The Coffee Grounds

This store is part kitchen supply house, part bottle shop and now part brewery, though the latter was closed during our visit. A nice selection of local beers to include a few growlers/crowlers. Reasonable prices.

Small store with coffee shop and wine and beer and other random items. Beer selection is well curated, some vintage bottles, a new glarus rack, a number of singles and then plenty of other nice things as well.

A little inconspicuous place to find. Some decent bottle selection though superseded in wine bottles. Carry your own to find someone to take your cash. Still not bad for the middle of almost nowhere.

Stopped in while passing through town, Coffee Grounds was our destination. Toppling Goliath PseudoSue on tap. Need I say more? This is the top destination in Eau Claire to buy beer. Nearly everything they have is available in singles, and organized by style. Only a place dedicated to beer will do that, and you’d be surprised how few stores have that level of organization and dedication. Lazy Monk growlers (at least 6), a dozen lambics, at least 50-60 varieties of each style (when available). Berliner Weisse, Gratzer, Gruit, Unblended Lambic, plenty of odd/obscure beers that you can’t find anywhere else in town. High-end imports like Carnegie Porter, Italian saisons, Handbryggeriet, De Dolle, as well as limited seasonals like Founders IS and CW BB Barleywine. They even have an exclusive coffee stout brewed with their house coffee! The staff at the counter were very helpful, even though they weren’t beer experts. The beer guy here is a BA, which is a huge plus. They also checked the stockroom for more Tilquin 750s, but I guess we lucked out and got the last one. (Edit: Had a pricing issue on a single that was resolved later by their beer guy, Kyle. Exceptional customer service!) They gave a short briefing on growler care and it’s lifespan, which is more than I can say for most stores. (Edit: The PseudoSue growler I bought was faded. Boo. Make sure you sample the tap beer first! Not sure if due to low turnover or not running the line before a fill.) They also have a coffee lounge that is a great place for a pit stop on a long roadtrip (clean restrooms too). Not much food, but a small cafe menu and a wide assortment of cheese, charcuterie, and chocolate. Recommended for a detour off the highway.

Nice wine/cheese/beer/coffee and other cool stuff boutique kind of place. A well thought out and attractively displayed selection, but the prices were a little higher than average. Seemed like the best place in town to grab interesting national and international bottles.

Stopped by coffee grounds, while seeing my the future wife’s Alma mater. The store had me worried, for a moment. I saw a lot of non-beer-related items, mostly gourmet foods, and other shit, but then I turned a corner and saw a nice set of shelves that had plenty of good beer to burn a hole in the wallet. Since I only am able to get out to Wisconsin twice a year, I had to get me fill on New Glarus stuff - Serendipity, Enigma, Apple Ale, Raspberry Tart, etc. I noticed that they had a lot of other Wisconsin breweries represented. The prices, as I have no basis of comparison, really, were fine; however, I have seen Raspberry Tart for less than what they were selling it. I also got a coffee, which wasn’t great, but it woke me up, on the car ride to grandma’s cabin. Other notes: didn’t receive much beer service, but I didn’t need it; the food selection looked fine, I don’t remember anything mind-blowing.

Decided to make a quick stop while driving back from the GI black friday event. This was quite the nice surprise. Great atmosphere that is more than just craft beer. The selection was very good and had a huge singles section, one of the best I have seen. Prices were a tad high, but I am willing to spend more per bottle when I can buy one versus a 4 or 6 pack. Service was good, but they do give priority to locals, which I get so won’t hold it against them. I wish there was a place like this much closer to me.

Stopped in from the ratings and found a couple items that are out in MN. Grabbed a Pumking and got some Dave's BrewFarm and Tyranena BGW. Had a great singles selection, they had some BCS as well.

Pretty good selection, with a decent potion of the store devoted to beer. First place on this road trip i found drei fonteinen. A ton of Wisconsin beers, including a deep selection of New Glarus. Definitely worthy of an A list rating.

I had to create an account after my recent experience at this store and share with everyone what I went through in the hopes people are at least hesitant in dealing with this store in the future. I called this place at 2 pm on a Saturday and spoke to some girl who worked there. I asked her if they had any Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout available for purchase. She said they did and that they had 96 units on hand and ran down the various prices for me. She said there were no limits, etc. So, the next day I drive an hour and a half to purchase some since it seemed they had quite a bit. When I get to the store the people at the front desk tell me I am not allowed to purchase any but wouldn’t tell me why. I drove an hour and a half to purchase a beer they said I could purchase and then I get there and they won’t sell me any. Later on after I get home (4 hrs after I left) I send the owner of the store an email telling him my story. He said for special release beers they don’t put any of this out on the shelf but allow people who shop at the store a lot to reserve it. He also completely ignores the fact that I was told I could purchase some which is the whole reason why I made the drive in the first place. I used to pass through here quite a bit to purchase beer but I will never shop at this store again. This was without a doubt the single worst experience I’ve ever had as a consumer in my life.