By Kristine Hansen | Photo courtesy Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company
Whether it’s downtown Lake Geneva, just across the Illinois border or on an Elkhorn farm, the area is bursting with innovators of wine, beer and spirits. These tasting rooms allow you to literally sample their success.
Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company, Elkhorn
Laura (Duesterbeck) Johnson is chief creative officer and her husband and co-owner, Ben Johnson, is the brewer at her family’s fifth-generation farm. Twenty (or so) of their beers are on tap and visitors can order either a 16-ounce pour, a flight or drinks to-go. Live music during the summer months takes place on the outdoor patio on Friday and Saturday nights, and food trucks offer local fare.
What sets this five-year-old brewery and taproom apart is that the owners grow and harvest their own hops. “We are doubling our hops yard. That is fun for us because I love agriculture and am a horticulturist. I’m really excited for that. It’s new for us this year,” says Laura about the property, which is not dog-friendly.
Visitors can learn more on Saturday tours (11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) as well as on Aug. 24, when they will harvest hops. Laura invites people “to see how we do it (and learn) what’s behind our product,” she says.
Studio Winery and Geneva Lake Distilling, Lake Geneva
Owners Doug and Kathy Jackson — a musician and artist — strive to fill their tasting room with creative pursuits. Live music is hosted from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (indoors during the cooler months and out on the patio in the summer and fall) and items made by local artists are sold, including Kathy’s jewelry.
Cocktails folding in their spirits — moonshine, rum, gin, brandy, whiskey, vodka and bourbon — are switched up each season. Visitors can also taste spirits in a flight.
The wines are made from grapes grown just across the Illinois border in McHenry County. Many are cold-climate varietals well suited to Midwestern weather, such as Petite Pearl, LaCrosse and Frontenac. As a nod to the live music, labels are named for rock stars and musicians, like Hendrix Semi Dry Red, Amadeus Semi Dry White and Coltrane Sweet White.
Rush Creek Distilling, Harvard, Illinois
The tasting room at this distillery offers a full selection of Rush Creek’s craft spirits. Among the most popular cocktails is a coffee martini featuring their Coffee Flavored Vodka, which won a Gold Medal from the Beverage Testing Institute. “There are always seasonal drinks on the menu,” says Mark Stricker, one of the distillery’s four founders. “We keep our old favorites. That includes [an] Old Fashioned. There’s [even a] Banana Old Fashioned, and different [drinks] you wouldn’t expect.”
Another reason to visit: “Some of the spirits are unique to our store only, that we don’t make enough of to go into distribution,” says Stricker. This includes their Honey Bourbon and Maple Syrup Bourbon.
On Saturdays, Rush Creek Distilling hosts live music from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., along with food trucks. Then, every other Sunday (1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) there’s also live music and corn hole games, hosted on their dog-friendly patio shaded with umbrellas.
For those who want to learn more about the production, hour-long tours (Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.) are followed by a tasting of five spirits.
Topsy Turvy Brewing, Lake Geneva
This small-batch brewery opened in 2020 and has a beer garden in back and patio in front. Being this micro allows for experimentation with new beers.
“If it works and takes off, we can go larger,” says owner Dan Schuld, who scoured the region for the perfect spot for his brewery, and found it in a historic, 1910 church.
“We tried to keep all the charm that was there,” says Schuld, such as the chandelier and stained-glass windows, “to preserve all we could.” Both indoor and outdoor spaces are dog-friendly.
During a visit, sample a flight of four beers or choose a pint from what’s on tap. Among the most popular beers is the low- calorie Lake Path IPA, says Schuld.
Food options include pretzels, pizza and brats, or takeout food can be brought in from other restaurants. On Friday and Saturday nights, live music by small, acoustic bands fills the former church, or on the patio during nice weather.
“We have a lot of board games,” says Schuld, adding that trivia nights, plus guided painting and planting classes, are also offered. “We’re always trying to do something fun.”