Holy highway hops: Northwest Illinois brewery serves cold ones from an old church

ELIZABETH – As the longest federal highway in the country, Route 20 stretches 3,365 miles from Boston to Newport, Oregon, with 234 of them in Illinois, from Chicago to East Dubuque.

It’s not uncommon to see churches along the way, but breweries? Not so much. And a brewery inside a former church? You’d have to look pretty hard to find one of those. In fact, one is all you’d find, but if you’re from around the Sauk Valley area, you wouldn’t have to look far.

Highway 20 Brewing Co. in Elizabeth brews a bevy of beers in a vintage 1875 Presbyterian church, where owners Brian and Karen Staron have been sharing their talents at the tap for almost five years now.

Their journey to becoming entrepreneurs whose business plan is “In suds we trust to provide us a livelihood” began about 10 years ago, when they first became big fans of craft beer while living in Burbank, a mile north of where Route 20 (95th Street) goes through Oak Lawn in suburban Chicago. Today, the couple lives in Galena and has brewed about 50 different varieties of beer over the years at Highway 20, with four regular staples and a rotation of a few seasonal beers at any given time on tap, in crowler cans or growlers to go.

“The best compliment we’ve ever gotten is that it feels like you’re at your best friend’s backyard. We were drawn to creating the patio space to be family-friendly and dog-friendly. Looking at it, we were able to put on a good-sized patio.”

—  co-owner Karen Staron

Regulars on the menu are the brewery’s porter, hazy IPA, Irish red and Kölsch varieties, which are on tap year-round, save for a brief period in September, when a couple are temporarily replaced by Oktoberfest blends.

“They are completely different styles,” Brian said. “The Kölsch is a super easy drink and a light crisp. The hazy IPA is more citrus dominant but a little more bitter than your domestic beer, with more fruit flavor and citrus notes. The Irish red is a red ale that’s a little more robust, with a little bit of chocolate and roasty notes in it. The porter is going to be pretty dark with a lot of chocolate.”

The porter became a fast favorite of customers when the brewery opened. Named Midnight Mass after customer suggestions, it’s robust, with a mild chocolate and caramel flavor and coconut notes – “some people pick up a little coconut and some people don’t,” Brian said – and even some whiskey barrel texture to it from experimental hops.

Before being a brewery, the building had been a small event venue after the church closed. Looking to either start a brewery or a restaurant, the Starons checked out places throughout Jo Daviess County, searching for just the right fit, and they found it in the old white church. They bought it in 2019 and were able to open in May 2020, despite hitting a snag when the COVID-19 pandemic was upending businesses.

Having something new in town in the thick of a tough time proved to be part of its early success. Even while adhering to the social-distancing restrictions at the time, “it was busy,” Brian said. “Everyone wanted to get out.”

The Starons use a three-barrel process to make their beer, and customers can get a glimpse of the first steps of the process: the kettle boilers located near the bar counter. After that, the process – fermenting and cellaring – is finished in the basement. Brian handles much of the brewing and also acts as the litmus test: If he doesn’t like it, he won’t serve it.

Samples are available, or you can try a small flight of four. Fruity flavors are offered when temperatures are warmer, with darker blends offered in the fall.

“We often like to ask them what they like to drink,” Karen said. “Often, you can take someone who doesn’t think they’re a beer drinker – maybe they like a sweet wine or a sour wine or a tart something – and let them at least taste the beers to see if they can open their mind to something they thought they didn’t like.”

But if beer definitely isn’t your thing, the brewery also carries wine from nearby wineries Galena Cellars and Massbach Ridge: select sweet, dry and semi-dry reds and whites. Apple cider from Orchard Landing in Hanover also is available during the fall.

Although the former church hasn’t been a place of worship in decades, signs of its former glory remain in the stained glass windows that bathe the brewery in a colorful light on a sunny day. It’s open five days a week in the summer, with limited hours during the other seasons, depending on sales and traffic.

Seating is available at tables and a counter inside as well as in a fenced-in area out back. Pretzels and other light snacks are offered, and the Starons keep menus on hand from local restaurants and snack bars for customers who want to pick up something and bring it back to the brewery to munch on with a beer. Food trucks are set up on-site on select weekends as well.

The Starons like to bring in local talent to entertain their customers, Karen said, and Highway 20 hosts live music during the summer weekends, with occasional weekend performances during other seasons, too.

The patio area out back offers picnic tables and beer barrels to sit at. It’s not a huge space – the church sits on the corner of a residential area, alongside homes near the heart of the village’s downtown – but that makes for a cozy and quaint atmosphere that customers enjoy, Karen said.

“The best compliment we’ve ever gotten is that it feels like you’re at your best friend’s backyard,” Karen said. “We were drawn to creating the patio space to be family-friendly and dog-friendly. Looking at it, we were able to put on a good-sized patio.”

That friendly vibe extends inside, too. Don’t expect any big screens blaring the game at Highway 20, just the sounds of friends chatting, glasses clinking and the occasional live music.

“Sometimes we take a little slack for not having the football games on TVs, but the reality is it makes you talk to people and stay off your phone,” Karen said.

The brewery’s largest event is its annual Oktoberfest, which was Sept. 21, featuring a street party just outside the brewery, live music and releases of some of its new varieties. It was the biggest one yet, Karen said, and they’re looking to build on that momentum next year.

“I like looking around and seeing the community,” she said. “We gave back to it in a way that didn’t exist before, so we tried to create an environment that was family-friendly. It’s a safe and clean environment.”

Highway 20 Brewing Co. is located at 113 S. Main St. in Elizabeth. Find it on Facebook or call 815-277-9206 for the most up-to-date business hours or more information.