scratch brewing

Tired of the same old beer, fear not, Scratch has a wonderful selection of palate tempting flavors. It was windy day when we went so we opted to hang out indoors, but lots of folks were sitting out by the fire pits. Long winding road to get there, but yes it's worth the drive. Do a rail first to get the full experience. Yes on the brewery list.

In the middle of the woods but so worth the trip to try their wild infused beers.Sitting around the bonfire wih the winter chill eating wood fired pizza and bread with local cheese platter.They even have a ginger brew (soda )

This place is way out in the middle of no-wheres-ville, but so worth the adventurous trip. The beers are handcrafted from local harvestings and the Scratch crew is always offering new brews. Be sure get a "rail" of beers to test before you order up a full glass. The wood-fired pizza oven was a phenomenal addition because what goes better with beer? ...well, the cheese plate is pretty darn good...along with oven baked bread. Don't miss this Southern Illinois treasure. When you got an itch, Scratch it!

This place is a hidden gem! The beer selection changes and it's a great place to hang out, enjoy a snack, and of course great beers with interesting flavor combinations. I would highly recommend this place.

My husband, a friend and I visited this establishment. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a large selection of beer. Lots of choices and a handful of food selection. The margarita pizza was devine! I wish we had ordered two. This is a must see when visiting any breweries in Southern IL.

As previously noted, Scratch is a bit off the beaten track but..... It's awesome! Yes, some of the beer seems a little odd but they know what they are doing. The Fresh Basil Pale Ale was a perfect compliment to their wood fired pizzas. It was a beer tasting experience worth the drive.

Very good beer and delicious wood fired pizzas all while sitting outside on a nice deck. In addition they serve locally made artisan cheeses and their own bread made in their wood fired ovens.

It's small, it's eclectic, and it's amazingly good. In you like beer, go to Scratch. If you like sitting around with friends talking and sharing a drink, go to Scratch. If you like remarkable cheese, go to Scratch.I went here on a Saturday afternoon with friends, and it was a wonderful experience. Each weekend, they have different small batch brews on tap. Find them on Facebook or check their website to see what they'll be serving next. I went on a weekend they were serving beer made with local paw paws. Wow. It was the kind of beer you could drink all day. Samples are cheap, so it's easy to taste the whole line up if you want. Go on, you know you want to.Food choices are limited, but what they have is great. Don't miss the Bloomsdale cheese plate with cheese from nearby Baetje farm in St. Genevieve, MO. It's outstanding. No really, it's outstanding. There's a reason it was named one the top cheeses in the world in international competition. Oh yeah, and it pairs well with the beer, too. Rumor has it Scratch will soon be trying pizza in their wood-fired oven. My party ate one of just about everything on the menu, and it was all good.My only recommendation is to take plenty of cash, or plan on using their ATM. Scratch doesn't take credit cards. These folks are doing a small craft brewing really, really well. It's a quality find tucked away in Ava, Illinois.

Wow. This is a truly amazing place, as others have noted, in a very remote location. It's a lovely woodsy setting, with a fire pit going, surrounded by an odd assortment of vintage chairs and church pews. Surrounding the place is an herb garden and glorious hops, used in the brewing of the fantastic beer. Inside, is a very cool area with the bar and seating. The tap handles are wood and look as though they were gathered from the nearby trees. We had a basil beer that was unique and unlike anything I've had before. I took a growler home with me. If you love beer, this is simply not to be missed. All they need now is a place to camp so you can imbibe more and not worry about navigating the twisty country roads on the drive back to town!

This place was very relax & hip. The brews (I tried a sample of all on tap) range from $1-$2 per sample which was a fair price. The brewmasters use several locally foraged ingredients & unique brew techniques to create the batches. I loved & recommend the persimmon beer, basil beer & carrot ginger beer. My husband preferred the stronger "Fancy" beers. We had the cheese tray with goat cheese from Missouri & house made sesame crackers for $12. The combination was perfect. I absolutely cannot wait until we get a chance to visit southern Illinois again & this brewery will always be a definite visit! Oh yeah & they have the signs up from the highway now so it's easier to find.

This place is in the middle of no where, but well worth the trip. The beer is fantastic. We had the cheese platter, that was a very good value for the money. I loved the interior and can see potential of the exterior, makes me wish I lived closer so I could watch the progress. The growlers a bit overpriced, so stay and drink at the bar. Also be sure to check their hours the serving times are very limited.

Out in the middle of nowhere, and one of the best nowheres to be found!This place makes small batch beers, using locally available stock for flavors and body. It is a very rustic environment which only serves to add strength to this "joint's" atmosphere.We tried several of their beers, deciding that we could not decide which one we liked the most.After you discover the place, you then begin the real discovery, which is, of course their wonderful fare of wonderful brews!

We first ran across scratch at the St. Louis micro brew fest last May 2012. Out of the 100's of breweries there, their line probably remained the longest while we were there. I actually stood in the line 6 times to try them. We ran across them again at the muddy brew fest this last fall and now they have finally opened their own brewery. These guys make some of the more unique beers I have ever had. They use local products and generally keep to small batches. My understanding is you will typically have some sort of new beer every week or two. When we visited last weekend, I believe there were 8 beers on tap (maybe more). I got samples (for a small fee) of 6 before finally getting a full glass of a biere de garde (excellent). I'm hoping they make their basil again which i got to try at the stl brew fest as its one of the best beers i've ever had. They also make an excellent root beer soda for all you non beer drinkers. eventually some food stuffs will be served (wood fired pizza's etc) but they haven't gotten that up and running yet. This place is sort of out in the middle of nowhere as you wouldn't know it was there unless you went looking for it. But its easy enough to find when you mapquest it. I believe they are still making signs for the highway directing folks, but that hasn't happened yet. Atmosphere is comfortable. There is seating inside and out, but this is not a huge place. My understanding is they are still doing some work to expand parking etc... For sure try these guys, they are worth a visit. Also they are not so far from the local wine trail, so you can get awesome beer and wine while visiting the area. My only negative comment is that these guys are not close to where we live so I won't get to drink their wonderful beers as much as I would like...