Small Town Brewery
 | |
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Tim Kovac |
| Headquarters | , US |
| Products | Beer |
| Website | smalltownbrewery |
Small Town Brewery was a brewing company based in Wauconda, Illinois, best known for creating the Not Your Father's brand of flavored beers.
History
[edit]Small Town Brewery was founded by John Dopak and Tim Kovac in Wauconda in 2010.[1] Kovac first started homebrewing in 1988.[2] After three years of development, Not Your Father's Root Beer was released in Illinois in 2012.[1][3] It was initially sold in its 19.5% abv incarnation in kegs at local bars and liquor stores. The brewery then did two small bottling runs of a 10.7% abv root beer in 22-ounce bottles, and in November 2014, they released 12-ounce bottles of a 5.9% abv version.[4]
In March 2015, Small Town partnered with Pabst Brewing Company to distribute the Not Your Father's brand nationally.[5][6][7] Shortly thereafter, Pabst owners, including Pabst CEO Eugene Kashper, acquired a stake in the brand and the company.[8][9] A new category in the alcoholic beverage industry was created due to the success of Not Your Father's Root Beer, referred to as "hard soda" or "flavored beer."[1]
The Small Town Brewery tap room in Wauconda opened on October 15, 2015.[10] It served a rotating cycle of 16 Small Town beers, with flavors including French Toast, Bourbon Pecan and Strawberry Rhubarb.[11]
The company ceased operations in 2019. Kovac opened a new taproom later that year in Cary under the name Spirit Water.[12]
Products
[edit]Not Your Father's Root Beer is a traditionally-made beer brewed with botanicals, spices, and herbs such as wintergreen, sarsaparilla bark, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean and honey, to give it the taste of an old-fashioned root beer.[13][14][15] It is currently available nationally in two abv levels: 5.9% and 10.7%.[13] Not Your Father's Root Beer 5.9% abv 6-pack bottles was the best-selling craft beer in the United States in 2015.[16]
Not Your Father's Ginger Ale was released in November 2015.[17] Not Your Father's Vanilla Cream Ale, at 4.1% abv, was made available in 2016.[18] However, the only products currently sold in the Not Your Father's line are Root Beer and Lemonade.[19]
Reception
[edit]Not Your Father's Root Beer was awarded Second Place in BeerHoptacular Beer of the Year, in 2013[20] Beer Advocate rates the Not Your Father's Root Beer 10.7% variant as 94 out of 100.[8]
Michael Agnew, owner of A Perfect Pint, after visiting the brewery, argued that the equipment he saw could not produce such a high alcohol content product and suggested the root beer contained added neutral grain spirit. Strange Brews host Andrew Gill speculated that perhaps it was not beer but rather a flavored malt beverage. Additionally, a Chicago Tribune article questioned the brewery's statement that no sugar is added to the beverage and that its sweetness comes solely from grains and spices.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tripp Mickle, "Not So Soft Drink: Brewers Add Booze to Root Beer," Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2015.
- ^ Jacky Runice, "Big tastes are coming from small-town breweries," Daily Herald, September 27, 2015.
- ^ Mary Ellen Shoup, "Not Your Father's Root Beer appeals to 'whole new market', founder says," Beverage Daily, April 12, 2016.
- ^ Josh Noel, "Higher alcohol Not Your Father's Root Beer to go national," Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2016.
- ^ John Kell, "Root beer is the next big thing in craft beer," Fortune, July 21, 2015.
- ^ Stephanie Strom, "Pabst Raids Dad's Beer Fridge as It Looks to the Future," New York Times, April 1, 2016.
- ^ Wesley Case, "Led by boozy root beer, 'hard soda' trend now in full swing," Baltimore Sun, February 10, 2016.
- ^ a b Kyle Stock, "Boozy Root Beer Is About to Be Huge," Bloomberg Businessweek, July 21, 2015.
- ^ Melissa Locker, "This Alcoholic Root Beer Might Be Your New Favorite Summer Drink," Time, July 22, 2015.
- ^ Russell Lissau, "Popular Wauconda brwery opens taproom," Daily Herald, October 16, 2015.
- ^ Suzanne Brazil, "Wauconda's Small Town Brewery not your father's taproom," Daily Herald, December 8, 2015.
- ^ Keeperman, Brittany (June 27, 2019). "Small Town Brewery founder plans to bring unique flavors to Cary operation". Shaw Local News. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ a b Gary Dzen, "A mysterious Midwestern brewer toys with dessert," Boston Globe, June 27, 2015.
- ^ Florence Fabricant, "Batches of Root Beer Generate a Noticeable Buzz," New York Times, August 17, 2015.
- ^ Geoff Williams, "Root Beer Flavored Beer Is Now A Thing And Only the Beginning Of What's Coming," Forbes, December 30, 2015.
- ^ Chris Furnari, "IRI: Craft Sales Up 18 Percent in 2015," Brewbound, January 7, 2016.
- ^ Greg Trotter, "Hard soda pops while soft drinks fizzle," Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2015.
- ^ Sean Fahmy, "'Not Your Father's' Unveils Newest Hard Soda, Vanilla Cream Ale," Foodbeast, May 25, 2016.
- ^ "NYF – Not Your Father's – Flavored Malt Beverage".
- ^ Mike Tighe, "Not Your Father's Root Beer keeps La Crosse brewery hoppin'," Washington Times, August 31, 2015.
- ^ Noel, Josh (October 10, 2015). "Not Your Father's Root Beer and Its Curious Rise to National Sensation". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
