Resch Center rolled out its new cocktail-dispensing bubbler for Charlie Berens' Old Fashioned Brandy, and holy cow, did people love it
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ASHWAUBENON - When comedian Charlie Berens’ Good Old Fashioned Tour played the Resch Center last month, PMI Entertainment Group knew it wanted to create a drink themed to the event.
That was the easy part. The real genius came in the pour.
Patrons at the sold-out show got their Berens Brandy Old Fashioned not from an ordinary concession stand, but dispensed from a bubbler in the concourse.
It’s called knowing your audience.
“We just kind of figured what’s more Wisconsin than a bubbler that spouts alcohol?” said Hannah Hartsell, marketing manager for PMI, the company that manages the Resch Complex.
(The answer, of course, is nothing, although the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' Bratzooka is right up there.)
The modified bubbler was the perfect tie-in for raising a glass to Berens, who has made a career out of finding the funny in all things Wisconsin, including folksy stuff like the Badger State's penchant for calling a water fountain a bubbler. Jeepers cripes, did people line up for it.
“Oh my gosh, it was insane. It ended up being a huge hit. There was a huge line the whole time,” Hartsell said. “I think a lot of that was attributed to almost everyone who got a drink wanted to also take their picture with it, which was definitely a lot of fun.”
And so The Boozy Bubbler was born.
Berens, who knows a thing or two about whipping up a supper club-worthy old fashioned, even mentioned it during his April 27 show at the Resch Center. He also gave it some love on the Instagram account for the 90-proof Berens Old Fashioned Brandy he rolled out in February and named in honor of his Grandpa Bob — the same brandy PMI used for the drink.
The Boozy Bubbler — a never-been-used “regular old-school school bubbler” mounted to a portable wall with a neon sign in the front and a keg in the back to hold the premixed concoctions — is here to stay. It’s on wheels, which means PMI can keep ’er movin’ anywhere in the arena, whether it be in the concourse for a concert crowd or behind the scenes at a preparty.
The plan is to roll it out at some of the Resch Center’s major touring shows as a fun way to engage with patrons and show off the venue’s themed cocktails.
For the last year, PMI has been mixing up a featured drink tied to some of the major events the arena hosts. The signature sip is then sold at stands set up specially for that drink.
Luke Bryan fans, for example, who didn’t want to drink a beer to “Drink a Beer” could sip a Country Crush (vodka, pineapple juice and cranberry juice) when his Country On Tour visited last year. For “Body Like a Back Road” singer Sam Hunt’s concert in March, there was Backroad Lemonade (Crown Royal Regal Apple and lemonade).
As drinking habits change to include mocktails, hard seltzers and other options beyond the big cups of beer traditionally associated with event crowds, the cocktails offer something new for people to try.
“It’s kind of knocked our socks off as to how some of these specialty drinks have taken off,” said Terry Charles, senior manager of corporate communications for PMI. “It’s done really, really well. People just seem to like to experience something that we concoct that has a different name."
For a Harry Potter-themed Green Bay Gamblers game, PMI created its own in-house Butterbeer with cream soda and caramel and butterscotch flavorings that “went just bonkers” with hockey fans, Charles said.
More: Here are all the major concerts, comedy shows in Green Bay through 2024
The Boozy Bubbler, let's call it a cousin to Titletown Brewing Co.’s famed Beerbler (a bubbler that dispenses beer), was built from scratch with the help of the Resch’s maintenance and operations staff. It won’t make an appearance at every event but is tentatively scheduled to be on duty for two upcoming comedy tours: Nate Bargatze on May 19 and Shane Gillis on June 15.
Rest assured, the PMI staff is already hard at work dreaming up a special drink for each. It’s a tough job that usually requires some sampling.
“Quality control,” Hartsell said.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Resch Center's new Boozy Bubbler dispenses cocktails the Wisconsin way
