Beverages, books, community – Knuth Book Cellar now open

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

December 1, 2025

RIPON – Following their Beier Hall relocation in January 2024, Knuth Brewing Company Co-owner Marie Knuth said she and her fellow co-owner/husband, David, were undecided on what to do with the building.

Now, after “a bunch of opportunities fell into place,” Marie said she and David proudly co-own a different kind of cellar: the Knuth Book Cellar – a bookstore and bar located at 225 Watson St. in downtown Ripon.

“We had three storefronts in downtown Ripon on Watson Street,” she said. “That’s where we started Knuth Brewing Company. Obviously, it outgrew those buildings, so we moved across the street into a bigger building. So, we were looking to sell these three storefronts.”

Marie said she “kept telling” David that she “would just love” it if someone were to open a bookstore in one of the empty storefronts.

“And David, of course, said…, ‘I would love that, but we’re just going to sell them,’” she said.

Selling two of the three storefronts, Marie – a former nurse – said the third sat vacant until David encouraged her to build the bookstore she wanted to see downtown.

“At the time, [my job in] nursing was starting to take up [more time], my kids were getting busier, I had started homeschooling [them] and our schedules were getting very difficult,” she said. “So, we talked about it, continued to talk about it and prayed about it. Finally, doors kept opening and we thought, ‘Maybe we should do this.’ So, we decided to dive in headfirst and do it 100%.”

Following its grand opening early last month, Marie said the Knuth Book Cellar has enjoyed strong community support and seen increased foot traffic during several downtown events.

“We opened kind of at the perfect time, but kind of [at] a crazy time, [too],” she laughed.

Literary, libation selections

Prior to its relaunch as the book cellar, Marie said the former Knuth Brewing Company Beier Hall underwent some renovations.

“The building was pretty wide open,” she said. “We didn’t do a whole lot with it initially – just paint…, got rid of the bar, built a new bar that [serves as] the checkout and customer service counter, and, of course, the beer, wine, waters and stuff – but we had to put up a ton of bookshelves.”

After some interior paint – “we painted [the walls] a nice, beautiful, dark blue color, because I wanted it to [feel] nice, cozy and sophisticated” – Marie said they hired a contractor to custom-build bookshelves for the space, which she and her family then hand-varnished.

“Even my eight-year-old is a staining pro now,” she said. “The ceiling was already a tin ceiling that’s like a bronze color, so I didn’t even have to paint that, thank goodness.”

Deciding on how to fill the book cellar’s library ahead of its November opening, Marie said, was a stressful task.

“I wanted to make sure I had what everyone wanted,” she said. “My husband kept telling me, ‘That’s great to have a variety, but don’t forget what you’re passionate about.’”

Drawing first on their own literary passions to fill the cellar’s shelves, Marie said, currently, Knuth Book Cellar customers will find a mix of romance, fiction and fantasy books – as well as historic, biographical and political books available for purchase.

“We can hopefully speak on the books, too – have conversations with people, recommend [books] and stuff like that,” she said. “But, we do have a huge variety, and I hope to [maintain] that.”

Despite its wide selection, Marie said the Knuth Book Cellar is always willing to consider the literary desires of its customers.

“If the community starts telling me there’s a certain genre they want me to really focus on, then that’s always something I’d be willing to consider as well when I’m ordering,” she said.

For those unable to visit the physical store, Marie said they can shop for their new favorite book on Knuth Book Cellar’s website – knuthbookcellar.com.

“As much as we would love to see our customers’ smiling faces in the bookstore, we understand sometimes they just can’t make it in,” she said. “But, they can still support Knuth Book Cellar by browsing 100,000 of the most popular titles – not only what’s stocked in store – and have it shipped directly to their home.”

When it came to the drinks at Knuth Book Cellar, Marie said she and David set out to craft a menu that was “very different” from anything offered at their other establishments – “which is what we wanted.”

“There are a lot of European beers, Belgian beers, we have a lager from Poland and we have some Trappist beers – not rare, but rare-around-here type beers,” she said. “And, we don’t have anything on tap. It’s all out of bottles and cans.”

When it comes to wine, Marie said she and David followed the same “rare-around-here” approach to curate the cellar’s menu.

“We try to find wines that you can’t just go over to the grocery store [to get],” she said. “You [also] can’t buy [a bottle] as a gift and take it out. They’re all sold on premises. We have a red blend from Portugal and a few California picks and then some from different places in Europe.”

Community connection (literally)

Wanting to create a space where people could “buy a glass of wine, browse the shelves and stay for a little bit,” Marie said the book cellar is intended to be both a retail store and a comfortable, community space.

“I’m trying to create the experience of coming and being content and cozy in a nice bookstore,” she said. “But also, people can come in, quick pick out a book and all that, too. So, I like to cater to both, but definitely make it someplace people like to hang out and gather.”

In addition to books and beverages, Marie said the Knuth Book Cellar also features a selection of local goods for purchase.

“I have jewelry from Katie with Cloudy Skies Designs…, I have some snacks from The Nutman Company out of Hubertus, Wisconsin, and then I have some gourmet chocolates from Salt Lake City, Utah,” she said. “My mom’s an artist, and she hand-paints bookmarks for me that I sell, and [I sell] some Christmas ornaments that she hand-painted as well.”

Even further, one of the two storefronts neighboring the Knuth Book Cellar, Marie said, houses Ripon Dough Co. – a business The Business News featured in its Oct. 6 edition.

Marie said the two businesses have a symbiotic relationship, sharing both customer bases and connected facilities.

“Back when it was Knuth Brewing Company, we had opened up the buildings next to each other so people could [walk back and forth between them], and we kept that opening,” she said.  “I love that [Ripon Dough Co.] opened and that they were willing to keep [the walk-way] open, because… it’s a cool partnership – working together and bringing people in – and people really seem to like that.”

Marie said this is especially noticeable on Fridays and Saturdays – “people are constantly going back and forth”

“I love that they’re getting a coffee and [then] coming over and still looking at books,” she said. 

Initially, Marie said she briefly considered selling coffee at the book cellar but ultimately decided against it.

“I was going to do coffee, and I didn’t really want to, because it’s a lot of work,” she said.

Now a full-time entrepreneur, Marie said she wanted to “put 100% into building Knuth Book Cellar,” and left her nursing role – bringing with her one part-time employee.

“I do have a girl who I worked with at the hospital who’s part-time [at the book cellar] right now,” she said. “I want to move into [hosting] more events – author signings and stuff like that – so, I think I’ll have to bring on a couple more people at that point, but I’m just trying to get settled right now.”

Though she is still settling in, Marie said the Ripon community has expressed nothing but excitement regarding the Knuths’ newest downtown business.

“Everyone’s been unbelievably supportive, and they seem so excited that I’m there, which just makes me even more excited,” she said. “Every time someone comes in, I swear more people than not will tell me how excited that I’m there and that they will be back.”

For more on the Knuth Book Cellar – which is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays – visit its aforementioned website, or check out its Facebook page.