The Copper Turtle taps into craft beer and cocktails for Third Ward tavern

When Benjamin and Amanda Rossi were looking for a date night or weekend getaway, Milwaukee’s Third Ward became their go-to destination. In fact, they loved the area so much that the Illinois couple decided to open a business here. The Copper Turtle Brewery & Taverne, 330 E. Menomonee St., officially opened Dec. 31, 2022.

Tapping into their previous experience as owners of a brewery in Illinois, plus Amanda’s interior design skills, they created their version of a speakeasy vibe for the space that housed Bavette before it moved around the corner.

Striking a balance between beer and cocktails, Benjamin leans on his experience as both a brewer and mixologist. The brewery offers six beers brewed on site, including a new barrel-aged stout collaboration with Dancing Goat Distillery, plus a menu of cocktails. While the Wisconsin old fashioned on tap was initially a favorite, espresso martinis quickly became the top seller once they were added to the menu.

Benjamin Rossi recently spoke about the appeal of brewing and cocktails, and what he’s planning for their patio season opening later this month.

How his first job put him on the path to hospitality

I grew up in Grayslake, Illinois. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. I’ve been in the hospitality industry, more on the beverage side, my entire career. I started waiting tables at Denny’s when I was 15. That moved into bartending. I went to a mixology school in downtown Chicago and got more into the bartending side, went into management, into beverage director. During my time as a beverage director in Chicago, I started getting into homebrewing. It would drive my wife nuts. I’d take over the kitchen.

When I was a beverage director on the north side of Chicago, it was the start of the craft beer boom. I tried my best to feature local and worked with up-and-coming breweries like Begyle (Brewing) in Ravenswood. I actually bought their first keg. They invited me to come to their brewery and brew with them. We collaborated on a recipe. After that I was hooked and did my own thing.

Making the move to Milwaukee

I do live in Illinois, directly on the state line. It is a quicker drive for me to get to Milwaukee than to Chicago. ... What brought us up was my wife and I fell in love with the city. We have four young kids. Vacations and date nights, our time alone, is few and far between. Milwaukee became a nice, easy getaway for us. We’d go to the Third Ward, send the kids to Grandma and Grandpa’s for the weekend, and stay in a hotel or an Airbnb. Milwaukee flies so under the radar with food and beverage. We just fell in love with exploring it.

Not only do I brew beer, but I went to mixology school. I designed our entire cocktail menu myself. I’m very into that side of the industry. We had a brewery in Illinois that just never recovered from the pandemic. Our original plan for Milwaukee was a cocktail lounge and keep the brewery in Illinois. We closed down in Illinois, which was bittersweet, but when one door closes, another opens.

Cocktails and craft brewing are his perfect pairing 

Craft breweries’ nationwide sales have gone down since 2021. I made a decision when coming to Milwaukee. You have two options: brewers license or brewpub. A brewpub license allows you to serve spirits and serve a full bar. We went the full route.

My cocktail sales volume are actually higher than for beer. That’s why it is called Copper Turtle Brewery & Taverne. ... We see a lot more of the late-night cocktail crowd, and we still get the brewery-hopping groups. It is nice to have both.

What he loves about working behind the bar

Anyone can go anywhere and have a beer or a drink. We’re not just bartenders. We’re not just owners. We’re about customer experience. That’s the goal of the person behind the bar, an experience. It is not just pouring beer. It is getting to know people, making them laugh and making it a good experience. That’s what I like when I hop behind the bar.

What defines his approach to beer, brewing and cocktails

Whether cocktails or beer, I’m a purist at heart. As far as beers, I’m a lager guy through and through. I like the easy-drinking beers. I like cocktails that are pre-Prohibition — fewer ingredients, classic cocktails. It is always the traditional and purist aspect that defines my approach. Of course if people want IPAs, you brew them, and we do. We keep up with the market and trends, but If I’m making a beer for myself, it is always a nice, crisp, easy-drinking lager.

Untappd, which is globally popular with beer drinkers, just gave us recognition. It is like an Instagram for beer. You can make friends on the app and wherever you go, it is like an online journaling and rating system for beer. They just did their first ever community beer awards and our La Tortuga, a lime lager, won number one in the state of Wisconsin for its category.

What defines this brewery and bar space

My wife is an interior designer, the design lead on the project. Our goal from the beginning was to kind of be that speakeasy vibe. We didn’t want to go the typical industrial aesthetic of the average brewery. People come in at night, the light fixtures are some of the coolest aspects of the setting. We didn’t really want to be like every other brewery. There’s a place for that, and the industrial warehouse thing is cool. I’ve been to breweries like that. I owned one like that. We wanted to do something different here.

You have beer drinkers, wine drinkers and cocktail drinkers. If you only serve beer, you lose 66% of your market. We’re a tavern that brews its own beer, and we have something for everybody.

Where the name Copper Turtle comes from

We have these giant copper tanks. We knew we were going to name it something with copper. My oldest daughter always wanted to be a marine biologist. Her favorite animals in the world are sea turtles. She is the type of girl who goes to a restaurant and sees plastic straws and gets angry. We took that approach and applied it to Copper Turtle. We try to be sustainable and eliminate all plastic waste. We definitely don’t use plastic straws. We’re cognizant of trying to do our part as a small business to make the world a better place.

What you’ll find on tap

We’re not like one of the big breweries that have 30 to 40 beers on tap. We have six copper tanks behind the bar, so at any given time, we have six beers on tap. The copper tanks are hooked right to our draft system. Every time we pour a beer, it is fresh from the tank. That does limit us to fresh beer options, but I don’t view that as a hindrance.

We have draft cocktails as well. Our Wisconsin old fashioned is on tap. It is Wisconsin brandy old fashioned, sweet or sour. We mix it and put it on tap, top off with lemon lime or grapefruit soda. That used to be our number one selling cocktail until I added espresso martinis.

We have a traditional old fashioned on our menu as well, called The Goat. Everything comes from Dancing Goat Distillery in Cambridge, Wisconsin. We use their Limousine Rye. My bartenders are very sure to clarify what people want. They’re wildly different drinks.

Look for these seasonal sips

We just released our first ever barrel-aged stout, another collaboration with Dancing Goat. It was inspired by the old fashioneds. ... You get the sweetness from the brandy barrel, the spice from the rye. They play very nice together.

Over the next couple months you’ll see what I call "crushers" — the warm-weather drinking beers, the easy-drinking for patio and Summerfest season, like La Tortuga.

This is the bestselling drink on the menu right now

Our number one selling cocktail now is definitely the espresso martinis. We have three varieties, and a large cult following for those. All of our espresso martinis use a cold brew espresso, and all of them have Aztec chocolate bitters added to the recipe. Bartender Meaghan Hau’s espresso martini made with vodka and a simple syrup and a coffee liqueur is definitely the most popular.

This is his go-to drink

My go-to drink on our menu is the Boulevardier, my riff on a pre-Prohibition classic cocktail. It is simple ingredients — the Limousine Rye whiskey with sweet vermouth and a red aperitivo, a dash of bitters — absolutely delicious. If I am pouring anything for myself, that is what I’m having.

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email clewis@journalsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Copper Turtle taps into craft beer and cocktails for Third Ward tavern