I would have filed Bodega Brew Pub under "brew pubs", but they no longer brew their own beer. Actually, they never did brew their own beer, even though beer was brewed in the place. Huh? How can that be? Well, read on.
Anyway, the Bodega Brew Pub in downtown La Crosse beckons me each time I go there.
The Bodega Brew Pub is housed in building that was the home of the Bodega restaurant - a popular lunch cafe in La Crosse that began in 1897. Over the years, The Bodega served thousands of people some good home-cooked meals. When the downtown area of La Crosse began to suffer in the 1980's, the Bodega closed in 1984. It reopened a short time later, but closed for good in 1989.
In 1994, Jeff Hotson, a former railroad worker; and Michael Breckel, who farmed and owned a brewery supply business, bought the Bodega building and began to restore it. They opened not long after that featuring a number of upper Midwest microbrews and a long list of imported beers, as well.
In 1999, Joe Katchever, a La Crosse native who had been brewing beer out in Colorado, leased the Bodega's basement brewing operation from Hotson and Breckel and began to brew the beer under the Pearl Street label. Katchever's beer was good - I really like the Pearl Street pale ale - and it became apparent that he needed more room as he wanted to eventually bottle his beer. In 2005, Katchever moved into part of the old La Crosse Footwear factory building. Pearl Street is still available on tap at Bodega.
The Bodega Brew Pub's beer selection is still very impressive. They have a number of beers on tap and a much larger selection of beers in bottles. I had to have a Pearl Street pale ale when I was in there and then I got a Pioneer lager from the Pioneer Brewing Company from Black River Falls. Only I found out from the bartender that the Sand Creek Brewing Company recently bought out Pioneer.
The Bodega Brew Pub is certainly a great little beer bar. The thing I like about it is that it's a smoke free bar and they don't serve food. They just do one thing - serve beer - and they do it right. It's one of my all-time favorite places to get a beer.
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