I've been here a few dozen times, and will be back many dozens more. Why? The beer is awesome. The people are awesome. I always enjoy myself here.
The tap room is unpretentious and minimalist with a convivial atmosphere. It's a pretty big place, and always super clean. Large windows up front, exposed brick behind the bar, rotating art from local artists, and beer decor like a wooden yeast ring and hop wreath hanging high above the bar. Some antique German brewery faucets set into the wall, with Underberg and Dovetail tin signs hanging above.
It's the only brewery in town with a BYO vinyl turntable, they play what you bring in. So if the music isn't to your liking, maybe bring your own next time. Dog-friendly, so expect some occasional barking, but it's rare. Spring 2018 they plan to open an outdoor patio, so i'm guessing the dog crowd will move outside.
Beer-wise, no other brewery in Chicago is brewing what they do. Sure, Metropolitan, Hopewell, and Revolution also brew lagers, but Dovetail takes painstaking steps to recreate historical styles down to the nitty gritty details. If that's all too beer nerdy for you, they simply brew outstanding historical lagers and wild ales.
Take a tour here sometime if you really want to understand what they're about. For example, you'll get to try various samples of brewing water used to approximate water sources traditionally used for specific regional beer styles. They use a coolship, an antique copper mash tun, and have stacks of barrels upstairs full of lambic brewed as traditionally as you can outside of the Payottenland in Belgium. You won't find IPA's here, everybody else already does that. Their Czech Pilsner is the best i've ever had, including Urquell Nefiltrovaný and Koutská 12° Dvanáctka, which are some of the best in the world.
Seasonal and experimental beers rotate, and they usually have around 8 different drafts on. Recently they released their first locally distributed bottling, X01 Flanders Rauch, a hybrid Rauchbier-Flanders Oud Bruin. It's a sour and smoky tribute to an old beer style that is nearly extinct. It's extremely complex and unique, a blend of 19 barrels aged for a year. For fans of Goudenband or Laphroaig, it's really creative stuff if you can appreciate that sort of thing. There are more barrel-aged beers in the works, which are rare by nature and take time to finish (sometimes years).
Small snack menu includes pretzels from Dinkels, dry sausage from Paulina Market, cheese flights, and alfajores cookies from another local place. One of the bartenders is a cicerone and cheesemonger, so the cheese flights have been paired with specific beers. They're vacuum sealed for freshness as there's not a fridge behind the bar. (drafts only). BYO food policy is nice. Food trucks are often outside or at Begyle a short block away, which are usually posted on their social media. If you want some great German food to pair with their German lagers, Laschets Inn and Resis Bierstube are only a few blocks away. Prost! read more