Small Town Brewery

Microbrewery in Wauconda, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Pabst Brewing Company

Established in 2012

Closed in 2018

Contact
1000 N Rand Rd, #204, Wauconda, IL, 60084, United States
Description
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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9/10
This brewery is killin' it. What is your secret? I'll give you guys a kidney to find your success. Fantastic guys.
Tried on 13 Dec 2024 at 18:35

8/10
They are doing a great job moving away from the chemical flavors with a strong cream ale, but the additives are always going to be there.
Tried on 13 Dec 2024 at 18:28

5/10
I'm having it again for the badge. stick to the root beer, it's amazing.
Tried on 13 Dec 2024 at 18:25

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured an almost black color with a small foamy beige head that faded quickly and left no lacing. The aroma was root beer and seemed flat. The flavor was root beer and vanilla. Medium length finish. Light body and undercarbonated. Alcohol well hidden. Tasted like soda.
Tried from Bottle on 29 Oct 2024 at 21:17

4.8/10 Appearance 2 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 2 Overall 6
Bottle. Pours a cloudy dirty water color with virtually no head or retention. No lacing. Smells like lemon soda. Tastes like sweet lemon soda too. The 5.0% ABV is completely invisible. Hi carbonation, crisp mouthfeel. There is zero beer flavor here. Pure alco-pop. Tastes great if you want lemon soda.
Tried from Bottle on 28 Nov 2019 at 02:55

5/10
Tried from Bottle on 19 Sep 2019 at 21:42

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 1/19/2018. Pours crystal clear deep ruby red/orange/amber color with no head or lacing. Good appearance. Aromas of big orange juice, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, guava, strawberry, red apple, white sugar, and light herbal/grassy hops. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/tropical fruits and sugary malt sweetness; with big strength. Taste of big orange juice, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, guava, strawberry, red apple, white sugar, and light herbal/grassy hops. Light-moderate fruity tang/tartness, and mild herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of orange juice, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, guava, strawberry, red apple, white sugar, and light herbal/grassy hops on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical fruits and sugary malt sweetness; with a fantastic malt/sugar and tart/tangy fruit balance; with zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering fruit tang/tartness. Zero carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth and moderately sugary/acidic/tangy/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Slightly slick/syrupy. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is an excellent fruit beer. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical fruits and sugary malt sweetness; extremely smooth and refreshing to drink with the mellowly acidic/tangy/drying finish; went down like water. Great juicy fruit profile and balanced sugary malt backbone. Lightly sweet with lingering dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressive style example. Tastes 100% like Hawaiian punch so they nailed it. I don't care if it doesn't taste like beer unlike everyone else.
Tried from Bottle on 31 Aug 2019 at 17:52

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Could be dangerous. Very close to root beer, slight difference in flavor but covers up the alcohol. Heavy.
Tried on 13 Aug 2019 at 01:42

7.5/10
Tried from Bottle on 08 May 2019 at 18:31

6.5/10
Tried from Bottle on 05 Jan 2019 at 18:20