Red Rooster Brew Werks & Distilling
123 E. Seward Street in Hillsboro
HistoricRedRooster.com

Sunday-Monday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Thursday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

History in short

Kendra and John Wright grew up in southern Illinois and met at the University of Illinois. While living in San Francisco, they built a vacation home in Hillsboro, Illinois (50 smiles south of Springfield and 65 miles northeast of St. Louis) to use when they would come for an extended stay to visit family, and purposely not far from the lake house where Kendra would spend time as a kid.

Eventually, after living on both coasts and, all the while in search of more freedom for their own children, they were drawn to the safety and small-town charm of Hillsboro and moved back to the area in 2013. With John recently retired from Apple, the couple began hunting for buildings to renovate in hopes of turning it into a business. On the radar was none other than the historic Red Rooster Inn, which had fallen into serious disrepair.

“Kendra comes from a real estate and financial background, so I said, ‘Why don’t you do something that really changes the needle in town?’ ” John jokes. “I said it as kind of an off comment.”

“My first thought was, that building was going to fall into the ground,” Kendra admits. “It was built in 1902, and no one had worked on it at all — other than a couple band-aids — since at least the 1980s.”

A seven-year, multi-million dollar restoration project would include a hotel, residences, tap room, brewery and distillery. As John suggests, “every section of the 20,000 square-foot building needed something.”

But the next day, they just happened to run into the people who owned it at Walmart. Feeling it was more than just a strange coincidence, they mentioned their interest in purchasing the building and, in 2017, launched themselves directly into the much-needed transformation Hillsboro’s downtown district was undergoing.

A seven-year, multi-million dollar restoration project that would include a hotel, residences, tap room, brewery and distillery followed. As John suggests, “every section of the 20,000 square-foot building needed something.”

“I’ve always been into beer and bourbon — and while I messed around with spirits a little bit, Kendra was the home brewer,” he says. “The Red Rooster had a cool bar in it, and we contemplated leasing it out to someone, but then we started thinking, if we had a brewery, it would give people a destination to go to.”

The hotel (with 16 guest rooms), restaurant and taproom officially opened in June of 2023, and they finished seven additional apartments last July.

The space: The Wrights aimed for “vintage looking, only modernized” with the massive restoration. “We wanted people to look around and try to decide what is original — and maybe 125 years old — and what isn’t,” says Kendra.

Key components included custom hand-cut trim moldings, repaired original tin ceilings and hotel room headboards made from downed maple trees on the property.

“I think we got pretty lucky because in the early 1900s, they had much of the same aesthetic and design as we have today,” Kendra explains. “A lot of white trim and white subway tile. It was a good timeframe for us to be able to replicate without it looking gaudy or overdone. I think classic vintage always comes back.”

The hotel, restaurant, taproom and large patio allow them to host some pretty memorable parties and events.

The Wrights aimed for “vintage looking, only modernized” with the massive restoration. “We wanted people to look around and try to decide what is original — and maybe 125 years old — and what isn’t,” Kendra says.

Interesting notes:

The Wrights started the Drinking with Lincoln trail (DrinkingWithLincoln.com), which is modeled after the historic Lincoln Heritage Trail and includes 13 brewery and distillery stops from Vandalia to Petersburg, where you can get passport stamps and soak up a bit of history.

The Wrights were also named to the Square 50 list for 2024, celebrating the most influential and innovative small businesses in the world.

It’s a family affair, too, as the Wrights’ oldest son is an assistant brewer who handles a lot of the yeast program and lab work. When their daughter is home from college, she works in the taproom, and the middle son fills in on weekends and for special events.

One other fun fact: No tips are accepted at the Red Rooster, where they’re committed to paying their employees a solid living wage and have it set up where you can efficiently order food and drinks at the bar — and not have to wait for a tab at the end of the night.

What we’re eating and drinking: This is a unique combination of restaurant, brewery and distillery. The menu is based on high-end pub food, and “several items on the menu are things that people have been known to drive a relatively long distance for,” says John.

With 13 taps available, the focus here is on highly drinkable beers with a little something for everyone like light and dark lagers, a slightly sweet blood orange wheat beer with raspberry that’s a big hit, and the Merica Stout that’s loaded with dark malt and offered on a nitro tap.

The line of IPAs is pretty popular, with Peckerhead being the most approachable as a smooth West Coast IPA that has hints of citrus and floral and is light on the bitterness. In late summer, they introduced The Great and Powerful Haze, a juicy IPA with some hop complexities to it.

While they’re still aging a bourbon, their White Dog whiskey is the base for a list of authentic cocktails.

For food, try the bacon-wrapped dates, cheese curds or fried portobello mushrooms as an appetizer. For a main course, tempting options include the Rooster Burger with cheddar and herbed mayo, fish and chips, and a chicken breast topped with fries or mac & cheese and then covered in beer cheese sauce.

“We want to be the place to come for a bite and a few beers on a Saturday afternoon, not necessarily the place you head to at midnight on Saturday night.,” John says.

I think Hillsboro has always been a friendly, accepting place, and downtown has really changed to become a true destination. We’d like it to be a mini Galena, and I think it’s kind of achieved that.”

On the horizon:

From the brewery:

“As a small brewery, I think we do a good job of brewing to goals and making our beers very drinkable and consistent. People come up to us a lot and tell us what they like about our beers, and that makes all the work worthwhile.”

— John Wright

“I think Hillsboro has always been a friendly, accepting place, and downtown has really changed to become a true destination. We’d like it to be a mini Galena, and I think it’s kind of achieved that.”

— Kendra Wright