With thanks to brewer Jenny Pfäfflin and the team at Chicago’s Dovetail, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for the tmavé pivo that they like to call their “Pilsner in a sweater.”
Who's ready for some decoction? Chicago's Dovetail brews this Bavarian-influenced Helles with the baseball season in mind... but it's easy to drink all year long.
From design to decoction to coolship to cellar, Dovetail owners and master brewers Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink dig into the details of how they produce their acclaimed lager, Kölsch, and weissbier.
You voted, we tallied. Here are your favorite breweries, broken into categories by volume produced.
Why bother with decoction? In this clip, Hagen Dost of Dovetail in Chicago explains the mash process for their Franconian-inspired Lager—as well as how to adjust a decoction regime to get the Maillard reactions and intensity of malt flavor you want in your own lagers.
Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink, owner-brewers at Dovetail in Chicago, go into detail on how they adjust their local water and rebuild it for brewing, with divergent approaches to lager and hefeweizen.
A great Vienna lager exhibits malt and hop character balanced by restraint and supreme drinkability. If lager is the ultimate “brewer’s beer,” is Vienna the ultimate brewer’s lager? Here are five that we love.
In this clip from their video course, Dovetail cofounder Hagen Dost explains how they keep sulfur dioxide (SO2) under control, and how they use attenuation to determine when to do a diacetyl rest and when to transfer to lagering tanks.
Deploying coolships, open fermentors, turbid mashes, and decoctions, and specializing in lagers and spontaneous fermentation, the brewers at Dovetail in Chicago are among the new guard for the old ways.
What’s old is new again for Chicago’s Dovetail—direct-fire decoction, open fermentation, and coolshipping hoppy lager with whole-cone hops are just a few of the ways this classically focused brewery finds ways to build character in their lagers.
Dovetail cofounders and master brewers Bill Wesselink and Hagen Dost explain the benefits of using a coolship for an initial cooling stage before chilling—solids drop out, DMS precursors waft away, and hops can add a burst of aroma.
**Aroma:** “Nice malt sweetness that backs and showcases a nice tea-like herbal character. Faint earthiness. Pleasant, understated herbal notes.” **Flavor:** “Well-balanced and subtle malt and citrus notes blend with herbs and floral flavors. Wonderful sweet orange and vanilla with graham crackers. Spices are subtle and complement the malt nicely. Fruity acidity with light apple from the chamomile. Dry finish.” **Overall:** “Very enjoyable, drinkable, and refreshing. A well-structured beer with good placement and level of chamomile. Were I not looking for the chamomile, it would just be a pleasant accent to the malt. Reminiscent of a sweet Danish butter cookie. Excellent job.”
Aroma ranges from toasted breadcrust to treacle—roasty, with accents of hazelnut, brown sugar, molasses, raisin, plum, and coffee. Balanced, subtle sweetness in the flavor, roast and caramel with notes of chocolate, praline, sherry. Body is lighter than expected, but the subtlety makes you wish everything was turned up just a few notches.
Assertive beechwood smoke—neither acrid nor harsh—swaddles toasty malt in the aroma. Flavor is plenty smoky—rich dark malt has enough sweetness to balance it. Slightly cloying profile, emphasizing caramel and toffee. Needs a crisper foundation. Finish is sweet and lingering.
Rum-raisin dark-fruit nose; figs with dark-chocolate edges. Doughy malt with fresh floral and stone-fruit flavors—roundly sweet and bitter—roast, hops, and booze dovetail nicely. Medium-full body, tasting heavy yet feeling light. Rich, warming finish—whiskey and wine checked by bitter espresso.
The prolific author of critically acclaimed beer books and noted hop expert, took a few minutes to reflect on the past year and the breweries, beers, trends, and more that stood out from his travels.
Dovetail Brewery
Dovetail Brewery
From design to decoction to coolship to cellar, Dovetail owners and master brewers Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink dig into the details of how they produce their acclaimed lager, Kölsch, and weissbier.