Dovetail Brewery

Latest Visit 6/1/26 (Chicago, Illinois): This is a decade old Ravenswood brewery focused on lagers and Fruit Lambics, with onsite snacks available.

Vibe: Chill vibes with friendly staff, modern solid music, classic wood bar, outdoor picnic benches (and outdoor music speakers) with umbrellas outside of cold weather months. Nice comfortable space, upstairs occasionally open for traditional Kolsch service, and outdoor parking converted to Food Bank fundraisers twice a year. Great people (Owners, Managers, Staff) keep this a warm and inviting place. 4.75

Quality: This is a solid longstanding brewery, best known for their lagers and fruited lambics. Beer is typically unfiltered, so doesn't always look great, but the flavor, aroma and mouthfeel quite enjoyable over the majority of their seletcions. Proper glassware, European style so proper fill markings and room for head. This brewery takes pride in every aspect of their operations, and it comes through via the beer which typically ranges from 3.75-4.25 for me on a firmer scale than many BAs). Properly poured by knowledgeable bartenders who were able to give additional insight into the beers. 4.5

Service: Prompt, efficient, friendly service by knowledgeable bartenders. Their CC / rewards program can be quirky, but staff does well to provide additional help and support. 4.5

Selection: They stick with a core five lineup, and several rotating selections, mostly in the lager and fruited lambic realm. They also offer several non beer products, and snacks including sausage and pretzels from solid local stores. I can always find a 2-3 enticing beers, my limit most days, and like heading down when a new selection is available. 4.25

Overall: Really liked the space, the beers, staff and conversation with other patrons was great. Dovetail focuses on what they enjoy and brew well, and patrons benefit from the care they put into everything they do. One of the first local Lager focused breweries, so glad they have been around for a decade!

 

First bonus, free parking, if you can find it. Second bonus, a sizeable patio in a fairly quiet neighborhood, as long as the Brown Line to its West isn't rumbling by, which occurs every 5 or so minutes in either direction, or the Suburban to its East, a bit less frequently. Ultra bonus: it was an unseasonably beautiful, sunny day, and the trees were in full autumn blush, serendipitously paired with the literally perfect audio accompaniment of Pinegrove.

The bartenders were quirky and chatty, pouring properly and recommending with care while providing future release information. Our rauch and helles were great first pours, sipped slowly amidst the Underberg cases in the sunlight. Thankfully they offer smaller pours, so the old lady could try their entire spontaneous lineup, while I snagged a couple more lagers before we were off to our next stop.

The interior is a little more intimate, a mix of industrial and almost Steampunk stylized while also welcoming and casual. I imagine it gets a little rowdy in here during the winter, though I think there's a spillover space in the barrel room.

 

I walked all the way from Wrigley Field on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon on my first pilgrimage to Dovetail. Highly respected for their lagers, and deservedly so. The brewpub had a lot of energy, even mid-day, so service was a little unreliable, but otherwise absolutely no complains. I hope to return on another visit to Chicago.

 

Exceptional beers in a cozy, slightly industrial space. A bit out of the way but worth the trek on the brown line. Crowd on a Friday was steady although it was raining, skewing older folks who seem to appreciate good lager. So many styles to choose from and some great to-go options in cans and bottles in the coolers up front. Didn’t know they brewed wild/sour beers. Had pours of all of their smoke beers, including my first ever Grodziskie. Saved their core beers for cans to-go. Also enjoyed their seasonal offerings, all stellar. I don’t think this brewery can make a bad beer. Some great swag and friendly staff working the bar who seem to know a lot about lager.

The only downside is the prices. Although I’m willing to pay the premium as are many others and I understand lager takes more time and the ingredients are also more labor intensive in order to make authentic styles, it’s tough to see all of their beers at $9 for half liter pours or $10 for seasonal specialties…at the source nonetheless! I figured only double milkshake hemp cryo IPAs were $10/pint (or half liter). Also odd that a mixed four pack of Pilsner and Czech Dark Lager is $16 when a four pack of either is $15. Was there labor involved in mixing the packs of cans? Again, I understand there’s a price to pay for good lager, but it’s tough to spread the love of lager when it’s priced so highly. We’re approaching Switzerland price levels in craft beer. Anyway, this could be the best lager brewery in the country, and with Goldfinger not far away, Chicago really could be the lager capital of the US. Really wished I lived local to here. Bravo, Dovetail!

June 2023:
Walked over from Begyle on a Monday late afternoon. Sat at the bar, had a couple beers. Staff didn't seem particularly welcoming at first, but after asking some questions and getting into some conversation, that impression melted away -- from conversation, it seems like they're used to crowds of people who know little about beer and seem upset when there's no IPA available. Perhaps I look like a hazebro, or they smelled Hop Butcher on me from the day before.

Lager focused, well made and good beer. Staff wasn't able to answer all my questions, but I don't think I had the A team -- the two people working (at an admittedly "off peak" time of the week) had a total of about 5 months of experience with Dovetail. They did reach out to the brewer once to answer one of my questions.

Location had both indoor and outdoor seating, wasn't super busy but wasn't super dead on a Monday. They had a bunch of interesting "to go" stuff, including things from their spontaneous fermentation program that I didn't know they had. I'd definitely go back, and if they were close and convenient, I'd be there a lot.

 

 

 

 

These folks make excellent lagers and I enjoyed several of them while in town...

The Helles was the star of the show but the Grodziskie was a close second...

You can smell the mash long before you get there... sort of tucked into a non-descript neighborhood...

Good selection of beers...I enjoyed everything I had here...

 

Tucked away in a residential neighborhood. Small, slightly dark taproom with unusual, curved beer spigots. Brick facade. Except for the wild yeast beers, made in the style of the Senne Valley (Lambics of Belgium), all beers are of German styles, a welcome departure from IPA land. Liked their Vienna lager.

Stopped in to try the place after work on Friday after just learning of its existence. In a row of semi-industrial spaces within quick walking distance of the train, it's a brick façade with a semi-modern, wood-lined area inside. Things weren't very buy to begin with, but the place started filling up and buzzing over the course of my couple-hour residence. The beers have a German bent, and they run the gamut with the range. Variable sizes are available, most of which are served in beakers, so that's a nice couple of touches. I was impressed with the overall quality of the beers, and went so far as to grab a bottle of the Flanders Rauch to share with a buddy and introduce him to the brewery remotely. The bartenders are all personable and knowledgeable, and I never waited very long to get a new order in. I didn't try any of the small-plate food offerings, but the ones that were delivered to patrons near me looked pretty tasty. Overall, I enjoyed my visit very much, and I look forward to hitting them up again once I get back into the office.

 

 

Enjoyed the beers a lot here. I was in the middle of a road trip when I stopped here, so I had been to a handful of breweries over a few days - these clean lagers were just what I needed as refuge from the hop bomb and pastry stouts of the world.

Space is nice if a little unremarkable. It was dark and I was there on a Friday night. Service, however, was kind of disappointing. A curly haired guy seemed to only want to talk to regulars or buddies, acting somewhat curt when I asked him a few questions about the beer. For such a friendly town, it was a huge turnoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large space with lots of seating including a long bar and several tables. The quality of the beer here is top notch. Extremely well made lagers and traditional European styles. Everything I have tasted has been delicious. Service was very friendly, helpful and knowledgable about the product. They have great soft pretzels from a local bakery. Highly recommended.

 

 

Dropped in on a random Sunday. Great selection of traditional German beers. Impressive quality through the menu. Very friendly atmosphere and service. Great vibe. Would gladly revisit.

i must have come here at the wrong time on the wrong day, as the spacious back area was closed for a private event, so the little taproom bar area in the front was super congested, we could hardly find a seat, and had to wait forever at the bar. im a patient guy, i know what its like to be on the other side, but they had three bartenders not look up for about 20 minutes, no joke, i just cant justify that kind of wait time to be noticed in a place, not even a "hey we are swamped hold tight", like no acknowledgement at all, it really turned me off, and when we finally did get service, he was kind of a jerk. if you have the best beer in the world and want to act like that, whatever, i still may drink it, but this kind of attitude for a middling dunkel? heck no! in any event, i ordered the hefe, which they were out of, so settled for the dunkelweizen, which was solid but conventional, familiar, and not particularly exciting to me. i could see the space being cool at a different time, its smallish and could be intimate without so many people in here. there were also about 20 dogs on the loose, which i dont mind, but at this concentration it was a bit of a zoo. i dont know, its just a brewery at the end of the day, nothing to go out of the way for i dont think, but i would like to check it out at a more mellow time and try some more of their beers, but our experience here was just not very good.

 

 

Great beer, nice people in a welcoming atmosphere.

 

 

Traditional German beers

 

 

Great German brewery. All German beer styles and they knocked them all out of the park. I can't remember the last pilsner I'd actually recommend to a friend. And the sausages are fantastic! Make a point to stop here on your trip. Its also walking distance to 2 other breweries and a bottle shop.