Whether hops or grapes, Central Illinois puts the culture in agriculture with its local winery and microbrewery scenes. Just add space and mingle for even fermentation of the perfect off-site.
Meetings are thirsty work. Luckily, Champaign County boasts four locally owned breweries. Since it opened in February 2013, craft beer “nanobrewery” Triptych Brewing has been a favorite in Savoy. Offerings on tap rotate regularly, but may include cream ale, oatmeal stout and a Belgian-style India pale ale. The tasting area seats about 65. Small local chain DESTIHL Restaurant and Brew Works opened in downtown Champaign in 2011. Billing itself as a “gastrobrewpub,” Destihl offers 300 seats and can host as many as 25 people in its private dining room, where more than 50 different brews are on tap. In addition to an assortment of seasonal beers, its year-round offerings include red, blonde and amber ales and a weissbier.
The Illinois River Valley around Peoria is home to several group-friendly wineries. To the east, Kickapoo Creek Winery offers a ballroom for 300 and a pavilion suitable for 150 as well as combination tour/lunch/wine tasting for groups of five to 12 people. Don’t miss its signature chocolate infused dessert wines. Forty-five minutes south of Peoria, Willett’s Winery and Cellar has an elegant banquet center seating 180. For those who appreciate fine spirits, there’s even a whiskey distillery. J.K. Williams Distilling offers tours and tastings at its East Peoria facility every half hour on Saturdays and Sundays.
Halfway between Peoria and Bloomington/Normal, Mackinaw Valley Vineyard welcomes groups of 10 or more for tours of the wine-making process from vine to bottling. The tasting room, which can accommodate 70, is available for rental after-hours. There’s also a 300-person pavilion. Special theme event ideas include trivia tournaments, murder mystery dinners and historical presentations featuring Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln or 1920s gangsters.
Springfield is another hotbed of hopheads. Obed & Isaacs Microbrewery brews its ales, hefeweizens and more in a historic brick building the owners moved seven blocks in order to rescue and restore. Beers are brewed from locally grown ingredients whenever possible, and spent grain is fed to livestock at nearby farms. Located across the street from the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, the restaurant can seat groups of 30. Engrained Brewing Company offers private dining for groups as large as 50. The restaurant’s menu includes meat grown at local family farms and “beer dinners” with beer pairings for each course.
