Forget beer — Wisconsin has a better drink for the Brewers’ World Series win

Pass the brandy; the Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions! After losing Game 4 just three outs from a title, the Brewers left no doubt in Game 5, dominating the Rays 4-1 en route to winning the team's first title in franchise history.

So yes, Wisconsin is entitled to a big (read: boozy) celebration. And in Wisconsin, a celebration means one thing: a brandy Old Fashioned, muddled fruits, with a soda topper and zero apologies to bourbon purists (sorry, not sorry).

Before the series started, I asked bartenders what to drink for this exact moment. Here's what they said to pour this week — including the best Wisconsin Old Fashioned recipes to try at home:

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Why the Wisconsin Old Fashioned is Milwaukee's victory drink

Tim Sweeney, bar manager and partner at Pebble Bar and a lifelong Brewers fan, called this one before Game 1 even teed off. When I asked who'd win the World Series, he didn't hesitate: "BREWERS!"

He was just as sure about the winning World Series drink, too: "There is only one right answer for a Milwaukee, Wisconsin cocktail. Only one," he says. "It is the Brandy Old Fashioned (or as it is known in Wisconsin: the Old Fashioned)."

Anywhere else, an Old Fashioned means whiskey, bitters, and sugar. But in Wisconsin, it's staple to swap in brandy, muddled orange and cherry, and top it with soda. "49 states wouldn't dare muddle a cherry or orange in their Old Fashioneds. Wisconsin dares," Sweeney says.

For Sweeney, it's never been about winning cocktail contests anyway. "It's meant to be a tie to where you're from and the people you grew up with," he says. Today, that's the whole state of Wisconsin.

How to make a classic Wisconsin brandy Old Fashioned

Recipe from Molly Horn, Total Wine & More

If you've never had one, Horn calls it a "surprisingly refreshing" take on the classic, and the best part is that you forgo the endless stirring. "It's light, it's bubbly, and it's pretty simple to make," she says.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz brandy
• 1 sugar cube (or 2 tsp sugar)
• 1 orange slice
• 1 maraschino cherry, plus a splash of cherry juice
• 4-5 dashes Angostura bitters
• Sprite, to top

Method:

1. Muddle the orange and cherry with the bitters and sugar cube in an Old Fashioned glass.
2. Add brandy and ice, and stir gently to combine.
3. Top with Sprite. Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Order it like a local: Topped with lemon-lime soda; it's a "sweet." Grapefruit soda makes it a "sour," while half lemon-lime, half-club soda is a "press."

Van Down by the River: The Chris Farley-inspired Old Fashioned

Sweeney's victory lap continues Oct. 30, when he'll even be dressed as a Milwaukee Brewer on the Halloween Today Show.

For SNL's 50th anniversary, Pebble Bar served this Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet as a tribute to the late Chris Farley — a Wisconsin native who went to the same high school as Sweeney.

Ingredients:

• 6 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 maraschino cherry
• 1 orange half-moon
• 1 tsp Rose's grenadine
• 0.25 oz demerara syrup (or a sugar cube, if — per Sweeney — "you're going full Wisconsin")
• 2 oz Korbel brandy
• 1 oz Sprite

Method:

1. Add the bitters, cherry, orange, grenadine, and demerara directly to a double rocks glass.
2. Muddle lightly to release the flavors; no need to go hard.
3. Add the brandy and fill with ice. Stir, then top with Sprite.

And yes, it has to be Korbel. "I'm not a shill for the brand, but Korbel is a Wisconsin tradition," Sweeney says.

Hometown Hero: A maple-ginger Old Fashioned for the champs

Recipe from Bridget Albert, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

Bridget Albert, senior director of external communications at Southern Glazer's and co-host of the Served Up podcast, also recommended the brandy Old Fashioned because "it's part of the state's drinking culture and has a personality all of its own." That it does!

Her spin swaps the Sprite for ginger beer and adds maple and orange bitters, "keeping the familiar flavors while adding a little brightness."

Ingredients:

• 2 oz brandy
• 0.25 oz maple syrup
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters
• 1 orange slice
• 1 cocktail cherry
• 1 oz ginger beer
• Orange slice and cherry, for garnish

Method:

1. Gently muddle the orange slice and cherry with the maple syrup and bitters in a rocks glass.
2. Add the brandy and ice; stir well.
3. Top with ginger beer and garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Not an Old Fashioned person? Grab a Homerun Shandy

Recipe from Lauren Trickett, Rémy Cointreau

This is Brew City, after all! Trickett's shandy pairs a local farmhouse ale with Cointreau and lemonade, and it's the easiest drink here to pour mid-parade.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Cointreau
• 2 oz lemonade
• 6 oz local farmhouse ale
• Lemon for garnish

Method:

1. Build in a chilled pint glass and garnish with a lemon.