Small Town Brewery made a splash last year when the company’s “Not Your Father’s Root Beer” product notched more than $104 million in off-premise sales.
But the apparent novelty of drinking an alcoholic soda seems to have slowed in 2016; sales of the flagship root beer offering are down an astonishing 75 percent over the last four weeks, according market research firm IRI Worldwide.
And now, Small Town — which has a national distribution agreement with Pabst Brewing Company and is partly owned by Pabst chairman Eugene Kashper and other brewery executives — is making its first foray into the more mainstream craft set.
The company today announced the launch of a line of “classically brewed beers” under the “Not Your Father’s Taproom” moniker.
Produced under contract by Craft Brew Alliance at the Redhook brewery in Woodinville, Wash. — where Pabst also brews its Rainer Pale Mountain Ale and has an agreement to purchase the facility over the next three years — the “Taproom” line includes a 6.5 percent “Taproom IPA” and an 8.5 percent “Cherry Ale.”
“We pride ourselves in brewing innovative craft beers, and Not Your Father’s Taproom IPA and Cherry Ale will be the first of a line of more traditionally brewed beers,” Small Town CEO Gleb Lifshits said via a press release. “These locally made, limited edition brews are made in small batches using only the highest quality ingredients.”
Released this month, the Not Your Father’s Taproom IPA and Not Your Father’s Taproom Cherry Ale will initially be distributed in Oregon and Washington and will be available in 12 oz., six-pack bottles with a suggested retail price of $10.99, the company said.
The decision to enter a busy craft category already being characterized as overcrowded by large brewery executives and small brewers alike, however, does signal a departure from the brand’s intention of becoming known as America’s “gruit brewer.”
According to the company, Not Your Father’s Taproom IPA has a citrusy, spicy, floral and fruity taste profile. It is brewed with U.S. and European malts, Yakima Valley hops, and “single-source mountain spring water.”
Not Your Father’s Taproom Cherry Ale, meanwhile, was described by the company as a “full-bodied beer with dominating sweet and tart cherry notes.” The beer has a “tart, rich, smooth, and complex taste,” it added.