Dovetail appreciation thread

This is officially on my list of things to do

 

once they get their lager program cranking, i'll likely amend this statement

 

Dovetail's Instagram:

always down for varenyky and pivo.

 

Their Grodziskie is one of my favorite beers of theirs (which is saying a lot considering my undying love for basically every beer they've made apart from the Hefeweizen and the Wit, which I think are just great as opposed to phenomenal). Pierogis are always a welcome find.

 

Great, you just gave Mikerphone an idea for their next stout or Gose....

 

Shit, there's even a pierogi place just down the road from him.

 

Stopped by yesterday before a show, and loved the place. Its nice to see a brewery doing what they want instead of feeding the masses whatever on-trend beer they're calling for. Their helles was fantastic, the rauchbier was amazing. Great staff, great atmosphere, I hope nothing but the best for them in the future.

 

Now if only they the would start packaging some of those beers.

 

Helles, Lager, and Rauchbier in cans would be a dream. Apparently we are supposed to "Stay tuned," per one post in this thread, so hopefully that means packaging (and hopefully it doesn't mean just crowlers).

 

Nope, not crowlers. 16 oz cans. Helles will be first up. Release still TBD, but we're inching closer. Thanks, all!

 

You are our lord and savior.

Not to be too nosy, but do you plan to do year-rounds or the rotating releases that are so popular among smaller breweries? Mobile canner or a permanent in-house fixture?

Thanks for all your community interaction and for the excellent beer that fills a much-needed niche.

 

Oh, lord, I don't want to be anyone's lord!

We're starting with mobile canning. The idea is to have year-round flagships, with seasonal releases.

 

Mostly facetious of course, especially considering your "...without the vows" slogan, but I'll still view the cans as a godsend. Thanks for the info!

P.S. The Helles and Pils would make excellent additions to the year-round stable.

 

I do really enjoy Dovetail, but I don't understand why more people don't mention Metropolitan when listing top lagers in the city. Their Zwickel is one of the best beers produced in Chicago imo.

 

They are all less complex and more Americanized. Dovetail's have a lot of malt complexity that Metro just does not achieve for my palate. Plus the mouthfeel on Dovetail's beers is spot-on across the board, whereas most Metro beers feel thin to me.

Dovetail also has a wider variety of styles, all very faithful to their Continental brethren.

Finally, Metro has some really meh beers among a few gems. Krankshaft, Iron Works, Magnetron, and Heliostat are indeed really great, but Flywheel, Generator, and Dynamo are pretty blah. Afterburner is not a good Märzen at all. I don't know what they were trying to achieve with Jet Stream, but it is very subpar. I love Arc Welder, though, and I left it for last because it's very non-traditional (albeit excellent). Dovetail doesn't have a beer that is less than good/above average, to my palate, and most are great to excellent, with the Lager, Helles, Vienna, and Rauchbier all being essentially perfect.

In short, Metropolitan is a very good lager producer, but they are not on the same plane as Dovetail due to a lower ceiling and inconsistency across styles.

Just one man's opinion though, and I still really enjoy (and purchase) lots of Metropolitan beer. Oh, and their taproom is by far the best in the city from a vibe and location perspective.

 

Fair enough. I personally feel Kranshaft and Heliostat have a "cleaner" taste, and definitely a slightly crisper mouth feel than Dovetail's. But just a personal preference. But completely agree on Arc Welder and the taproom. Its becoming one of my favorite places to bring the dog and play some board games with the wife on a Sat or Sun afternoon. Can't wait until they get done with the construction zone there. Its going to be a beautiful piece of land.

 

I find Krankshaft not that clean at all, purposefully so: it's a kölsch, so it has some esters going on in the finish. There is nothing comparable in Dovetail's portfolio unfortunately, though I would love to see their take on a kölsch.

Maybe Metro's beers are a bit more crisp, but I think it is at the expense of the fuller, more satisfying mouthfeel that Dovetail achieves, a key component of most of my favorite German examples of the styles they excel at. I also find Dovetail very clean overall and as crisp as they need to be despite not as crisp as Metro generally speaking.

Obviously it is personal preference, and again, no slight to most of Metro's portfolio, since I have a lot of love and even more respect for them.

 

I take Dovetail over basically everyone else doing the styles here as well. The only problem I have is when they get a diacetyl heavy batch.

Now we have to decide Dovetail vs. Urban Chestnut.

 

Dovetail is more consistent across styles as well, in my opinion. I LOVE many UCBC beers, though, so it is a very tough call.