Small Town Brewery Not Your Father's Ginger Ale

Beer Name: Not Your Father's Ginger Ale
Brewery: Small Town Brewery (Wauconda, IL; La Crosse, WI)
ABV: 5.9%
How sold: 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles OR 12 oz. cans
Where bought: Belmont Station (Portland, OR)
Price: $12.19 for a six-pack

Date Purchased: December 1, 2015
Date Opened/Drank: December 2, 2015
"Best By" Date: May 13, 2016
When brewed? Year-round beer. Not Your Father's Ginger Ale released on or about December 1, 2015, after a couple months of hype. Small Town Brewery also started canning their products just a few months ago.

Where distributed: Small Town Brewery now ships to most U.S. states. Find out if Small Town Brewery ships to your area!

What's on the Bottle: "This is beer flavored with spices. We like to think of it as a refreshing ale brewed with ginger. Best served chilled or poured in a glass over ice. We hope you'll enjoy it. We do." Click here for more info!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured caramel-golden a pint glass. No head, tons of carbonation. Very fizzy initially. Just about what you'd expect from something replicating hard soda. 4/5

Smell (25%): Refreshing, sweet ginger ale aroma. Pretty much nailed that. 5/5

Taste (40%): Again, tastes strikingly similar to actual non-alcoholic ginger ale that I've had. Zero alcohol detected. Probably again classified as a spiced ale. The ginger is front and center, yet also therapeutic, like how regular ginger ales seem to be. On a blind taste test, I'd bet very few people would be able to tell this is alcoholic. I'm sold. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-light bodied with a lot of carbonation. Again, just very refreshing. 4.5/5

Overall (20%): A world-class spiced beer. This one probably will play second fiddle to the critically acclaimed Not Your Father's Root Beer in my book, but it would only be a tiny notch below. Being a ginger ale fan, I all but chugged the pint glass as I typed this blog entry in. I already know people will criticize this one for being too sweet. News flash: This alcoholic beverage is supposed to replicate a soda -- which is sweet. The intent was to entice more people to buy alcoholic drinks and who probably hate the taste of beer. If you want a "regular" beer, whether it's a lager, porter, or an IPA, get that instead. This will likely cater to people who love buying wine coolers. I would caution people who are simply curious to get a single of this, or sample it somewhere; don't splurge on a six-pack out of the gate unless you know you'll love it. 4.75/5

Final Weighted Rating: 4.75/5