HoppinBreweryTour.com

Tour Stop 24 - Dovetail Brewery - 4/21/2017

Experience before you go............

The power of public transportation and a good pair of sneakers! We trained it to Union Station, we cabbed it to Half Acre and now we're walking to Dovetail. We normally tour one brewery and we're done for the night. I'm a 4 x 4'er, which is 4 - 4 oz beer flight samples with some food over a 2-3 hour period. We never drink and drive and don't promote it......no no never never uh uh uh! So as we walk down Belle Plaine Avenue, from my front pocket, Siri says we're close. We see a food truck and this kind of sighting usually means there's a brewery somewhere close. You guessed it, the food truck is parked right in front of Dovetail Brewery! We have arrived!! I arrange the three of us for the front signage selfie which we manage to complete with no hits, no runs and no errors. Brad and I head for the door and Matt hangs outside checking out the food truck menu. Dovetail welcomed us with two empty stools right at the corner of the bar.....my favorite spot! It's kinda like the pews in some of the newer churches, call it seating in the round, right angle pews, however you slice it, the corner bar stool is great because you have easy conversation access to the folks to the right and the left. Call them Lucky Lou's or Poor Saps because before any of them leave this fine establishment they'll have a healthy dose of HoppinBreweryTour.com.

It's Friday night at the Dovetail and relatively busy but the man called Russell pouring the brews tonight finally makes it over to us and we're golden. The Hoppin Brewery Tour introductions are made and I hand Russell a promotion card. He notices the titles on the back of the card and instantly high fives Brad for being the operations/logistics guy and jokingly gives me the stink eye for being the head bottle washer and penny pincher guy......as if any of that really means anything. I'm actually striving to become the Lager Blogger and Brad looking pretty good as the Yeast Beast. Russell asks what the big shots are drinking tonight and since he and Brad are best buds now he takes his order first. Now Dovetail uses traditional brewing methods focused on continental European.....their website says, "We brew like monks, minus the vows". Brad wants a pint of the Rauchbier (5.3%, 30 IBU) dark with reddish tones, chocolate, smokey and rich. Matt, orders up the Vienna Lager (5.1%, 27 IBU) cooper in color with a warm malty character brewed with 100% Vienna and Styrian Golding hops...very nice! Being an IPA flight guy, I go completely off the tracks and order a pint of Hefeweizen (4.8%, 22 IBU) a rich, yolky-orange wheat beer with hints of clove.....Brad looks at me like I've been invaded by the body snatchers but I reassure him that everything's fine and that even an IPA Guy needs to change up every now and then. That Hefeweizen was really good, I might have to change up more often.

Russell's great behind the bar and I start a conversation with the guy to my left and I got to tell you, for the first time in hoppinbrewerytour.com history the conversation really didn't go anywhere. I didn't get his name, what he does, what he doesn't do, or if he's ever hopped a freight train in Sacramento, California and rode it through the Sierra Nevada's to Salt Lake City, Utah in the middle of the winter with only a half of a submarine sandwich to eat......oh yeah that's me in my early 20's.....sorry about that! Anyhow, I didn't get anything to write home about, but he was a nice guy none the less!! So to the guy to my left at Dovetail last Friday night.....nice to meet you and best of luck in whatever it is you do!!

Ok, I did have a very nice exchange with a fellow Dovetail patron named Otis. He was sitting there taking in all the action and I could tell he was a regular. But he wasn't your normal customer because he was a people watcher not a beer drinker. He gazed around the place and smelled the air as if he was looking for someone. I had to go say hi to this interesting guy because I'm all about interesting. As I walked closer, he lunged at me as if he wanted to start something. Thank goodness he was wagging his tail because I thought at first he might bite me. A little scratch behind the ear and a couple pats on the head and we're instant best buds!! Otis, you're a good boy!! DoveTail is dog friendly which is a very nice touch as a 175 pound Great Dane walks by Otis and me......I asked Otis if he's got a saddle, because the three Hoppin brewery tour guys could ride this dog to the next brewery!!

"Alright boys, where we going next"? AroundMe App is up and working and boom......up pops Corridor Brewery & Provisions! "Can we walk from here"? "You guys up for a 3 1/2 mile walk this Friday night, NO.......Uber"!!!! I pull up my Uber App and the car will be here in 3 minutes and will cost only $4.75.......what just happened? Thirty years and a lot of technology, that's what happened! We take our last swallows, I pay the bill, we walk outside and there's the car.....crazy.

If you want to experience the taste of true continental Europe, Dovetail's the place. For centuries in carpentry and furniture making, the dovetail joint is the classic symbol of quality and craftsmanship. Dovetail Brewery strives to bring this level of expertise to their brewing. They believe that brewing is a fine balance of art and science, hard work and fun.

Don't change a thing guys and you're my stop for a Hefeweizen that will seemingly transport you to a pub in Tegernsee, Germany for a pint and a smile!!

Until next time and remember.........

Go get'cha one!!