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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3.1/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 3 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 2.5
Bottle. Strawberry/rhubarb syrup aroma. Pink - moderate but very short-lasting head. Strong sweet-tart strawberry-rhubarb flavor with a hint of bitter hay flavor. Cloying - almost like drinking snow-cone syrup.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Jul 2017 at 21:52

4.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 4 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 4
12 fl oz bottle. Pours clear yellow, quickly disappearing white head. Aroma is citrusy and ginger. Sweet, citrusy and light ginger. Fruity and slight ginger like finish. Sweet and artificial.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2017 at 21:34

4.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 4 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 4.5
12fl oz bottle. Pours pale yellow, white head. Aroma is cinnamon and apples. Sweet, cinnamon and juicy apples. Liquid apple pie. Sweet and cinnamon spiced finish.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2017 at 21:31

4.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 4 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 4
12 fl oz bottle. Pours clear and golden orange with a small white head. Aroma is sweet citrus. Sweet lemonade. Sweet citrusy. Mild herbal teaish. Sweet fruity and teaish finish.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2017 at 21:21

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
12 ounce bottle into pin glass, bottled on 6/27/2016. Pours crystal clear pale golden/yellow color with a small foamy white head that reduces to nothing nearly instantly. No lacing on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation. Good appearance. Aromas of big lemon, lime, ginger, currant, vanilla, honey, cracker, candi sugar, and herbal earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance of citrus/spices and pale/sugary malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, lime, ginger, currant, vanilla, honey, cracker, candi sugar, and herbal earthiness. Slight peppery ginger spice and herbal bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, lime, ginger, currant, vanilla, honey, cracker, candi sugar, and herbal earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and balance of citrus/spices and pale/sugary malt flavors; with a nice malt/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Moderate dryness from carbonation and bitter/spiciness as well. Slightly increasing ginger heat through the glass. High carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, and lightly grainy/syrupy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.9%. Overall this is a very nice ginger spice beer. All around nice robustness and balance of citrus/spices and pale/sugary malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and refreshing to drink. Still kind of feels like a beer with some grainy/malt presence, vs some of their other flavored beverages I’ve tried. Never overly sweet, syrupy, or heavy feeling. A very enjoyable offering. --- Beer merged from original tick of Not Your Father's Ginger Ale on 03 Jul 2017 at 21:57 - Score: 7. Original review text: Very nice. Lemon/lime/ginger/currant/vanilla/honey/cracker/candi sugar. Light bitter/spicy. Crisp/drying high carb. Refreshing. No cloying.
Tried from Bottle on 03 Jul 2017 at 18:32


6.5/10
A hit with the girls
Tried from Bottle on 01 Jul 2017 at 21:23

4.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 4
Bottle. Ginger, biscuit malt, and light straw aroma. Golden yellow with small and very short-lasting head. Very sweet spicy ginger, vanilla, malt, and mildly bitter hay flavor. Decent - a bit cloying.
Tried from Bottle on 30 Jun 2017 at 19:37

4.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 4 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 4
Bottle from IGA, Cookeville, Tennessee. Not so much strong tasting in strength, but certainly in its medicinal character, which lingers long. Has a sticky-sweet texture.
Tried from Bottle on 26 Jun 2017 at 09:02

6.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours rather the color of iced tea with no head at all. Smells like used tea leaves that have sat out for a bit. Near med body. Flavor is fermented/black tea with just a hint of lemon and some sugar. It’s actually rather nice - the tea bitter tends to offset the sugar. Could be lake beer.
Tried from Bottle on 25 Jun 2017 at 18:02