Dovetail Brewery, Inc.

1800 W. Belle Plaine Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60613

Introduction
Respected members of the committee, thank you for letting me speak today. My name is
Hagen Dost. My business partner Bill Wesselink and I are the brewer/owners of Dovetail
Brewery, founded in 2016 in the 47th Ward along Ravenswood Avenue’s Malt Row, which has
become a nationally known beer tourism destination. I come before you today to ask for your
urgent help. The Covid-19 crisis has created a serious cashflow deficit for our brewery. I am
here to present what we believe are reasonable requests that would not only help us, but
would also help the other sixteen breweries in Chicago that face a similar situation, namely that
we currently do not have an outdoor patio, nor do we hold a food service license.

Dovetail Brewery strives to operate under high ethical standards, which to us means being a
good, fair employer, while also being a good member of the community. We pay our staff well
and offer healthcare, training and three weeks PTO to our full-time employees. Our staff is one
diverse by design. We strive to do right by our community as well. For example, last month, in
conjunction with our neighbor, Begyle Brewing, we managed to raise $15,000 for the
Friendship Center, a Ravenswood food pantry that has experienced a 300% increase in demand
for services since the beginning of the crisis.

I point this out because just as we felt the urgency to take action for our community, we kindly
request the same urgency from the city council regarding our own current state of affairs. The
mixed drink-to-go ordinance is a good idea but does not help us under the tight restrictions of
our Class 1 Brewer’s License.

Dovetail Brewery respectfully requests:

1. That our establishment be granted temporary permission to operate our taproom
outdoors according to the guidelines and best practices published by the City of
Chicago.
2. To operate a sidewalk patio in front of our taproom, using existing parking spaces
where necessary, leaving the required amount of sidewalk space for safe passage of
pedestrians.
3. To operate a private patio in the parking lot adjacent to our M-zoned building.
4. To be allowed to begin these patio operations IMMEDIATELY upon submission of the
required permit applications, following a pilot self-certification model, with the
following qualifiers:
a. Brewery license holders should submit the required patio permits before
opening
b. Breweries should require reservations and enforce time limits for customers.
c. Breweries should allow and encourage food to be brought by patrons.
 Dovetail Brewery, Inc.
1800 W. Belle Plaine Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60613

Why the License Commission should grant these requests:

1. Chicago’s brewery owners are responsible business owners and good members of the
community and can be trusted to operate according to proper social distancing
practices.
2. Breweries will continue to follow the stringent requirements of Illinois Class 1 Brewers.
3. We will limit the amount of time that patrons may remain at our establishment.
4. We will close at 9pm, with last call at 8:30.

Thank you again for the opportunity to address you today.

Hagen Dost
President
Brewer/Owner
Dovetail Brewery, Inc.
1800 W. Belle Plaine Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613