Prairie Street Brewing, Rockford IL
19 September 2025
Prairie Street Brewing is right on the river and in fact has the only marina in the area. There’s a large outdoor area for the brewery right at the marina and boat owners can even rent slips for the season. Their indoor space is industrial-chic pleasant with more tables than the photo shows. Even the building they’re in has a lot of space; one of these next pictures is taken from my table where I had a view of the water, and the other is taken in the entry area of the building outside the brewpub.
Flights come in multiples of 4 so after looking at the beer list, I quickly decided on 8 beers! Each of the two sets of four will be in left-to-right order:
Pavo Real – Mexican Lager, 5% – Wow, this is just exceptionally nice! There’s the slightest hint of corn in it, as appropriate, but it’s not in any way overpowering. After comparing all eight beers in my flights, this was the one I opted to take a 4-pack of as it is just so refreshing and easy-drinking.
Wavey Blonde – Blonde Ale, 5.5% – For me, this worked really well with food but not on its own due to a mild bite on the back end, but that’s just my own preference.
Kölsch Style Ale – American Ale, 5.6% – The name puzzled me until I tasted this and realized it’s an ale that has aspects of a Kölsch in it. The floral bits are there and this is very pleasant and drinkable, but it is an ale and therefore heavier than a true Kölsch.
Raspberry Wheat – Wheat, 5% – This is best on its own rather than with food, but it’s delightful. The raspberry is present but not overpowering, leaving you with a solid wheat beer with berry overtones.
English Pub Ale – Mild Bitter, 5.5% – Smooth, bready, lightly malted, great mouthfeel — I would love to drink this again in cooler weather.
Oktoberfest – Märzen, 5.5% – It’s a solid offering for the style with nothing in particular to say for or against it — it’s just a solid Oktoberfest.
Prairie Street IPA – American IPA, 6.4% – I think this is a West Coast IPA but the beer list didn’t say that for sure, so consider that my guess. It has the floral/pine notes of a West Coast style and low bitterness so it’s great with food and very easy to drink.
Megawatt – West Coast DIPA, 8% – Think citrus and warmth and you’ll understand this beer! The alcohol is not noticeable because this beer is so well-balanced, and it was a pleasure to taste.
I ordered what I thought would be a small-ish meal; how wrong I was! The Reuben Egg Rolls and the fresh fruit were as expected, but that German Potato Salad seasonal special is, I think, enough to feed a family! Everything was very good and I suspect anything on the menu would be the same high quality.
Rather than finish the potato salad (although I made a great effort and had more than half of it), I ordered the seasonal dessert special, a Black Forest Cheesecake.
The surprise here was that the cherries were sour cherries … but they worked well to contrast with the sweetness of the cheesecake and ganache. All in all, this was a tasty and elegant dessert (not to mention, filling).
Although Rockford itself didn’t thrill me — at least, not the parts I saw — Prairie Street Brewing made the stay here worthwhile. Rockford still won’t be on a list of possible future stays, but this brewpub will definitely be a potential stop.