With new name and location, Not Your Father's root beer creators ready for grand opening
The brewery that created the popular Not Your Father's Root Beer will celebrate its new location in Cary with an all-day grand opening Friday.
Tim Kovac, head brewer of Spirit Water — formerly known as Small Town Brewery — and the creator of the root beer when the company was in Wauconda, said he is excited for the event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Kovac said the brewery drew a large crowd for its soft opening last weekend at 3300 Three Oaks Road.
“Once we put it up on Facebook, a lot of people from Wauconda showed up,” Kovac said. “It was a lot of fun seeing old faces and meeting new faces as well.”
On Friday, Kovac will be on hand to talk about Spirit Water's new offerings and even sign bottles and growlers for customers. Like the previous location, the Cary facility doesn't have a kitchen, and patrons are encouraged to bring or order food from nearby restaurants. Kovac said the brewery will provide snacks all day for the grand opening.
The Cary location has more than twice the amount of tap room space than the Wauconda facility and a larger bar, Kovac said. The area of the building where the beer, wine and spirits are made is larger now, as well.
Kovac said the business is producing at about the rate it did in Wauconda, but will be scaling up soon to meet demand.
“Now I'm trying to fill up all 47 of the tap handles,” Kovac said. “It's been a bit of a race.”
Not available on tap will be the original recipe for the 5.9% alcohol content root beer that won the brewery so many fans. The company sold that recipe, along with the “Not Your Father's” name, to a larger brewery. The terms of the deal are not public.
However, the company will sell a root beer product with a higher concentration of alcohol at the new taproom, something not available at the Wauconda location.
Jagdish Chevli, one of the company's chief partners, said in August they intended on opening the new location in late September. Kovac said Wednesday they had “some hiccups” along the way that delayed the opening.
“We're ready to go,” he said.