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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6.3/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle. Sassafras/sarsaparilla, vanilla, and alcohol aroma. Dark chestnut brown with decent but short lasting head. Very sweet vanilla, sassafras/sarsaparilla, malt, and bitter herbal alcohol flavor. Like root beer with vodka. Pretty good if you’re in the mood for a root beer.
Tried from Bottle on 31 Jul 2015 at 18:55

6.8/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
RIch dark brown coloured body with a clear glow at the bottom and no head at all. Aroma of root beer, light mint, sarsaparilla and a hint of alcohol as well. Medium to Light-bodied; Strong root beer flavours with a bit of vanilla and some noticeable malt coupled with a little alcohol bite and a smooth sweetness of caster sugar and honey. Aftertaste shows a good balance of sweetness and a touch of alcohol, but not harsh nor pungent at all. Overall, a nice and proper root beer with some alcohol in it! Nice to try, and I like root beer a lot, so this one was nice for me, and while I liked the Sprecher version, I’d have to have them side-by-side to share my favourite. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle after a hockey game in Arlington, Virginia on 10-June-2015 - Thanks JP!
Tried from Bottle on 30 Jul 2015 at 21:23

4.1/10 — Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 3.5
Pours deep mahogany into a shaker. No head whatsoever. Root beer (vanilla, cinnamon, bark) aromas. Sickly sweet with molasses and licorice upfront turning to cloying vanilla to accompany the headache inducing sweet sugar rush. This is awful.
Tried on 24 Jul 2015 at 17:04

6.6/10 — Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Poured from bottle dark cola with little to no head. Aromas of root beer and nothing else. Taste is similar is sweet but no alcohol feel. Interesting.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Jul 2015 at 20:34

7.5/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours crystal clear deep reddish brown color with a 1 finger foamy light khaki head with very poor retention, that reduces to nothing very quickly. Zero glass lacing, and a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, wood, vanilla, cola, mint, and herbal earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark malt and herbal spice notes; with solid strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, wood, vanilla, cola, mint, and herbal earthiness. Minimal herbal spice bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, molasses, licorice, wood, vanilla, cola, mint, and herbal earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice robustness and complexity of dark malt and herbal spice flavors; with a good malt/spice balance and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and slightly slick/syrupy mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good spiced beer style. All around good robustness and complexity of dark malt and herbal spice flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. A nicely enjoyable offering.
Tried from Bottle on 18 Jul 2015 at 21:27

7.1/10 — Appearance 2 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
12 oz bottle, thanks brenn79. Aroma is root beer, grains, licorice, alcohol--a little like Jaggermeister. Pours black with red highlights, no head. Taste is root beer with a hint of malt. Fairly soft carbonation. I like it.
Tried from Bottle on 12 Jul 2015 at 19:46

7.5/10 — Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7
Bottle @ Old Chicago Fort Collins. Pours a cola brown appearance with a fizzy head that quickly disappears. Sure enough, it smells like a typical root beer. Plenty of vanilla and some syrupy sweetness but it really just smells like a dange root beer. A little thick and kind of gooey like a soda. Fairly light carbonation, actually. Booze isn’t readily noticeable. If I rated this against other root beers, it’d be below A&W and Barq’s but this is boosted root beer with almost no detectable alcohol. Easily chuggable. Fun to drink, nice product, and sure, I’d get fucked up on this.
Tried from Bottle on 11 Jul 2015 at 15:50

5.8/10 — Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 8
12 oz. bottle. Thanks, Jason! Pours black, with a small, fleeting, bubbly head. Nose is distinctly root beer (chicory, molasses, and anise), with some cloves and diet coke. Syrupy sweet flavor, with maybe a touch of bitterness if you really want to find it. Medium body, lightly carbonated, and a little watery. This is a fun beer, and certainly tasty, but could be better.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2015 at 09:54

8.1/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
To start off, it looks like there are just about too camps behind this particular beverage. While I would not consider this beer one of the best beers I have ever had, I did find it a bit mind blowing. I happened to find it at a local grocery store. My immediate reaction when opening it was how much it smelled like root beer. Sarsaparilla, birch, vanilla dominate the aroma. It even pours like a soda, though I would say this has a touch less carbonation than a typical root beer soda. Flavor retains the root beer essence, but plays up a little more vanilla. This is certainly more sweet than your typical soda, but since you probably wont be sessioning this one throughout the day, it aint bad.
Tried on 28 Jun 2015 at 09:09

2.8/10 — Appearance 2 Aroma 3 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 2
12 ounce bottle. Translucent brown with a magically disappearing head. Smells like Stewart’s Root Beer mixed with NyQuil. Intensely sweet root beer flavor with notes of the stuff your dentist gives you when he gets done torturing you and tells you to rinse. Ugh, this is not good. No thanks.
Tried from Bottle on 26 Jun 2015 at 22:04