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.
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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.
