Scratch Brewing Company

Scratch is a truly innovative brewery. It’s amazing how busy this brewery that’s literally in the middle of the forest can get even on the rainy day that we stopped in. Everything from the beers to the food items are unique, inspired, & locally sourced. I recommend getting a growler to take home your favorite brew! They only sell the small 32 oz growlers but are willing to fill pretty much any growler, even the larger 64 oz growler if you bring your own. Try to remember lids but when I forgot, they were super accommodating.

I grew up in and around Portland, OR, so craft beer is in my blood. I gotta say, Scratch knows what they’re doing. The sweet potato beer might have been the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. But it’s not just the beer that’s good. I ordered a flat bread and my friend ordered goat cheese. Mmm… we were in heaven. Great beer, great food, and knowledgable staff. PLUS, the location is pretty cool. It’s definitely out in the middle of nowhere, but certainly worth the drive. Do your self a favor, and move Scratch to the top of your brewery list.

We tried 5 beers. Every one of them was unique and different from any beer we have tried and we have tried many. These folks are inventive and the atmosphere is rustic and exremely cool. If we didn’t have a 2 hour drive home we would have stayed for a full pour.

This place rocks. We’re from Fort Collins CO and this is now my favorite microbrewery. You owe it to yourself to find this place. Farm to table microbrews. Too cool!

I love this place. The beer is great and exceedingly eclectic, the scenery is amazing and the food is of high quality. It’s a very provincial little place, almost as if you’re in a beautiful countryside of france. They actually forage a lot of their ingredients from the forest around their brewery. On a weekend night the staff is a little short handed however, I’ve waited 5 – 10 minutes at the barfor a beer before, but keep in mind they are filling up growlers constantly. If you’re worried about the bang for your buck you can get a high quality, 9 percent beer for $ 6 which is a very fair price for the quality. They make home made pizza as well, they have board games and it’s a kid friendly place for those of you with little ones. In conclusion a well rounded, beautiful brewery with very tasty and interesting beer

Scratch Brewing Company is doing amazing things with beer. Using locally farmed, foraged, and found ingredients they make a rotating selection of incredible new brews. When we visited they served a Basil Ale, WIld Grape Sour, Sweet Clover Ale, and many others. Everything was fresh and complex.
The staff were all great and clearly love what they do. At the suggestion of one of the owners we had the Bloomsdale Cheese Platter which was great as well.

Wow! I didn’t expect to find anything in these backwoods of Illinois but Scratch Brewing Co. is a diamond in the rough.
They brew all their own beers which were all flavorful and inexpensive. There was live music when I came on a Sunday afternoon.
This place only takes cash, but there is an ATM machine in the bar. There is very limited indoor seating so plan on sitting outside and dress appropriately.

This place is the real deal! One of the best breweries I’ve been to — better than most «big city» breweries… worth the drive!

Scratch Brewing is definitely on some next-​level stuff…
We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon that happened to be Fathers’ Day. I was worried the place would be too packed. Luckily there is plenty of outdoor seating so the inside never felt crowded in the least. Plus there are huge tables and plenty of seating at the bar.
The décor of the place is super cool. Almost like some ye olde-​school apothecary vibe, I was definitely digging it. They have sample sizes for around $ 1.50 apiece so I got about 5 of those and they were all pretty delicious. One of the beers used no hops and was especially sour and distinctive.
And then there was the prosciutto & fresh oregano wood-​fired pizza ($ 10) …WOW, simple yet bursting with flavor. The oregano was powerful and delicious. The crust was a sourdough (I think) and was pretty amazing on its own.
They also had a housemade ginger ale and it blew me away. And I consider myself a ginger aficionado. There was some other flavor going on… I don’t know what herb it was… sasparilla maybe… but it gave the ale a deeper, almost creamy flavor. It was so good I took home a growler of it ($ 8)
Everyone working here was nice and service was great. An added bonus were the superbly-​decorated bathrooms. The men’s room conjured up this awesome 60’s psychedelia vibe that was seriously well-​done. As if this place couldn’t get any cooler…
This is definitely a perfect destination for a mini road-​trip. Next time I go I’m buying a t-​shirt.

The best in both quality and taste. I have never had the type of variety these guys offer. It is a lesson in flavor and beer type every time I go.
Highly recommended if you drink or not, the food is exceptional. Customer service is top notch, I think the owners run the place and it shows. They care, they know details of interest and the whole experience is just excellent from arrival to departure.
Even if you have to drive to get here, it is worth it for the experience.

They live up to their name as they have some truly unique beers made from local ingrediants. This place is the definition of hipster but that isn’t a bad thing. Well unless you don’t accept credit cards which they don’t. CASH ONLY. They do have an atm inside with a $ 2 fee for withdrawals. I honestly would have bought more but I ran out of cash.
Their outside area is very impressive and it looked like they had a stage for live bands but it wasn’t being used at the time. We sat outside as I went through their 9 beers on tap. Oregano stout was my favorite but all of the flavors were very different from the standard microbreweries.
Overall very good beers with a unique concept that lives up to their name.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Scratch Brewing Co. Some of our favorite, small batch beers of theirs include, Basil Ale, Dead Leaves and Carrots, Wild Hop Ale, Sourdough Ale, and Hickory Gruit to name a few! They aren’t usually around for long, so when you find a beer you like, grab a growler to take home! The Pizzas have all been amazing as well!

Visited the day after Thanksgiving, they had extended hours today and that made it very convenient. Sampled a few beers and then settled on the Hickory Bark Ale. Scratch has a unique concept of using locally foraged wild plant parts such as hickory bark, paw paw, etc to use during the brewing process. The Hickory Bark Ale had the right amount of smoky flavor, about a 4 on a scale of 1 – 10. Others in my party tried the Mumm, the Chocolate Milk Stout and Wild Hop Ale. They taste wonderfully wild and unique. This is an awesome unique concept. We tried the pizza and the goat cheese platter as well, both very good. We’ll definitely be back.

If I could give 6 stars, I would. Went back in late May 2014, and now they have more food options! They now have a wood-​fired pizza oven and their pizzas are just as unique and whimsical as their beers. Beers are still surprising and delightful. This place just makes me happy.

OMG OMG OMG…
BEST…BEER…EVER… (well… ya) it was amazing…
This place– is AWESOME— and should you ever be so lucky to
experience this place– consider yourself, beer blessed…
This whimsical little slice of heaven is located in the middle of NOWHERE…
We came here on a Friday night, and they had a nice little crowd poppin’.
We pull up and the first I see is the hop vines! they were awesome!
Yes, they grown their own hops– plus the herbs they use in their beer!
How awesome is that?! I mean, really. !
When walking down the walkway you could see the basil and mint growing–
The guys who work there were very knowledgeable, and helpful–
I can honestly say the beer here is some of the best beer I have ever had.
Hands down.
After we had our first initial beer we wen with a flight–
And out of all the beers we had (about 10 I think– or close) there was only ONE that I really didnt care for–
Even the Barley Wine had a good flavor and normally i am not a barley wine fan.
They have a small menu, and the whatever kinda pizza thing they were serving
that night looked and smelled REALLY good!
My most favoritest part of all this— THEY SERVE THEIR BEER IN MASON JARS!!! what the what!!!
I was immediately in love!

A true nano-​brewery. Small batches using locally sourced and some locally foraged ingredients. Fantastically creative and delicious! My favorite today was the dandelion tonic gruit beer. My bf loved the basil beer and the barley wine.
Great nibbles to accompany the beer too. We had an appetizer platter which had sourdough bread (made in their brick oven), Olive oil for dipping, Baetje goat cheese, another cheese and salume beddu meat. Next time we’ll try one of their pizzas baked in the brick oven over a wood fire.
Chatted with the brewers and other customers. Very enjoyable, relaxing visit.
A fun touch is they have used chalkboards for the tables so you can doodle while you drink. Ooh and they do a soda as well, on our visit it was mint soda. Very refreshing.

My family drove 40 min from our B & B for an afternoon at Scratch. It was well worth the effort. Besides the homemade local food, beautiful scenery, and cool owners, the beer is what makes this place. We knew we were in a beer lovers paradise when we pulled up at noon on Memorial Day weekend to the scene of hops growing in the front yard of the brewery blowing in the wind. The outside was whimsical and rustic. My husband is a home brewer & was excited to try a flight of all their beers. My favorite was the beer brewed with maple sap mint and lavender instead of water. He loved the beer brewed with wild yeast. Many of their beers were bittered with dandelion root instead of hops. My stepmom liked the gruit with rose root. It was kid and dog friendly. Keep up the great work guys!

A must-​visit for Hop-​heads. WAY off the beaten path, but worth the drive. Highly creative, funky (in a good way) brews. Tasting flights are recommended given the rotating offerings. Relaxing spot out in the forest to enjoy some unique beers !

No doubt about it – you’re in the middle of nowhere here.
If we hadn’t been actively searching for this place, we wouldn’t have ventured out this far, but I am so glad we did.
First thing: this place is CASH ONLY, but they do have an ATM on location (thank goodness). The interior of Scratch is what I would hope for, but not expect. I’ve been to «small town» breweries and they always insist on playing up the small town feel — one part country, one part hick, add a dash of redneck and BAM = microbrewery. Scratch uses the bare essentials of nature in everything. They drew inspiration from the local mythology of the Piasa bird and other plant based color schemes in their designs. You almost feel as though you’re sipping on the nectar of the gods in a fairy’s garden rather than in a podunk bar. Everything about the atmosphere in this place is perfect. I could sit here with a glass of beer with a good book for hours. If Scratch weren’t 1.5 hours from my apartment, I would be a regular.
Come here… regardless of where you live. You won’t regret it.

I almost don’t want to write a review on Scratch, because they are so beautifully nestled and tucked away off the radar and away from anything besides local residents.
The beer as interesting and amazing as it may sound — basil ale, fennel stout, rye saison… those are what I remember. But the made-​in-​house soda is what stands out, it was a refreshing licorice-​type soda that was both refreshing and slightly bitter, so interesting!
Whoever runs this place must have a discerning palate. The appetizer plate had baetje farms goat cheese and salume beddu salumi, with home-​grown tomatoes, pickles and bread. The best of the best in the local scene.
Oh! It’s CASH ONLY! Don’t forget…