Want to know what how we do what we do? Many elements, working together in harmony, go into each product so that what comes out meets the highest standards of taste and quality.
Unique Brewing Equipment
- Copper Kettle c.1905 from the 1000 year-old Weihenstephan pilot brewery in Germany
- Custom Brewhouse
- Custom-built Coolship designed by Hagen and Bill
- Open Fermentors
- Custom-built Water Processing Plant
- Custom-built Malt Handling System
- Maturation tanks re-built from refurbished stainless steel dairy tanks
Raw Materials
- WATER: Filtered and formulated for each beer
- MALT: Sourced from the same specialty maltsters in Franconia who supply malt for the best examples of the beer styles
- RAW WHEAT and FRESH FRUIT: Sourced directly from farmers within 150 miles of Chicago
- AROMA HOPS: Highest quality, sourced from European growing regions; we use noble hops for the entire hop bill
- YEAST:
- For Lager and Hefeweizen: Yeast will be acquired from traditional sources and infinitely re-pitched in order to develop strains unique to Dovetail Brewery
- For Lambic-style beers: Fermented by wild yeasts natural to Chicago for one-of-a-kind characteristics
Key Processes
- All beers produced using traditional processes on American and German-made equipment
- Double decoction mashing of lagers and hefeweizens gives beers a rich, malty flavor, full mouthfeel, and a thick, lasting head
- Turbid mashing of lambic-style beers gives wort the correct complexity for wild yeast fermentation, producing a unique flavor profile characteristic of the style
- Cooling in an open Coolship for all beers
- Flagship beers achieve higher clarity while maintaining flavor complexity
- Lambic-style beers rest for 12-24 hours while coming in contact with wild yeasts
- Flagship beers are fermented in open fermentors
- 7 days for lagers, followed by traditional 4-week cold maturation
- 3-4 days for hefeweizens, then mixed with unfermented wort, and re-fermented in secondary fermentation tanks
