Visiting Scratch Brewing

Scratch Brewing.

A point of interest on any beer mecca map. I won’t wax poetic because I don’t know it like Jackson does. You can read his blog for that.

Instead I’ll say I was along for the ride this time (as I often am when it comes to breweries) and I enjoyed it. Jackson prefers to find brewers who are doing something different in their process. It might be in the way that collect ingredients (Scratch forages!), collaborate with folks, or build community partnerships. Whatever that ‘it’ factor is for him in choosing breweries to visit, he’s a good bloodhound. We haven’t found a flop yet.

But I know Scratch is special to him. Even amongst all the Belgian breweries and fantastic places we’ve been in California. Scratch gathers their ingredients from exactly where they are. They forage for local chanterelles and pick up discarded tree barks. I have a true imagination for food but with beer, I wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to adding mushrooms. (Can you tell the Chanterelle Biere de Garde was my favorite?).

Even in the semi-cold (note that we kept our coats on) and in the covid (outside and distanced and less brewer-customer chit-chat than normal), we enjoyed being in their space in Ava, Illinois. We planned to camp nearby so we could take our time and bask in the freckles of light coming through the changing leaves.

While we sipped, I found myself impressed with the layout of Scratch. It doesn’t look planned. The buildings unfold in an organic way, as though their structures were foraged, found at a certain time and place and put to use for creating more possibilities. It’s not exactly rustic (a word that makes me cringe when applied to weddings) but it certainly is homey. It feels like a place that’s authentic, not trying to hard, only wearing mascara and chapstick. It’s got on its favorite jeans and it doesn’t think twice about wearing the comfortable shoes.

We tried four from the menu and we brought a couple of bombers back to share with friends.

And we’re heading back to Scratch soon! Now that the weather is nice enough for us to shed our coats and the trees to have shed and regrown new leaves, it feels like we’re due for a visit at this haven.

We are always looking for recommendations on where we should travel in the Southeast (ok, and beyond with the camper). Hit us up if you have ideas!

xo,

em