Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce Presents: The Malt Row Tour
The most concentrated areas for breweries in Chicago are West Loop, Logan Square and collection of destination breweries in the Ravenswood Corridor known affectionately as Malt Row.
Both Hop Butcher and Dovetail appeared in Craft Brewing & Beer’s Top 15 Small Regional Brewers List, a feat never achieved by any other Chicago neighborhood.
Hop Butcher For The World is the artist formerly known as South Loop Brewing Company before making the greatest pivot in the history of beer to their current moniker.
They occupy as space they purchased from the Beer Gods at Half Acre. Many of the tanks still have artwork from the original Half Acre era.
The team’s hop forward profiles can be found in 17 states. Over 100 beers were released last year, mostly from their Bedford Park production facility.
A 10 minute walk from HB is Dovetail, a team focused on Continental European style beers using traditional methods from places like Germany, Belgium, Austria and Czechia.
Practices and equipment found here are not often seen in modern American run craft brewhouses.
Dovetail is the strongest joint in carpentry. The brewery name is a metaphor for quality.
The Dovetail Core Four (Hefeweizen, Kölsch, Vienna Lager, Helles Lager) include German grown malt and hops and historic water profiles, to make beers that play on all the senses.
None of the core four are filtered. When you filtered out residual yeast you’re also filtering out flavor.
These classic styles originated in regions like Southern Bavaria and Czechia, two locations separated by the River Danube.
On one side of the that river all the water comes from the alps which are made from limestone.
When rain water percolates through the alps it dissolves in water and reaches the aquifer rich in minerals. Brewers in Southern Bavaria have pulled that water to make beers like Hefeweizen for a thousand years.
On the other side of the Danube is granite. A great countertop material as it does not dissolve in water. When it reaches the aquifer, it’s just as soft water as when it fell. This water is used to make soft, beautiful Czech lagers.
I thought Dovetail sending all their beers through a koelschip was just an old word gesture, but this cooling vessel is more than just the step before transferring to the whirlpool.
As the wort goes from boiling to scalding, it stays above pasteurization temperature so nothing gets in to spoil it.
During the time that temps are falling, all the hops fall to the bottom of the vessel and the precursor to DMS is being pulled out in the steam.
I would consider both of these to be on the short list of must stop brewers for any Chicago visit.
—Nkosi
Other Notes:
-Another route visited Demo Brewing, and Begyle with both groups converging at Dovetail to close out the evening. Eats were provided by Ravenswood’s own Chicago’s Pizza and Falcon’s Handcrafted Sandwiches.
-The full list of Malt Row producers includes Begyle, Forbidden Root, Demo, Hop Butcher, Dovetail, Spiteful, Is/Was Brewing, KOVAL Distillery and VIN312 Winery.
