E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: Dovetail Brewery reveals plans to open in Ravenswood in 2016

The craft beer movement shows no signs of slowing down, with Dovetail Brewery announcing plans to open a production facility and taproom in Ravenswood in 2016, DNAinfo reported on September 11.

Owners Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink introduced themselves to members of the community on September 10, presenting their concept for a brewhouse at 1800 W. Belle Plaine Ave. The building was formerly occupied by Atlas Material Testing Solutions, which decamped to Mount Prospect.

"We will be good neighbours," Dost pledged to the handful of residents in attendance. "And I think it goes without saying we want to see you in the taproom."

Wesselink, who met Dost in 2011 at beer school in Munich, said that hardly means the market is saturated.

"We've got 10 million people and 60 breweries" in the Chicago area, Wesselink said. "There seems like a lot of room for growth."

Patty Wetli says Dovetail Brewery will focus on European-style beers. The brewers intend to separate themselves from the pack by focusing on continental European-style beers. Dovetail Brewery's flagship offerings will be a hefeweizen (German-style wheat beer), a lager and a Belgian-style lambic, which takes two to three years to ferment, Wesselink said.

European beers are close to Dost’s heart, whose parents are immigrants from Croatia and Germany. His dad, Hagen B. Dost, has business cards declaring him Dovetail Brewery's "quality assurance specialist."

"I got into Belgian lambic and I thought, 'Oh, I could make beer,'" Dost said. "I got deeper and deeper into it ... and then I met Bill."

The two bonded over an appreciation for similar styles of beer and Old World brewing techniques, which explains the origin of Dovetail Brewery's name.

In woodworking, dovetail refers to an incredibly strong joint created without the use of nails or glue.

The term appealed to Dost and Wesselink in the sense that they're "two master brewers coming together" and it also references their coupling of Old World brewing methods with New World technology and creativity, Wesselink said.

The brewery's construction timeline is still up in the air while Dost and Wesselink wait on permits and licenses.

"Call it spring," Wesselink said of a prospective target.

Once up and running, Dovetail Brewery will produce roughly 1,700 barrels of beer a year in the two-story facility, Wesselink said.

For comparison, Lagunitas Brewing' Chicago brewery has the capacity to produce up to 1.2 million barrels.

Approximately 25 percent of Dovetail Brewery's production will be devoted to the taproom, including some beers available only on site, with the remainder initially distributed within a two-mile radius, Wesselink projected.

Much of the duo's presentation centred on reassuring neighbours that the brewery wouldn't be a noisy, smelly nuisance.

"We're two guys with families and we live in quiet neighbourhoods too, so we understand," said Dost.

“The brewing process doesn't create any noise, though trucks making deliveries could,” Dost said. For that reason, Dovetail Brewery has specified no deliveries before 8 a.m.

Brewing aromas are similar to those produced by bakeries (all that yeast) but Dost acknowledged not everyone finds the odours pleasant. Dovetail Brewery's design incorporates chimneys to vent smells above the building's roofline.

Ross Outten, owner of Dolce Casa cafe and president of the Ravenswood Community Council, welcomed Dovetail Brewery to the neighbourhood.

"I'm excited to see this," Outten said. "We're 100 percent supportive of these guys."

More importantly, Outten added, "I've tasted their beer and it's delicious."


16 September, 2015