Talking With: Tim Kovac, Founder and Brewmaster of Small Town Brewery

A home brewer for 30 years, Tim Kovac is Founder and Brewmaster for Small Town Brewery, best known for its "Not Your Father's" line of artisanal, gruit-inspired craft beers. In our “Talking With” series, Kovac tells Modern Restaurant Management magazine why restaurant partnerships were so important to growing his brand, why craft beer still has untapped possibilities and how beer is in his blood and it changed his life. 

Tim Kovac, founder and brewmaster at Small Town BreweryWhat about gruit-inspired beers inspired you?

We’ve always been interested in going back to our roots at Small Town, with our brews recalling a simpler time in American life. Gruit (German for “herbs”) is an ancient way of bittering and flavoring beer using roots, spices, flowers, and berries. This is how most beer was brewed for thousands of years and throughout the middle ages - before hops took over as the main bittering agent - and it gives our beers a distinct character that sets it apart from…