Scratch Brewing Company

264 Thompson Rd, Ava, IL, 62907, United States
(618) 426-1415
Latitude: 37.87567, Longitude: -89.43092

website

  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: Closed
  • Wednesday: Closed
  • Thursday: 5:00 – 8:00 PM
  • Friday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM
  • Saturday: 12:00 – 10:00 PM
  • Sunday: 12:00 – 8:00 PM
Wifi Available
Cask Beer
Indoor Smoking
Available Parking
Beer Pricing: $$
Public Transit
Proper Glassware
Outdoor Seating
Family Friendly
Selection: 4.63 | Atmosphere: 4.00 | Service: 4.25 | Food: 2.50
85.8
out of 100
Overall Beer Mapping Score
Based on 2 reviews.
Score from Google Reviews:
4.8
out of 5
View Google reviews
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emerge077 (360)
Thursday 7th of March 2019 06:52:26 PM
link
One of the most innovative breweries in the country, worth the drive off the beaten path to visit.

Aug 14, 2017
Making a trip to Scratch is a worthwhile adventure. Set aside a couple days, take the backroads and enjoy the ride. Literally situated "out in the woods", it's just an incredibly unique place.

Imagine my surprise when the gravel lot is packed and there were even a couple tour buses...uh oh. Turns out it was the wedding of some brewery friends, and luckily the event hall was separate from the taproom. It was still busy, but not bad at all.

Inside the taproom it's fairly small but packed with eclectic woodsy decor behind the bar, shelves with jars full of dried herbs, old port bottles, a stuffed pheasant, et cetera. A large mural of a mythical beast decorates the largest wall, I think it might be the Piasa monster of regional folklore. In the back there's a few strings across the room with bundles of drying herbs and plants, which fits right in to their foraging aesthetic. Outside there's a patio lined with old bricks and flagstone rock steps, beware of copperheads and poison ivy, we saw both.

The beers were great. Highlights included a "cedar stout" that was more of a rustic woody wild ale, and a very impressive wet-hopped IPA made with their own farm-grown Chinooks. Also very interesting was a gooseberry saison and wild carrot Berliner weisse. Experimentation runs high, so expect some unique stuff. I didn't love everything, the hen of the woods wee heavy wasn't for me, but I enjoyed everything else they had.

Service was good, the owners were out of town and they had some younger staff working there. They knew the menu but that was about it. One guy explained they use a house sourdough culture in most of the sour beers. I've since been lucky to meet the brewers at a Beer Temple event they hosted. Aaron and Marika have an amazing wealth of knowledge and are completely unpretentious.

The food menu here was limited but very good. The margherita pizza was excellent with just the right amount of char on the crust. Wanted to try their cheese plate but there was already enough pizza to go around.

Scratch is a very unique place, probably the most unique brewery i've ever been to. Highly recommended if traveling anywhere near southern Illinois, it's worth the detour. I'm glad we get some of their beers sporadically in Chicago, and i'm looking forward to future local drafts at Beer Temple and Local Option.
Selection: 4.75 | Atmosphere: 5.00 | Service: 4.50 | Food: 5.00
95.0
Overall
Sunday 30th of November 2014 04:42:11 PM
link
Located in Ava, Illinois, you can’t just stop by because you were in the neighborhood. You’ve gotta be looking for this place, then you still might miss it. They opened in March 2013 and every beer is a one-off. They have brewed 130 different beers since opening and now always have 9 beers on tap. Many of their beers are brewed with ingredients grown on the premises. Their beers have things like lavender, mint, sage, basil, and rosemary that make for some interesting beers. Sampler beers are $1.00-$2.00 depending on the beer. Pints are $4.00-$6.00. They have a 2 barrel system and are working to add a 3 barrel word-fired system. They have some food service, pizza, cheese board, appetizer platter. Plenty of parking but it doesn’t look wheelchair accessible from the gravel parking lot. There’s no wi-fi, not even a signal for the phone. They have indoor and outdoor seating including a big outdoor fire pit. I had a smoked apple beer and a gooseberry Saison. I look forward to my next trip to the area to sample some more beer.
Selection: 4.5 | Atmosphere: 3 | Service: 4 | Food: N/A
76.7
Overall

Image credit: rickc
Uploaded: April 17, 2019 11:55 AM

Image credit: rickc
Uploaded: April 17, 2019 11:53 AM
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