Handmade, inconspicuous signs along a rural road are the only way to tell that there may be a restaurant in the middle of rural Ava, Ill. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
The footprint of of the brewery is minimal. The beers and food are made using local ingredients, all foraged, grown, or purchased from local farmers. There’s a bottling facility on-site, and the land that it sits on is rich with growing edibles both native and introduced.
“Everything we have is produced on site or by supporting local farmers,” said co-owner Marika Josephson. “We really do have a small footprint here.”
Marika Josephson, co-owner of Scratch Brewing Co., said the name for the establishment came from both the ingredients used and the ethos of self-creation. “We even built this place all by ourselves,” Josephson said. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
Beers with names like “carrots and dead leaves” dot the menu, and native plants like hickory leaves, maypop and persimmons find their way onto plates and into kegs.
The menu at Scratch includes beers such as “Dead Leaves and Carrots” and “Fig sweet clover stout.” Non-alcoholic options include a fennel with mint soda, which according to the BND reporter who visited the location, was excellent. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
“We rely on a lot of books,” Josephson said. “Foraging guides, indigenous knowledge, things old settlers ate when they first came here.”
The rustic feel of the place is evident upon arriving at the property. Tall grasses and blooming flowers frame the “enter here” sign that marks the entrance. Fruit trees line the path leading down to where the restaurant sits at the edge of the woods.
Having to harvest and grow their own food means having equipment on site to do the job. “We are farmers as much as brewers, as much as foragers,” owner Marika Josephson said. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
The wooden building, artistic yet rustic, is covered in local art, including photographs from Aaron Kleidon, the company’s other co-owner, who studied photography prior to opening the establishment with Josephson.
“We really didn’t know what we were doing at first,” Kleidon said. “We were just kind of homebrewers and we wanted to make it like the places we’d seen in our travels.”
Scratch co-owner Aaron Kleidon holds up a foraged herb he found on his brewery’s property, which will make its way into beer. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
The first step was building the place. Unwilling to compromise their local values, the pair teamed up with family and friends and built the establishment by themselves, save for a few professional hands for things that require licensing, like plumbing and electrical.
“We looked all over trying to find the right place,” Josephson said, “but they fell through for one reason or another. Eventually we decided we should just do it on Aaron’s family land since it really is a special place.”
An aerial photo of Scratch Brewing Co. shows rows of trellises with growing hops, tables in a small courtyard, and many acres of woods stretching on behind the establishment. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
Fast forward a decade and the pair has added a separate building, a massive brewing vat, and dozens of trees. Many of which were grafted from other trees.
“When I see a plant that is producing pretty well or seems pretty resistant,” Kleidon said on the property’s trees, “I’ll get a clipping and try to graft it onto a similar one.”
One of these grafts comes from a pear tree from Dupo and said to be from French missionaries in the 18th century.
“I think this one branch is the oldest pear tree in the state of Illinois,” Kleidon said.
Ripe apples growing on trees near the front of the property will find their way into homemade beer, dips, and pizza. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
Scratch has three James Beard Awards for their beer and bar. Though a recent New York Times article cited them as having some of the best pizza in the United States, Josephson says their primary focus is the beer.
“We were home brewers and just wanted to make a place that showcased everything this place has to offer,” she said. “We experiment a lot with our beers.”
One of the dishes Scratch offers features on-site sourced cucumber salad, home made bread and a sampling of different sauces made from foraged or harvested plants. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
Scratch even released its own home brew guide for native foragers, “The Homebrewers Almanac.” Featuring photography from Kleidon and works from Josephson, the book has anything a Southern Illinoisan would need to know about brewing with native plants.
“Nobody has ever really brewed beer with these ingredients,” Josephson said. “What we’re trying to do here is really show off the terroir of Southern Illinois.”
An abundance of wildlife visits the lush property of Scratch, including this timber rattlesnake, which the IUCN has classified as “threatened.” Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
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