On the side of a can of Dovetail Wet-Hopped Hopfenlager you’ll notice the best three sentence descriptor I’ve ever read from a wet-hopped beer coming out of Chicago: Traditional methods, modern hops. Balanced, bold, surprising. Brewed with freshly-harvested Zuper Saazer hops from Hop Head Farms in Michigan.
The beer pours slightly cloudy in the glass. A beautiful deep straw color with golden highlights. The last two ounces of the beer are less clear than the first fourteen, which is to be expected from an unfiltered hoppy lager.
The aroma is a subtle fruitiness reminiscent of an overripe melon. I also get some sweetness along the lines of the smell of marshmallows or freshly-spun cotton candy. A hint of mint and a tickle of yeasty phenolics arises out of the glass. There’s a bit of germplasm one would find in an old-growth forest, or the green ivy character of an old landscaped limestone wall with river water reaching the precipice and cascading down the stone.
Mineral and spritzy with that twang of matchstick that Zuper Saazer’s grandparents are known for: that classic Saaz tang that tastes of woodiness and slight sulphur. Pleasant polyphenols round out this beer with a grassy and spicy character. The flavor is indeed surprising, more taste on the tongue than in the aroma. When I asked my wife to try the beer she said, surprisingly, it reminded her of English ale. Reflecting on her palate, to me this is further proof of the polyphenolic presence in the beer that showcases unique hopping and fermentation.
Dovetail’s Wet-Hopped Hopfenlager is the third in their seasonal hoppy lager series. In their words: harvest time comes to hop yards, most hops are picked and dried, to give the hops a longer shelf life and make it easier to transport to thousands of breweries that use them.
But a small selection of hops are picked off the bine and go directly to the brewer—who must use them within hours of being picked, or risk spoilage. It takes some thrilling logistics to get the hops to the brewery and into the wort in time (just ask our production manager, Brittany.) The result? Bright, punchy, floral + spicy flavors you can’t get from dried hops.
Our Zuper Saazer hops were grown in SW Michigan. While most American hops are now grown in the Pacific Northwest, Midwestern hop growing traditions have deep roots around the Great Lakes, shaped by the region’s unique climate and soil.
We believe that Red Bear’s District Flannel is the only wet-hopped beer brewed in DC this year. But even if there were, as some other DC brewers have done in the past, they would likely all be pale or harvest ales. Certainly a different beast than Dovetail’s Hopfenlager, which was run through a coolship before open fermentation.
By our count, Bluejacket is currently the only brewery in DC with an operating open fermentation vessel. When we last checked it was used for Fireworks, their weissbier. Dovetail just came to our metro DC markets two Februarys ago. In March, 2024 we featured Jenny Pfafflin, Brewer, Creative & Marketing Manager at Dovetail, on our show. She documents incredible things, this one of four ongoing krausen in their cellar. Between regular use of their coolship and consistently fermenting in open fermentation vessels, their brewery is unique if nothing more for their processes.
So give Wet-Hopped Hopfenlager a try. Four packs are available at The Brew Shop in Arlington, draft may be available at Churchkey, Shelter, and Andy’s Pizza Shaw. Possibly High Side as well. As always, please check with establishments before heading out to try it on draft!
