Dovetail (2021)

Same here. Just sad lager isn’t canned anymore

 

I finally ordered Dovetail beer to be shipped. A few of the observations of the experience:

• Friday is the worst day to order since they ship on Thursdays. I should read the rules next time.
• Trying to leverage what I want with the shipping cost, I ended up with 10 4-packs. It came in two packages: 6 4-packs in a box with just two cardboard case holders on the top and the bottom, and 4 4-packs in a box randomly stuffed with crumpled paper. I was lucky that only one can be busted in that second box and amused that the UPS guy tried to convince me to refuse to accept that box.
• Although the beer is absolutely delicious, it was surprising to see that some of it are almost 6 months old. I wonder if the Baltic porter recipe changed since it was produced: it is supposed to be 6.1% ABV, but what I got was canned on 1/13/21 and says 6.6% on the can.

 

If you'd like to send me an email at jp @ dovetailbrewery.com, I'll forward it to our shipping staff and we'll take care of the busted can. Don't like to hear that it arrived in that condition. As far as the age of the beer—we'd never send out beer that doesn't taste up to our standards.

There's a lot to appreciate about the education of best by dates, and a general rule of thumb is nice, but it doesn't necessarily stand up for every type of beer. A DDH IPA, for example, will age differently, and be perceived differently, over a period of time versus a European-style lager like a Baltic Porter (You'll see a lot of imports have a 365 date code). In fact, we prefer this particular beer with a little age—when it was first packaged, those nice stone fruit notes weren't quite there yet.

Age also has a lot to do with the supply chain—once a beer leaves the brewery, you can't guarantee how it will be taken care of. The beers we ship come directly from our brewery—and the Baltic Porter was not distributed—so we have "eyes" on it at all times. Once it's not up to our standards, we'll pull it.

(Also, yes, the Baltic Porter was a new recipe -- 6.6% is correct.)

Anyway, thanks for your order, and please drop an email so we can correct the mishandled package.

 

Thanks for a detailed answer! Don't worry about the busted can, the only reason I mentioned it is that I believe packaging using paper is not great for a box that is not meant for cans. Next time I'll make sure to order full cases only. And I do hope you continue shipping out of state.

As for the age, I was certainly not questioning the quality of the beer, was only curious why your website lists Baltic Porter as 6.1% when the can says 6.6%. What was the reason to lower the ABV?

Thanks again for the great beers. Everything I tried is truly impressive.

 

Oh, yeah, I just wanted to explain more about why the age of the beer is what it is—thank you for your nice words! As far as the ABV, that's just a mistake. I'll have them fix that. It wasn't updated from the previous recipe / packaging of that beer.

(And really, if you order again, shoot me a line—happy to help).

 

Looks like Maibock is $44 per case

I don't live anywhere near Dovetail but that may be enough to get me to make the trip.

 

That's a really good price! Thanks for the head's up. I LOVE their Maibock. FYI, they also offer a Brewer's Dozen, 12 4-paks for the price of 11. You can mix or match the varieties of beer. But it applies only to their $11-per-4-pak beers, such as the Vienna Lager or Hefeweizen. Might make that road trip worth it.

 

I'm drinking five months old Pilsner, and it is phenomenal. Reminds me of Bernard 11°.

 

On a May trip to Chicago, I picked up four 4-packs at Dovetail. The Kolsch was very good and the Maibock and Vienna Lager were truly excellent. The Dunkel, on the other hand, has been tasting slightly sour. When I first tried it on tap a few years ago, I thought it was outstanding. The Dunkel I had this year was canned in January. It was 4 1/2 months old when I drank the first can. My questions are: 1) Could a Dunkel start becoming sour in under five months? 2) Has anyone else detected unusual flavors in the January batch? Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

It was definitely the dunkel. I haven't tried the dunkelweizen.

 

You're not the only one, regarding the dunkelweizen.

 

Revisited the Vienna-Style Lager last night and was very pleasantly surprised. I tried it about a year ago and didn’t much care for it, but the one I had last night was great. Not sure if it was a batch/canning/dialing-in issue, but this will likely be a regular purchase for me.

 

What was different?

 

It seemed like a completely different beer. Much more depth of flavor, less body, better balance. Last year, I thought it was “meh,” kinda syrupy, flavors were muted and one-dimensional, and I picked up an odd grainy aftertaste. They weren’t old cans, so I chalked it up to a lack of execution.
Yesterday’s was more on-point for the style. I recently had (and loved!) the Goldfinger Vienna, and I’d put Dovetail right up there. A lot of people said I should give it another chance and they were right. Maybe I got an off batch last year or something.

 

How was the hop bite in the finish? I really like a good vienna that is more malt forward and less hoppy. Dovetails Vienna is good, but it finishes a little bitter for my liking. I really dig the toasty & caramel malt flavors that a malt forward vienna can offer.

 

Not yet but I love the other lagers I’ve had from them.

It didn’t stand out as being hoppy, but I’ve been drinking a LOT of IPAs lately (mostly NvU, Smoking Gull, Psychedelic Cat Grass, and a few from my trip to MI) so I’m not exactly a reliable source.

 

I had a beer outside at Dovetail for the first time.

Um, it's RIGHT between the brown line train and the Metra train.

Every 10 mins or so an EARSPLITTING train went by.

I recommend you enjoy your beers indoors, especially if you're vaccinated. (trying to not be political here...but if you're not vaccinated, please don't come indoors)

Oh, and the Festbier was good...but the airplane-landing decibel noise kinda took away from the experience.