Wisco Dive Bar Reviews has become an online force by tapping into old-style taverns
Jared Schutz of Wisco Dive Bar Reviews stands outside “the most iconic dive bar in Wisconsin,” the Plywood Palace in Moquah.
Even if you aren’t into drinking or hanging out in bars, scanning through Jared Schutz’s social media feeds is oddly, surprisingly, addicting.
Jared Schutz, a 47-year-old carpenter who lives in Spring Valley, is the proprietor of Wisco Dive Bar Reviews. With a gravelly voice and unbound enthusiasm for out-of-the-way, unpretentious watering holes, Schutz posts short, always-positive videos that profile bars and their owners.
Schutz started his social media posts in January of 2022, and when he spoke to a reporter on Sept. 5, he had visited 666 bars in that time. “That’s not a great number,” he said, laughing. By now, he’s likely accrued at least half a dozen more.
His videos are mostly scenes from the bar inside and out and his narrative describing the place and the vibes he feels there. The videos are on several social media platforms, prominently on TikTok, where he has close to 100,000 followers; YouTube, where he has more than 6,300 subscribers and 724 of his videos have amassed 1.7 million views; and Instagram, where he has more than 51,000 followers. He also has an interactive website where all his videos are posted, along with the location of each bar: wiscodivebars.com.
Why is it so popular? Why is watching his videos so addicting? Even Schutz doesn’t have a solid answer. But he thinks the way he approaches each bar, with openness and a sense of fun, is a big part of the appeal. And if you grew up in rural Wisconsin, it’s likely that even as a kid you spent time in a bar, going with your grandpa while he played cards with his buddies, or to grab a quick burger with your parents for lunch.
By tapping into Wisconsin dive bar ethos, Schutz seems to have found a fundamental piece of what it means to live in the state for many.
“I’m all about supporting small businesses,” Schutz said. “And these are great small businesses. They are the pulse of a lot of these communities.”
How did Wisco Dive Bar Reviews come about?
It all started when Schutz was on a break from his regular job as a carpenter, talking with some of his colleagues.
“I don’t even know why, but just off the top of my head, I asked the guys, ‘How many bars to you think the state of Wisconsin has?’ They were like, ‘Man, we have no idea.'”
On his next break he did a Google search, and the search engine said there were something like 3,400 bars in Wisconsin. Schutz did a short video about that on TikTok and was astounded by the attention that bit grabbed. It was a short leap of logic from that, he said, to posting about dive bars themselves.
“It was such a quick turnaround between the thought and making it happen that I never really had the time to even think about some three-month, six-month, one-year goals,” he said. “It just happened so fast, I just hit the ground running. Now it’s like, right, this is what we do.”
Schutz is quick to point out that Google vastly underestimated the number of bars in the state. He’s since gotten to know officials at the Wisconsin Tavern League, and they estimate there are close to 9,000 bars in the state.
Jared Schutz (in red hoodie) said he’s almost always recognized on his dive bar visits, and meeting and talking with people is the best part of the work.
What is a dive bar?
“Well, I tell people dive bars have the coldest beers and the warmest hearts,” Schutz said. “You know, to be a great dive bar, you almost need to be a landmark, a historical landmark of a town or area. Cheap beer. Gotta have peanuts or pork rinds or something for people to snack on. Gotta have a shake of the day. Pull tabs.”
The best dive bars, Schutz said, also have a sense of community. Bars are often a social hub, and the owners often are there to help out when someone is in need, Schutz said. They often play host to fundraisers.
“And there’s just old signage, old neon lights,” Schutz adds. “Wood paneling! If you’re at a bar and you have wood paneling, it’s a dive bar. It just feels like you are in a 1972 trailer house.”
What’s up with the Busch Light?
Schutz is not a snob when it comes to his choice of drink: Busch Light. And he talks about the lower calorie brew regularly in many of his videos.
“I hear it so much: ‘It’s not a Wisconsin beer,'” he said. “But it is the number-one selling beer in Wisconsin.”
There are practical, economic and sensory reasons for Schutz’s choice. “I actually have Crohn’s disease (inflammation of the digestive system), so I have to watch what I drink and what I eat as well. Busch Light, it agrees with my stomach, and I don’t get sick off it,” Schutz said. “Busch Light tastes great, it’s cheap, and it agrees with my stomach. It’s kind of a win-win-win.”
Jared Schutz with his Wisco Dive Bar-branded vodka, produced by Timekeeper Distillery in Wausau.
What strategies does Schutz use for prolific dive bar posting?
Schutz has strategies for pacing both his drinking and time on the road visiting bars, and for his posting of videos.
When he first started posting the videos, he visited as many bars as he could on any given weekend.
“There were stretches where I hit 32 different bars in 36 hours,” Schutz said. “I was like, I can’t frickin’ do this. I don’t go crazy like that anymore.”
Schutz works in his regular job Mondays through Thursdays, and every other weekend visits bars on Fridays and Saturdays. He usually has a beer in each bar, and spends, on average, an hour in each one, he says, but circumstances usually guide him. His girlfriend most often is with him, and she’ll take over the driving duties after a bar or two.
He plans his bar visits and outlines his travels in advance. “Actually, a lot of times I’m booked a couple of months in advance,” he said.
Schutz figures he spends an average of 30 hours a week total in his dive bar efforts; most of that time is doing editing, voiceovers and posting. It’s a bit of a grind, but he’s got a competitive spirit and he genuinely enjoys being a part of Wisconsin’s dive bar scene.
“If I do it, I’m going to overdo it,” Schutz said.
Where does Wisco Dive Bar Reviews go from here?
Schutz doesn’t envision visiting all of Wisconsin’s 9,000 bars. Instead, he said, he reckons that he’ll cast a wider net. He thinks there is great dive bar potential in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, for example, and he knows of some in Minnesota, too.
Over the last few months, he’s worked with Timekeeper Distillery in Wausau to produce Wisco Dive Bar vodka, and that’s been a great experience. “I feel it’s every Wisconsin boy’s dream,” he said. Maybe more opportunities like that will come along.
For the immediate future, he said, he plans to visit counties in Wisconsin he hasn’t been to yet. He’s been to bars in 59 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
“I’m hoping by the end of the year I can cross off the other 13,” he said.
Schutz just hopes he can keep on doing what he’s doing. He said he loves getting out and meeting people, talking with them, getting to know bar owners. He’s learned that there are good, friendly and open people in every corner of the state.
“Positive vibes get positive vibes,” he said. “This has definitely made me a better person. I never had a bad day out reviewing.”
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