Chicagoland Lagers (2021)

I agree, after having growler fill of Goldfinger Maibock today. I picked it up Thursday and did not get a draft pour for in-house consumption. There should be little difference, but I noted a slight soap taste in an otherwise unremarkable flavor.

 

Haven’t tried Goldfinger’s Maibock but I’m a huge fan of Dovetail’s. This year’s version seems a bit lighter and sweeter than last year, but still very good. I do think that GF’s Vienna might be my favorite local of that style.

 

This is sacrilege!

 

No. Just no. The Dovetail Vienna Lager is best in class, and one of my five desert island beers. I say this not having had the Goldfinger, but I'm not troubled by the lack of facts to back up my argument; I've adapted to the current fact-less reality....

All that said, I'm not denying the goodness of Dovetail, and I'm going to swing by Goldfinger this week (if all works according to plan), but New Oberpfalz in NW Indiana has a pretty solid lager game. They just released their Maibock, and it's stellar. A smoked Helles is on the horizon, too, I'm told.

 

Had the original lager tonight and thought it was very good but I am still partial to Dovetail's. I got some very pleasant fruity and sweet notes in it but it lacked that bready backbone that I love in a lager. I thought it was much better than the Maibock and a good beer but I prefer Dovetail's. It strikes me as a much less "traditional" lager than Dovetail's as well, which may be biasing my opinion.

I'd probably drink a 4 pack of it but wouldn't seek it out the way I do Dovetail's lager.

So, my opinion of Goldfinger is mixed and frankly I think I like them slightly less than Metropolitan based on what I've tried. Dovetail still king for me.

 

Sorry, Dovetail’s Vienna and their Hefe are two beers I won’t be buying again. They’re not bad, just really, really meh. The Lager, Pilsner, and that Kolschbock are absolute bangers, tho.

 

The malt character dovetail achieves in Lager and Pilsner is just something nobody else in Illinois has created yet. Not many others around the country either.

Now if you don’t value insanely perfect/unique malt character in your lager, I could easily see how a different style Helles lager might suit you better. Some might prefer a Fader, Lite thinking, high life ect. But that malt character is easy to find. It’s way easier, IMO, to create a session lager than to create a substantial lager. to me, malt character in a helles lager is what you look for. And I appreciate the hell out of great ones because I understand how difficult it is to create that depth of flavor. If it was easy, we’d find these types of lagers all the time. But you can’t find me anything comparable to how dovetail builds the Lager or the Pilsner. Certainly not in Illinois. It’s totally unique in that regard. Only a few others in the midwest compare and they are American lager legends like Great Lakes and New Glarus

 

It's been a while since I had their Vienna Lager, I almost always go for original or Helles instead, but I agree with you 100% on the Hefe. I think the Hefe is their worst regular offering by far.

 

I’m a big fan of the Vienna lager, for the smooth malt character as @beardown2489 already mentioned. Dovetail recently did hoppy versions of both the hefe and the Vienna lager, enough though I’m not a fan of the hefe (kind of boring) the hopfenweisse was excellent, the light body of the base beer really let the hops shine. On the other hand the hops overpowered the malts of the Vienna lager, and that one was less successful.

 

Honestly, the hands-down best Vienna I've had in Chicago was a couple of years ago on draft at Cruz Blanca. My all-time favorite, however, is Von Trapp. I remember walking back to the car when we stopped at a shop and my wife saying "Did you really need to buy all that beer?" with me replying "Well, the bottom case is all one beer (the Von Trapp) and I wanted to try a few other things."

 

Agree about the Dovetail Hefe. Still, Dovetail not at peak is better than many folks’ best.

Slightly off topic, anyone had Beer for Hell that Off Color just put out? I liked Town Musicians last year and grabbed some today from ye old Binny’s.

 

cruz seems like they are doing some cool stuff with their lager program. I’m going there tonight actually, and I want to try the red corn lager they have on tap.

 

I love the dovetail hefe

 

I sampled some Goldfinger cans recently as well… Original lager and Pils; definitely like the Pils better.

I was at skeleton key yesterday. Skeleton key Hells, and Schwartz beer, and Berliner Weiss are really good. Definitely worthy of a mention in the Chicago land lager thread.

 

It’s ok? Definitely not a traditional lager. Interesting fruity notes from the corn. Too hoppy for my tastes when it comes to lagers.

 

I think Dancing Man Wheat has created kind of a high bar in my mind. I liked Dovetail’s, but I gravitate to others. (And, by the way, Dancing Man Wheat hit the spot this year.)

Had a Town Musicians earlier. Nice. I’ve been enjoying bocks this year. Metropolitan and Seipp’s went down well. Like with Scotch Ales, I have to be in the right mood for the sweetness. But the dryness and complexity of those mentioned above really hit the right notes for me. If I can get to Off Color before Beer for Hell helles bock is gone...

Looking forward to the Flemish bock collab mentioned on Metropolitan’s social media a few weeks back. What even is a Flemish bock? Can’t wait to find out.

 

I’m not even a big fan of wheat beers, but tried Dancing Man on recommendation from my brother this Winter, and it’s one of my highest rated beers across any style this year.

Dovetail’s Czech Dark Lager and Rauchbier and Metropolitan’s Humbucker (a Dortmunder) are three Lagers I’ve tried for the first time this Winter and really liked.

 

Hoping to get a little help from the locals here. On Saturday I made my maiden voyage to Phase Three and while waiting for it to open I was chatting with a couple folks in line and they were talking about a brewery, I believe in the area, that did only lagers and carbonated them by krausening. After a few rounds of drinks now the name escapes me so I'm hoping somebody know who they are talking about. This was before I was drinking so I'm pretty sure my memory is correct other than not remembering the name. Thank you. Cheers!