4 Best Craft Breweries near Mchenry

“We visited McHenry Brewing Company in (surprise) the town of McHenry awhile back. MBC is stationed in an historic building dating from 1868 (that's what the plaque says). Barrels have been decorated and repurposed as stools - fun! I enjoyed my fruity beer, and I hear that the root beer is good too. Interestingly enough, they have a turntable with LP's that you can play - yup real wax records. Although we did not play any of the albums, it was neat to peruse the checklist of everything in this music collection.“

“TL:DR - A unique and wonderful place that I cannot recommend highly enough.Now to the review:If Willy Wonka and Marie Curie had great great grandchildren who continued studying and refining the two fields you would end up with Spirit Water’s owner and this location.My brother had spoke about this magical place several times. He enjoys introducing people to the unique options offered here. I, having recently arrived from Florida, indicated that I too would enjoy trying beer that do not taste like beer.We arrived and each ordered a flight. Mine consisted of Root Beer Barrel Aged, Vanilla Cream, Butterscotch Root Beer and French Toast. My brother grabbed (at my urging) the Peanut Butter & Chocolate, Apple Pie, Orange Cream and Lazy Dog.We were served and began tasting. These – are – incredible .Each of them tasted exactly as expected, with one small caveat, they did NOT taste alcoholic. Danger Will Robinson...This was where some sampling came in. Trying a Naughty Decaf Iced Coffee beer and the slightly more potent 24% Root Beer. Yes, that one tasted like I expected a 10% to taste. Danger.Hmm, if beer is this good, what about the spirits.Holy Hanna… I shant list all that we tried, but I will say that I did not find a single one that was not spectacular. This man is a genius. I felt that way prior to finding myself just a wee bit drunk of my a$$.I can assure you that the cookies and cream tasted like an Oreo, that the Moo line was awesome and that we left with several bottles. Thankfully my brother had the sense to reign me in or I would have needed a truck to return to Florida.That said, I am both glad and very sad that this place is 1274 miles from my house. Glad because I cannot afford a second or third liver, and sad because I very much want to introduce as many people as possible to this.Hey, I found this place that is beyond your imagination… oh, no… it exists in a place far far away. This makes me a sucky friend.Soo for all the people in the Chicagoland / Central Illinois to Central Wisconsin / Indiana and Iowa area… this place is absolutely worth the drive.It is dangerous. This stuff goes down so smooth and tastes way too good. EAT FIRST! Have a designated driver / uber.This is not like other places. I used the word unique and I meant it in it’s literal form.Cheers!“

“Absolutely love this brewery! Hoptopus is my fav CL IPA! They don't serve anything else but beer and popcorn along with cucumber lemon water! Now they do have vendors and there's so many places that you can hit up if you're hungry before or after. It's located in downtown Crystal lake and it does have its own parking! They also organize fun game nights and music events depending on the season! Summer it's so fun! I cannot wait to come back and have a cold hoptopus! The service is amazing, you come you sit and order and enjoy .. repeat! That's all for now“

“I mean I know I review 5 stars almost every time, but that’s because I give props where props are due. I had the double smash burger and it was Aaaaaaamazing! Cooked to perfection. Thank you for being our hidden gem. Every time we choose the Side Lot… we go home happy.“