?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
way that I understand was they would always, you know
, they were pretty muchself-sufficient, so they they
had a few cows, they had gardensand then they would develop
what other crops they needed sothey could keep over the winter
for those animals yep okay andit wasn't like they were
producing extra, but it may havebeen.
You know, with a family thatlarge they had to have quite a
bit right just to keepthemselves yep going.
(17:24):
And I think back then therewasn't, the money thing wasn't
as necessary as what it is today, so they were always looking
out for each other.
Then they might.
I think there's a lot oftrading and bartering at that
point.
So, like, if you had extra milk, you could take that somewhere
and get something from somebodyelse and vice versa.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I do have one question Do you think they put
that scary bridge in back then?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
No, actually, if you ask your mother-in-law, that was
not the case.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Oh, really no it was actually.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
they just kind of sloped off the sides of the
creek, oh really, and just droveright through, Really.
And then in the springtime itwas even worse.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
So at Jim's farm I always joke with him because he
has a bridge over the creekRight.
And my wife was always kind ofthe same way that when she said
when she was younger she wouldlike make them stop so she could
get out and she'd walk acrossbefore they drove across.
And it's always kind of funnybecause you drive across and I'm
always like, oh okay, I made it.
You know, because when you'rein a truck you can't really see
(18:21):
right the sides.
You know what I mean, so it'sjust kind of fun.
I'd rather drive though overthe bridge than have to try and
drive down through the creek andI mean especially then when it
would you know they don't.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
they didn't have the machinery like we do now to make
a nice slope, or it was justmud.
So I'm sure I think actually Iwas talking to joyce at the
state fair.
She even mentioned that heruncle gave her a ride in a buggy
from the house to the whereshe's gonna get picked up by the
bus, and the buggy was actuallyscraping the bottom of the
buggy, so it was at least two tothree feet.
(18:52):
It had sunk in the mud, oh myword.
And then the horse got him outso she didn't have to get muddy
going over to wait for the bus.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Now I do remember she had said that, told that to
Susie and I the one time I'msure she told you where she said
that the kids on the bus wouldmake fun of her because she was
in a horse and buggy when theypicked her up and when she told
her dad that he had said thatyou know, mark my words, someday
people will be paying to ridein a buggy.
And she said I've actually donethat twice.
She's paid to ride in a horseand buggy.
(19:21):
So it is kind of funny when youthink about it Makes a little
circle.
Now I know, like you said, yourdad of course had draft horses.
I believe you said you haddairy cows at one time, or the
farm did, and then they went tobeef cattle.
But crop-wise, the thing thatreally was amazing to me,
because when I think ofWisconsin I don't think tobacco,
(19:42):
Okay, but they grew tobacco onthe farm.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yes, I think that was actually one of the first crops
that they were using as a cashcrop.
Okay, To actually make moneyBecause it was.
But tobacco was a very laborintensive.
Oh, is it so?
There's not many, I think, evenwhen you plant it, because I've
seen some of the old tobaccoplanters that be pulled behind
either horses or tractor, but aperson had to sit on a seat
(20:08):
right at ground levelindividually planting each of
the tobacco seedlings into theground.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
No thanks.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And then you know, part of their job would always
be out there going on the hold,oh sure, and then to harvest it
you'd have to be by hand.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, I suppose of course you think back in the day
you probably couldn't spraypesticide or any.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
They didn't have any of that stuff, right spray
pesticide or any.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
They didn't have any of that stuff, right.
But even that you wouldn't wantto spray that on tobacco, I
wouldn't think, because thatwould be some chemicals on there
you know you'd be inhaling.
So I'm sure they didn't haveany of that.
That's wild because, like Isaid, I just I don't picture
wisconsin being, you know, youthink down south, right, so I
don't know how.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
But what's interesting, you will see.
I don't know if I've seen it somuch around here, but, like
towards the farm, there is wildtobacco growing.
Oh, really, yeah, you can seeit all over, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
If you know what to look for.
Probably remnants of what wasgrown out there before.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Right, because part of one of the steps in the
tobacco process is just beforeit's completely ripe.
There'll be a bunch of seeds atthe top and they have to go
through and take those.
Those cut that part of theseeds off and dispose of those
interesting, so they just grew,I'm sure one of those fell, or
(21:16):
maybe it was just outside thefield, yep, and then it turned.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You know, just like weeds are growing out there, and
I suppose now, when that getsmature, now they just fall off
the plant and they start thenext year so all right, crazy.
Well, we're gonna go to the nextbeer.
All right, this one isat.
We really don't have a wholelot we need to say about it.
I'm hoping.
No, we've always thought thatwas a pretty good.
Oh yeah, standby, yep.
And then I was really upsetwhen they quit making it.
(21:37):
Right, but now they brought itback and I have not seen it yet
in Wisconsin or Minnesota.
Oh, you can get it in Iowa.
Okay, so I'm hoping thateventually they're expanding
this way it gets back to theirnormal distribution.
Yeah, that smells pretty good,pretty good.
Yeah, and this is an oatmealcream stout, so they don't
really say vanilla, right, butthis one definitely has a little
(21:59):
sweeter flavor than the BanjoSweat.
I mean they're both very smooth,but this is a little bit
sweeter.
I think, yeah, that's still,that's still pretty, that's
still pretty good.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I mean, I definitely give it a little bit of a step
up from the first fromhillsborough.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yep, you know, and this one here I again, I think
anybody could drink it, but Ithink a lot of people that they,
as soon as they see the colorof the beer, they're instantly
turned off, right you know.
So they won't even give it afair shot.
But again, I think this is oneanybody could try and it's good.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
I like it.
You know you might actuallywant to have another.
Can if you, if you try this Iagree with you there.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I mean that's, that is good and, like I said, I just
always thought it was somethingthat it's buffalo sweat, and
then all of a sudden badgersweat came on, so I was like
okay is this their version right?
I don't know for sure, butthey're both good.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
So I do have one final thing to wrap up about
tobacco Okay, that we kind ofmaybe touched on a little bit
earlier and that deals with andI didn't even know this at the
time, but they did like wetalked about plant tobacco and
harvest tobacco on the farm.
I had never seen that for megrowing up.
So from the 60s on forward, Inever saw that.
Okay, I never saw that Okay.
(23:06):
But apparently you know, whenmy grandfather passed away in
1968 was the last year that theyactually did tobacco.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
And the reason why I know that there was.
Actually, when my grandpapassed away, it was like, I
think, the end of July that year, so then it was just a few
weeks later.
They were doing the harvest andall the neighbors from the
valley had came and they took apicture out in front of the
house of all the people thatwere helping harvest tobacco
that day and I was, you know,only a year and a half old.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So I was running through the picture, I wasn't
standing still.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
But I actually had my great grandmother who was from
Eau Claire, down from mymother's side Okay, that had
never, it's not even from a farmand she wanted she knew they
were doing it that day, so shecame out.
Huh.
But the other interesting partwas that nobody had ever done
tobacco at the farm since Okay1968.
And in the early 2000s my dadwas notified by the county farm
(24:01):
service agency, the FSA, thatthe State wanted to buy back our
tobacco credits and I was notquite sure what a tobacco credit
was yeah, I was just going toask what exactly is a tobacco
credit?
So apparently, from myunderstanding, was that each
farm was allocated so manycredits and that's as much
tobacco as you could grow.
So credit, I think, amounted toan acre.
(24:22):
Oh, okay, Okay, the way Ibelieve it, because I didn't see
the tobacco Yep.
So apparently they had around20 acres.
That didn't mean they had toplant that much, but that was
the most that they could plant.
Okay, so apparently that's howthey regulated, so that the
tobacco industry didn't getoverloaded with a whole bunch of
tobacco.
They kept it.
Everybody had a certain amountbased on how many acres you had.
(24:44):
So in the early 2000s the statebought my dad and my credits
back from us.
I think it was only maybe likewe were each getting like $100 a
year for like 10 years.
So it wasn't anything great,but it was just that they were
paying us back.
So now we officially the farmdoes not have, You're officially
out of the tobacco business,but we don't have the tobacco
shed anymore or anything likethat.
(25:05):
So that's, you can kind of seethose.
Well, there's still a fewtobacco sheds around, but not
many.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
I think that one of the first times that I was out
at the farm there was an old wasit a tobacco planter that was
out in the Way in the back, wayin the back Was that it was a
planter, right, right.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
And I remember going what's?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
that and really it just looked like Yep.
Exactly they use that to planttobacco.
I'm like huh.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It didn't look like much.
No, that's for sure, you'rejust almost right on the ground.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Yeah, it looks like a lot of work.
I'm glad you're not doing thatanymore.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if they, but they must
have made money from that,because that was other than
selling their milk, that was theonly other cash crop that they
were doing.
Huh, that's wild.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
So now, when I listened to that, the interview
you did was with was it?
Midwest Agri, midwest FarmReport?
Now you're the sixth generation, right?
So that's, that's wild when youthink of just the that many
years, you know how many farmshave.
Well, how many, basically, howmany farms have come and gone,
right, you know.
So I mean the nice thing is isit's been successful.
(26:07):
I mean you've been able to keepit that long, you know, and
well, the way of the world, Imean there's people that come in
and, you know, throw moneyaround like crazy and it's, it's
impressive that it was neversold, right, you know?
Now, one thing I was going tosay is I remember the first time
that I went there.
From then until now, that'sbeen 20, 22 years, 24 years ago
(26:29):
maybe you've done a lot of work,you know.
And and the fields I canremember.
You know it was shorter, right,because you took that fence out
, so it's longer now, and thenyou've widened out.
I think every year you're outthere cutting trees and branches
and keep pushing it back, andit's, it's now.
I know when your dad wasfarming he used cow or cows.
Oh, oh, my word, he was usinghorses to plant.
Yes, boy, that would have been.
(26:50):
I mean, just the amount offield that he planted I thought
was an incredible amount withhorses, right, you know.
But now what you've, you knowit's kind of grown to that way
for around here anyway, I meanit's.
You know a lot of people aregoing to say, oh, it's a hobby
farm or whatever.
But oh, it's a hobby farm orwhatever, but I mean it's, it's
(27:14):
a good amount of acreage.
So you got to use farmequipment, right, you know, to
do that.
So, like I said, it's just anincredible the difference that
I've seen from the first time Iwent out there till now.
You know where it's, it's, it'simpressive.
I mean, that's a lot of work.
So I give you credit.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Way to go, I mean and I think part of the other part
of farming too, is you have tobe smart how you farm, because
all of my equipment is 30, 40years old.
It's not anything brand new.
If I bought all brand newequipment, granted, I could
probably do things even quicker,more efficient, but the
payments for all that newequipment is astronomical.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
It's staggering.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I guess, since I'm not farming thousands and
thousands of acres, it's only, Ithink, total.
The tillable is between 60 and70 acres, yep, so it's a
manageable amount, but I thinkyou have to make sure you're
making the right decisions aboutyour farm, because you can I
mean the machinery's out thereyou could spend a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
You could spend millions Right.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
But just being smart about what you buy and how you,
you know, maintain it and takecare of it.
I think you can go a long ways,because you know that's usually
when I talk to some of themechanics, you know they ask me
do you want brand new stuff?
Or I usually say, let's justmake sure I can get by, you know
, because I'm only harvesting 20or 40 acres.
Right, I don't, it's not likeI'm doing a lot, but it's just
(28:25):
keeping it in a good condition.
Yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
It's still workable, right, you know?
And now you have corn, soybeansand hay, yep, yeah.
So the animals that you'rereally feeding are the deer,
right, and they?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
sure like to eat yeah .
There are almost too many ofthose things out there now.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, well, hey, we're going to, we'll taste this
last beer, and then I'd likeyou to kind of give us a little
rundown of what went on ontuesday, okay, if you would, you
know to.
Uh, because, I mean, you had togo to the state fair.
You're recognized at the statefair, and so I find that
interesting.
Uh, you know, my wife was ableto go, and my mother-in-law,
which is your aunt, right, alsowent, and because she'd have
(29:03):
been the fifth generation, right, so I'd just kind of like to
find out, you know.
So, what went on, you know, andthat kind of thing.
So, before we do that, though,we're gonna go to black river,
all right, and we're gonna do alittle oscars right down the
road, right down the road.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Now, this is a little bit bigger can this is?
Speaker 1 (29:19):
yeah, sand creek, and boy, I foamed yours up big time
.
So we'll have to wait for aminute.
Uh, sand creek, you know, for awhile.
I mean that's what they werereally known for, I think was
Oscars and then for a littlewhile they weren't making it.
And when all of a sudden I sawit back in the store, it was
four 16-ounce cans.
They weren't doing it.
It wasn't a six-pack, but itwas four 16-ouncers, right?
(29:40):
So that's what we got today.
We got a 16-ounce can, and thisone, like I said before, is a
chocolate oatmeal stout.
All right, you can feel thequote-unquote, feel the
difference between the milkstout and the cream stout, and
then this one.
It's not quite as smooth, right, but that chocolate gives it a
nice little flavor.
I was going to say thatchocolate makes up for it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I think that is a good beer, and you know, I know
that we don't have that for thisepisode, but they do have this
on nitro, which makes it evensmoother.
You can get in trouble drinkingnitro, because that is really
good.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
You know, and they had one time that I was up there
I'm trying to remember if youwere up there at the same time
but they had made a mint Oscarsfor I don't know, it was for a
wedding or something like thatand they had some left.
So they had it on tap for likemaybe a week.
Oh wow, and we were up thereand I actually bought a growler
(30:35):
of it and I believe that Ron, mybrother-in-law, pretty much
helped me finish that off in onesitting.
So, it was mint chocolate chip,it was mint chocolate oatmeal
stout, and that was unbelievableand they've never had it since
see what's weird is?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
you know, with the craft beer you would think that
boy that's, it has a very goodtaste, where they can sell a lot
of it.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Let's, let's produce it again yeah, and you just
wonder, is it?
I'm sure it was more expensivejust because they had to put
mint in it, but still it wasreally good.
Yeah, you know, and that's whatyou want is what your customers
think has a good flavor.
Exactly, so yeah, this one dude, yeah, this is still good.
It's a good one.
Like I said, it's not as smoothbecause it doesn't have that
(31:16):
milk or the cream kind of feelto it.
But boy, the chocolate makes upfor that.
Yeah, it's really really good.
It's really good.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
And again, anybody could drink it if they're
willing to.
I mean, give it a fair shot,right, you know?
And I think anybody would like.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
I mean, there's nothing.
I guess maybe we're biased, butI don't think there's anything
negative about the beer, right,right, not really.
I, I can't think of anythingeither, so interesting, all
right.
Well, now we've tried all three.
We'll let it stew a little bit,all right, when we come back,
uh, to the beers, then we willuh, kind of, here's our order,
the way we position them.
So, anyway, let's get back totuesday, okay?
And so you went to milwaukeefor the state fair and that's
(31:57):
where they were.
Now, did you have to likecontact them and fight and like
turn stuff in to say, hey, thiswe've had it for 150 years, or
did they contact you, or how didthat process?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So I knew that every year they did the awards at the
state fair.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
What my challenge was .
Another one of the challengewas that the uh, my father and,
I think, both of his sisters,Jane and Joyce, and his mother,
alice, those four went in 1985for the century award.
So when I started doing myresearch I'm like, well, they
didn't get the farm in 1885,they got it in 1875, so it's
(32:39):
like 10 years earlier.
So I what I don't know is, whydid they wait till 1985 to ask
for the 100 years?
So that's why we're not 50years from 85, which would be
2035.
We're 40 years.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
And what I did was I went to the county register of
deeds and I talked to the ladiesthere, because there's a whole
staff there and I told them whatI was working on and they
actually had the forms there tooto help me.
So they helped me go throughand find all the original
documents, because all theoriginal documents are on file
in the county Register of Deedsoffice and we found all the
(33:14):
people.
We found everything that wasever turned into the county as
an official document they have acopy of it.
So that's how I was able to getstarted and they actually had
the forms and stuff for me tofill out.
So we were able to fill it outand turn it in to the state,
because as long as the Registerof Deeds looked at it, the state
then took the Register of Deedsword, as it was legitimate.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Okay, gotcha, all right.
So then you sent that to thefarm, or what?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I don't know if there's actually.
I think it was.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
I honestly don't know , so it's some organization
anyway, right, I don't know ifthere's actually, I think it was
, I honestly don't know.
So it's some organizationanyway.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Right, I don't know if it was the state fair or if
it was, because it didn't seemlike it was the state itself it
was.
I think it was more of thestate fair.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Oh, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I think that's who's.
And then they have all theseother sponsors that were there
helping support it, Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Okay.
So when on Tuesday, yep, whatwent down?
I mean I guess, how did theypresent it?
Or I'm guessing there was otherpeople there for other farms as
well.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Okay, so once you so the so a little bit of it was I
didn't realize until we got someof the paperwork is that there
were 30 farms, so 29 plus ours,that received the 150-year award
.
Oh, wow.
And then that brought the totalto only 1,065 farms ever from
the state of Wisconsin that havegot that 150-year award Wow.
(34:36):
Also.
Then there were 69 farms thatreceived the century.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
For 100 years.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Right, and I think it's almost a little over 10,000
farms have received the century.
So when you got there you'reregistered, had to put a little
name tag on and you got a littlebutton.
Okay.
I think maybe we'll be able toshow that.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah, you sent me a picture, so I'll put pictures of
that online.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
So the button just said the sesquicentennial
honoree, and then there was onefor the century.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Okay, and they actually.
What was nice is they actuallyhad a parking lot and then a
gate for us to be able to like,because joyce doesn't walk that
well, so I mean we only had towalk maybe 50 yards from the car
.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Okay, that's nice, because normally you go to a
state fair, you're parking way,a long walk, yeah, and the tent
was right there, so they hadeverything under a nice tent
just by the gate.
So it was real convenient.
Um, and they got us in and Imean I was truly amazed at how
efficient everything was.
I mean, as you sat down at thetable, they already had the
water, milk, coffee for youthere, some breakfast rolls, and
(35:41):
then, when the lady said, allright, it's time for breakfast,
they had a company that wasdoing the catering and they
served all, because each farmhad four people.
Okay so it was probably 250people.
They had everybody served inunder five minutes oh my word,
their entire breakfast.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
So it was you just.
They brought the food to you.
You just sat there.
They brought it right to you.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Oh, my word, and everything was warm.
I mean so it wasn't their firstrodeo.
No, it was very well-oiledmachine.
I mean it was very good.
I mean you know food fromhillshire farms had sausages of
eggs it was real really goodsure okay, very efficient.
And then, after you get donewith that, they came by, picked
it all up so I mean by theirtime like everything was like
(36:21):
clicking off, just like theywanted okay so then after we ate
then they had a lot of peoplethat were telling you know,
saying thank you, because youhad the state fair people,
hillshire Farms, compere,financial.
Then Allison Dairyland was there.
She talked Fairs to the Fair.
I didn't know they even hadthat lady.
No Well, she goes to everycounty fair and the state fair
(36:44):
during her reign.
She's done with fairs after awhile wow, during her reign of,
so she's done with fairs after awhile.
And then um, the department ofegg trade, consumer protection,
and then the last one was thelady that did the interview that
the midwest farm report okay,yep so they all kind of you know
, basically just saying thanksfor, you know, being a farmer,
keeping everything egg relatedbecause you know wisconsin is
(37:05):
based so much on egg correct.
Yes, so that was that, and thenthey read off everybody's name
by county.
Had everybody stood up, bigclap, and then after that it was
finished.
The set took a little over anhour.
We went to another tent, we gotour plaque and they took our
picture.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Oh, nice, okay, Because you had sent me that
they gave you like a certificateas well, like an award
certificate commemorating the150 years.
And then you had another Likecardboard yeah, it almost looked
like a license plate a littlebit, but it was again about for
150.
Because, yeah, it almost lookedlike a license plate a little
bit, but it was again about for$150.
Because I know at your farm nowyou already had the one for 100
years hanging up, Right.
(37:43):
So yeah, that'll look nice tohave the $150 up there too.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, so I mean it was nice.
I mean the only difference wasthe 100-year was a tin sign that
I think could be outside alittle bit easier.
This one's made out of likethat.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
It was like it's not cardboard, okay, but it's some
sort of I know.
I kind of know what you'retalking about.
So well, we have to keep itinside.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yeah, because I mean I don't think, even if you had
it enclosed, I don't know if itwould be good outside.
Yeah, probably not.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
You don't want to ruin it because you only get one
.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
But yeah, so that was pretty much so from 8 o'clock
to 10, so it was about two hoursand then after that you already
had your admission in so youcould go walk throughout the
fair or state fair and oh sure,see what else I mean this.
Looking online, they hadprobably 30 different foods on a
stick if you were into that,you could have tried a lot.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You could try a lot of foods on a stick, deep fried
yeah, I mean all the way from.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
They even had the frozen banana dipped in
chocolate did they?
Speaker 1 (38:37):
yes, yes, oh boy, you could have had that too Frozen.
Well, there you go, you couldhave worked on both extremes
yeah.
There you go, you got to eathealthy when you're at the fair.
Yes, well, cool man.
Thanks for sharing that because, like I said, that's quite an
accomplishment and a lot ofpeople will never be a part of
like that.
You know, and I know this, thisepisode's a little different
(38:58):
because we were talking moreabout the farm, but again, this
is, it's pretty incredible,right, you know?
So that's why I thought weshould.
Uh, I wanted to give you, youknow, a shout out for that
because it's, it's really cool.
And, uh, you and I probablywon't be here for the next
hundred, for the 300thanniversary of the, maybe not
even 200, oh no, we'll be herefor that, but uh, you know.
(39:18):
So I mean, it's just, it's acool accomplishment.
So I just wanted to say that'sawesome.
You know way to go and keep upthe work.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I don't know if we'll be able to put it out there,
but there is a link to theMidwest Farm Report where it
actually has the written historyand what they when they
interviewed us too.
So yeah, I'll see if I.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
I'll see if I can link that somehow to where
people can see it and hear youtalk to them about it, because I
know you went into a littlemore detail on some of the stuff
with that lady.
Right, we're trying to keep itmoving a little bit Right.
It's a little bit different andyou didn't have to taste beers
with her Right.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
The important stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
All right, Well, hey, getting back to the beers man,
I guess what are your thoughts?
How would you lay this out asfar as your ranking?
Speaker 2 (39:59):
So for me there's, I think, almost like a 1A, 1B and
then a number two.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I am thinking we're thinking the exact same thing I
like both the Oscars and theBuffalo Sweat.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I don't know if I could differentiate between them
very much.
I mean, they're really reallyso close together in all their
attributes.
The only thing for theHillsboro that sets it a little
bit lower is the flavors are notnearly as strong.
The other two are not over thetop, but the Hillsboro is just a
little bit muted and didn'tcome through like the first two.
(40:32):
I hope that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
I agree 100%.
I was thinking and either way Icould flip-flop either way.
I could flip flop either way,right you know, for buffalo
sweat and oscars, because, youknow is, the only difference is,
do you want more of a chocolatetaste or do you want a little
bit of that creaminess?
Right, you know, and they're.
They're both really good.
Uh, hillsborough, it's stillgood, but I agree with you,
compared to those other two, theflavor is definitely muted a
(40:55):
little bit.
So I guess, hey, I guess that'sour Either way Buffalo Sweat
and Oscars.
However, you want to flip themaround, right hand, left hand
doesn't matter.
And then Badger Sweat.
I think again, you could drinkany of them and they're good.
Oh yeah, for sure, I like them,I mean, I think, the challenge
you're going to find is thattraveling You're going to have
(41:16):
to go to probably Iowa or Kansasor some other places to get the
buffalo sweat.
Unfortunately, we know somepeeps that go to Wisconsin.
Luckily enough, they brought ussome and then actually, like I
said, my family lives close toIowa.
They're in Minnesota, but it'sclose to Iowa and they found it
in the town that's five milesaway, so they're able to get it
(41:37):
there too.
Well, hey, Jim, there's oneother thing that we've got more
episodes coming up.
Okay, this is August.
You know what we're going tohave to be on the lookout for.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
I think it's getting that time of year, getting that
time of year.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
You know, the last two years we've had August,
Toberfest, yep.
So we're hoping, I'm hoping wecan find.
Yeah, it's going to be moredifficult this year to find ones
we haven't had.
Yes, because we we went crazylast year.
Yeah we.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
We had quite a few episodes like three three or
four, I think I'd have to lookback, but we had a bunch.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
We might have to stretch way out to find some.
Well, that, or we're gonna haveto hope that they're the 2025
version isn't right.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yes, we can keep doing a little.
They, they change the recipe,just a little bit exactly.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
so we're we're going to have to be on the lookout for
those.
We do have some ideas for someother ones and I think it's
going to be an interestingcomparison that we're looking at
doing.
Okay, Am I invited?
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah, sure, if you want Well since I think they're
the beers that you sent me alist of you need to kind of be
there, all right, well, thatmakes you have them, so it makes
you even better than yeah, uh,jim had sent me a list and
there's some really interestingbeers on there and it's going to
be.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
It'll be good, yes, uh.
So yeah, we've got uh thatcoming up.
I guess you know we've got.
What else do we got coming up?
Well, labor day is coming up alittle ways we might have a few
bourbon ones.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
We're gonna have some bourbon barrel ones uh that.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I'm sure We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
We might have to do that just so we can get some
space, so I can get some more.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Get some more coolant , and then we'll have to be on
the lookout again, of course,for pumpkin beers.
I don't know if I've seen anyyet.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I have not, but it's usually around the time
Oktoberfest starts popping outthat some pumpkin ones should.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
So yeah, we're getting back into that time of
year already.
I can't believe it.
This would be our third AugustOktoberfest episode.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
We might actually know what we're doing now.
Well, I'm not saying that butwe're going to give her a good
shot.
We're going to keep trying, yougot that right.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Well cool, hey, jim.
Thank you so much for sharingthat information on the
sesquicentennial.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yes, say that five times yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
I was practicing on the way home and I messed it up.
This is the time I got it out.
You did good, yeah, so that'scool and I'm glad we can share
that with the people.
And again, look at any of thesethree beers they're all really
good.
Yep and, ladies and gentlemen,thanks for listening.
We'll be back again next weekwith probably a little bit more
(44:01):
of our normal episode, but Ireally wanted to focus this week
on this award.
So anyway, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening and, like
we always say, we hope yourcampfire is always warm and your
beers are always cold.
See ya, bye.
Thank you for listening to theNorthwoods Beer Guy podcast.
If you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
(44:24):
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
your beer is cold.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!