(Visited 05/2006): Bodega is on 4th/Pearl in town and is thankfully a short walk from most of the area hotels. Parking does not seem to be an issue, but it probably depends a lot on whether the local college is in session. The interior is pretty small with a lived-in look. There are high tables on one side and the bar is on the other, with not a lot of room between. On the plus side this place has one of the most impressive bottle collections I have ever seen. On the minus side it is dingy in places and the bathroom is a little scary.. And what a beer selection they have! There are around 15 taps, with local/regional selections like Tyranena, Berghoff, & Capital, along with other gems like Kasteel. As for bottles they are pushing 300 with beers from everywhere. Again Wisconsin is well-represented. There is literally no way you could come in here and not find something new and/or something you love. The lazy-susan cooler full of beer bottles behind the bar is worth the trip alone. Service here was great on a Tuesday night. The bartender was helpful in pointing out local brews and knew her selection. She even went as far as to offer the binder with all of their beers. No food is offered here beside popcorn. All in all this place is an unbelievable find for a relatively small city. I am glad to be travelling here for work every few months.

Tremendous beer bar! "Brew pub" in their name is a bit misleading - they don’t brew their own, but they sure have a heck of a selection of brews! My server was great - he let me sample anything I wanted from their taps. The beer menu can be viewed by style or alphabetically by name (they print 2 different lists), and they also show the beer’s origin, style, RateBeer rating, and the rating from Beer Advocate. Very helpful! Bar is cool - hardwood floors, and a huge collection of tap handles, coasters, and empty bottles (in the windows). Also had the Cubano sandwich - tasty. Great spot.

Simple bar atmosphere, bunch of regulars, and a 400+ bottle cellar. Not the place to go for that rare Cantillon, but their list is almost guaranteed to have something you would like to try. Prices are pretty good for the midwestern "locals," a bit steep on many of the other bottles. 25% discount for carry out.

Nice selection of bottles and a few interesting things on tap. I really liked their beer bottle cooler. It’s a converted brew kettle that is used like a lazy susan. The crowd is definitely college town styled. Friendly folks. While the seleciton was good, I was not too impressed as most things seemed to be relatively readily available.

I have been going to this place for about 10 years, not continuously, but probably a handful of times over that period. And, it appears to me that the quality of their selection has improved markedly in the past year, although I see from balke_13’s rating that they had beers from many of the brewers I saw on this trip over a year ago. So, perhaps either I didn’t read over the beer list all that closely last year or wasn’t as familiar with the reputations of the brewers. balke_13 didn’t mention Three Floyds, and they now also have their Alpha King. The quality of their tap selection isn’t so hot, however. It is a different selection than you will see other places, but just didn’t have the home run hitters like they do in their bottle selection. The most interesting one I found was Great Lakes Burning River, and it wasn’t that great. I found their prices to be quite reasonable for some beers, and more what I would have expected on others. A bottle of Alpha King was only $3 while DFH 60, 90, & 120 were something like $5, $8, & $16, respectively. Other brewers represented include: De Dolle, New Glarus, Bells, Rogue, Avery, Quilmes, JW Lees, St. Bernardus and much more. Highly recommended.

For being tucked away in the middle of downtown La Crosse this is a diamond in the rough. Offering a very diverse selection of beers from around the region (and world) if you cannot find something here you should consider hanging it up.

The drafts themselves may not be too spectacular. After being spoiled by places like La Cav du Vin, the Beer Engine, and the Great Danes this cannot compete on that level. However if you bear in mind where it is located this has a distinct edge over anything else within probably an hour’s drive.

Be sure to ask if there is anything that might not be listed on the menu. When I was there a couple of things were lurking in the cooler that was either not listed (or I’d just overlooked them). They did let us open a bottle of Two Women Lager and even provided two glasses at no charge. Overall I think I’d come back here if I were in La Crosse again.

Stopped by here on a Saturday evening, and was fairly impressed. One bartender was not exactly polite, but they were quick to serve you, and the other bartender was much more amicable. The tap selection was pretty good, but certainly was not that amazing. Given the area though, it is much better than I would have expected. Bottled beer selection seemed fairly extensive, and prices ranged from reasonable to fairly expensive. Overall, it is certainly worth a stop, and if I lived in the area I would be a regular.

Visited with DavidP in April of 2005 for the Between the Bluffs beer/cheese fest. Nice selection of taps and bottles with a sweet lazy susan turn-style beer fridge. Small bathrooms. Definitely worth a stop in if you’re ever "lost in La Crosse"...

Originally reviewed: 12/30/09. Stopped by here with some friends when I was in town for the holidays. Grabbed a table and sampled some of the brews. Freaking stellar selection! They had 14 taps, all of which were quality brews; they also had several hundred bottles available. One cool thing at this place was this wheel on the wall that you could spin to select a certain number that corresponded to a certain beer. Kind of a fun way to try the many beers available as you never know what you are going to get. I got two of their newer offerings, the NG Unplugged Cran-bic and Lake Louie’s IPA, both great beers. If I was around here more often, I would hit this place up all the time. I wish my town had a place like this. Highly recommend you stop by.

This is really a pretty excellent bar. The entire front window is full of beer bottles, some of which are pretty old and awesome; it’s like a sun bleached beer bottle museum. The place has a crappy old corner bar feeling (which I love) with lots of good beer. They keep plenty of limited releases from WI breweries particularly Tyranena and New Glarus. The copper kettle cooler is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen, I just wish I could actually look at the bottle selection instead of having to thumb through the enormous book. Although all the prices are listed in the book so there are no surprises. Speaking of prices they’re not too shabby all around for some of the high quality beers they have here. If you are in the mood for crappy beer they’ve got great prices on Huber Bock and LaCrosse Lager as well (I think they were $2 and $1.25 respectively when I was last in there)