When I taste a flight at Scratch Brewing in Ava, Illinois, the first thing I notice is the sense of balance. They intrigue through the use of ingredients such as chanterelle mushrooms or toasted hickory bark… yet those flavors are more familiar than odd—fruit, spice, smoke—and in full harmony with the rest of the beer. Most of them are really drinkable—and tasty, too.
So, I am surprised—and then I feel guilty for being surprised. It means I was biased against them from the start. Why? Because of years of trying too many bad spiced beers, made from hasty ideas, things grown in gardens and fields, or found in the supermarket spice aisle—where a risk taken by a brewer’s foggy notion exceeds the tolerance of any drinker beyond a few sips.
The second thing I notice—and it interplays beautifully with the first—is the delicate texture and how nearly all the beers seem to lightly tingle away to dryness on the tongue. Some are gently tart, others more peppery-spicy, but they all finish in that light and dry way that recommends another sip (please) as soon as you don’t mind putting that glass back to your lips.