For the general populace, the first thing that comes to mind when anyone mindlessly mentions Groundhog Day is either the popular north American holiday celebrated on Feb 2., or the 1993 American comedy starring Bill Murray about a cynical weatherman who finds himself reliving the same day in the small town of Punxsutawney.

However, for Jason Fowler, owner of  Pour Bros. Craft Taproom Champaign, Groundhog Day was the inspiration for his week-long event, “Grounds Hog Day – Coffee Beer Extravaganza.”

“It’s a play on words,” Fowler said. “Groundhog Day was last week — which was when the event started— Wednesday. A lot of people are like, ‘Ah, you’ve spelled it wrong,’ but that’s not what it is. It’s the theme: coffee grounds.”

Fowler said that since a lot of darker beers are more popular in the winter, it made a lot of sense to have an event exploring nonconventional tastes at the current time of the year. Although the coffee beer extravaganza event has been around for three years, Fowler explained how having a week-long structure brought more business compared to a weekend-only event duration.

“We don’t normally do things off major holidays because they kind of drive business themselves,” he said.  We had a huge Saturday, closed on Wednesday and Thursday — but we announced early that we’d be starting on Tuesday — and we had a great Tuesday.”

The Taproom and the special events they hold draws people from out of town as well. Sometimes, people come in from three hours away. Fowler said he thinks the attraction to the event is because the beers they tried were pretty unique.

“Good thing, it’s also a lot of people are trying to get a taste of something different,” he said. ‘They see something in a store, then go buy it later after trying it here.”

Brandon Hardway, bartender at Pour Bros since 2018, elaborated on his experience from the other side of the countertop.

“Pre-COVID, we only did our events over the weekend,” he said. “But, how we did this year’s ‘Grounds Hog’ Day gave people who might not be able to get out on the weekend to come out on the weekdays — after work or something — to come try out some new stuff.”

Hardway also said he noticed a group that comes on Tuesday and a group that comes on Wednesday. He explained that changing up the structure of the event helped regulars enjoy new things without disrupting the experience.

“It’s nice to know that someone didn’t have to, you know, sneak away off on a Saturday night get to try,” he said.

The Taproom, according to Hardway, gets an older crowd of individuals on weekdays; 40s to early 50s. Thursdays, when they do trivia, there’s a good mix, but Fridays and Saturdays are a little overcrowded because of the larger incoming college crowd.

The Taproom also does other events, namely the hibernation events, which Hardway said he particularly enjoyed. He said they get some really unique crafts for customers to try.

“Sometimes get stuff that won’t leave like their original tap houses, like the revolution in Chicago,” he said. “They make the beer at home and make a small amount of it, so it’s kind of a delicacy.”

He also said he thinks Taproom’s unconventional pricing system attracts a lot of people. Customers can get two ounces of beer instead of having to order and finish an 8-ounce beer first.

“Especially with like, you know, these coffee beers, there’s a lot of really good stuff on it,” he said. “We’re at a normal bar people aren’t going to be able to drink 8- or 16-ounce beer. We also have a little machine right there that we have for anything off the wall — that you can pack for home — more people than you think indulge.”

Gillian Lange, senior in LAS and an avid coffee lover, said she dragged two of her roommates, Amy Robers and Gabriela Kaminski, to the Taproom for “Grounds Hog” Day. Being a bartender at Triptych Brewing, Lange said she didn’t dwell too far into appreciating different brews until she started working at Triptych.

“After working at cryptic for almost two months now, I have a better appreciation for this stuff,” she said. “They provide me with a lot of materials to learn more about beer and just do a better job of serving it up. I’ve been trying newer stuff myself, so I could have a better relationship with beer.”

Regardless of their special events, Pour Bros. Craft Taproom is always attracting new customers looking to try different flavors.

The Taproom also has large open windows that attract the fleeting attention of passersby.

While catching up in town, long-time friends Sean Kim and Deepak Lakshmipathy popped by the brewery unaware of the event. Lakshmipathy, graduate student in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, said that he had been to the Taproom twice before, and brought Kim, graduate student in Law, along.

“I like the vibe and it’s just — nice,” Lakshmipathy said. “I think it’s a little bit roomier than the other places too.”

He was sipping on his long island ice tea and unaware of the range of coffee-themed beers available exclusively for this week.

Lakshimipathy, having done his undergrad at University of California San Diego, compared the campus lifestyles of UCSD to the University of Illinois.

“It’s like a very different vibe because here campus is the center all of this, but at San Diego — San Diego is the fun part,” he said. “But that being said, you don’t find places like this as often. Champaign, its stores and its breweries have a certain touch of being undiscovered that makes it a little bit more intimate and exciting.”

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