The saying goes that you drink beer with all of your senses, but with some styles, there’s a sixth sense, too – the feeling of the history of the liquid in the glass.
So it is with doppelbock, an elegant but boozy German lager born centuries ago in a monastery outside Munich – or, in the case of The Fermentorium’s Latibulator, in Cedarburg during our first pandemic winter.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Founder and head brewer Kristopher Volkman named it with a nod to the “-ator” convention of Germany’s venerable doppelbocks (Paulaner Salvator, Spaten Optimator, Ayinger Celebrator) and the COVID-exacerbated cabin fever. (Latibulate means “to hide oneself in a corner, or find a cozy place to isolate,” Volkman explains.)
And the beer, returning in mid- to late February in cans and on draft at The Fermentorium and other outlets to be determined, is a stirring rendition of doppelbock: intensely malty but not overly sweet, with notes of toasted bread, caramel and raisin – all enveloped in a warming ABV north of 8%.
The Fermentorium
7481 HWY. 60, CEDARBURG | 262-421-8593
Hours: Mon, Tues: 3-9 p.m.; Wed, Thurs: 4-10 p.m.;
Friday, Saturday: Noon-10 p.m.; Sun: Noon-6 p.m.
