About
Small Town Brewery is dedicated to crafting gruit-inspired beers. Gruit–German for herbs–describes the ancient practice of bittering ales with roots, spices, flowers, and berries. Tim Kovac, founder and brewmaster of Small Town Brewery, uses a proprietary technique to infuse a specialty blend of herbs and spices into his brewing process to create gruit-inspired beers with the unmistakable taste of nostalgia featuring classic American flavors.

Admin Note: Small Town Brewery and Taproom have closed after the sale of the brand in 2018. 2019 relaunched with a new brand under the Pabst umbrella with only 2 products. The original owner of Small Town has opened a up a new brewery in Cary, IL under the name Spirit Water
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GRM (7543) reviewed
Not Your Father's Root Beer from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
5.2/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
Brown bottle, 12 ounces, via Philippe Boutin (merci!), savoured on March 2 2016; eye: black with ruby reflections, opaque, no effervescence, beige head that disappears rapidly like that of a soft drink, no lacing; nose: root beer, vanilla; mouth: root beer, vanilla, finale in root beer with presence of vanilla, light body, rather carbonated, quite sweet, slick texture; overall: correct FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 12 onces, via Philippe Boutin (merci!), savourée le 2 mars 2016; œil : noire avec des reflets rubis, opaque, pas d’effervescence, mousse beige qui disparaît rapidement comme celle d’une boisson gazeuse, pas de dentelle; nez : bière d’épinette, vanille; bouche : bière d’épinette, vanille, finale en bière d’épinette avec présence de vanille, corps léger, plutôt carbonatée, pas mal sucrée, texture coulante; en résumé : correct
Tried from Bottle on 02 Mar 2016 at 15:37
patrick767 (7344) reviewed
Not Your Father's Root Beer from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
6.2/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6
can - As others have said, it’s basically root beer. It looks, smells, and tastes like root beer. It’s very sweet. The carbonation is on the low side for root beer. It’s very easy to drink and the alcohol is all but undetectable under all that sugar. It’s enjoyable if you like root beer.
Tried from Can on 13 Feb 2016 at 11:53
bhensonb (23077) reviewed
Not Your Father's Root Beer from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
5.2/10 — Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 3 Texture 6 Overall 5
Bottle from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours dark brown with a fizzy/transient beige/tan head. Aroma smells like root beer. Med body or so. Flavor is decent, xpt that there’s way too much sugar. Shame that.
Tried from Bottle on 11 Feb 2016 at 19:30
radagast83 (13844) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
6/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
12oz bottle from the local Giant. Poured a very carbonated yellow color. Ginger ale notes come through, not as ginger as Canada Dry, but close. A touch medicinal. A little bit of grain alcohol notes I guess. Interesting.
Tried from Bottle on 11 Feb 2016 at 15:55
Mrf33n3y (7361) ticked
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
8/10
Tried on 03 Feb 2016 at 23:32
McDermottDrink (4736) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
4.9/10 — Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 5 Texture 4 Overall 4.5
Single bottle from Trader Joe’s. Golden pour looks more like a sparkling cider than a beer. There is a nice ginger smell, with a bit of lemon in the back, at least more zesty than a ginger ale. Taste is okay as a ginger ale, but as a beer? It is quite gingery, but runs way too sweet, just like a soda. There does seem to be a bit of malt at work, and as I go further into the glass, the ginger burn builds nicely. But I can’t get past the extra sugar this seems to be packing, and to wonder whether this is really a "malt beverage," as in Mike’s Hard.
Tried from Bottle on 31 Jan 2016 at 22:43
GenDV138 (9261) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
6/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
12 oz bottle poured into a nonic pint glass. Clear ginger ale yellow with rapidly fading off-white bubbles. Aromas of artificial ginger. Tastes of artificial ginger, sugar. Medium-light body, syrupy finish. Pretty one-note.
Tried from Bottle on 18 Jan 2016 at 19:44
bhensonb (23077) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
5.8/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours lite gold with no head. Strong ginger aroma. About med body. Lots of ginger - that’s good. But it’s way too sweet. Coming over as a bit gummy. They must have poured in corn syrup. Too bad, cause the ginger is just about right.
Tried from Bottle on 17 Jan 2016 at 22:57
Drake (22980) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
5.2/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
12 ounce bottle. Looks, smells and tastes exactly like ginger ale. There’s a bit of a bite to the ginger, and it’s not overly sweet, so it does seem somewhat natural, but in no way does it resemble beer.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Jan 2016 at 21:17
jtclockwork (20057) reviewed
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale from Small Town Brewery
10 years ago
5.9/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Bottle - Pours yellow white head - nose/taste of ginger, ginger ale, sugar and lemon - light body
Tried from Bottle on 13 Jan 2016 at 23:49