Cheers!: Falling into a Black Hole of Flavor

Wheat wine

There is something deliciously decadent about a Schwarzbier. The roasted malts that make black lager add a lovely depth and complexity that is easy to lose yourself in.

Dark Helmet

Coffee, chocolate, caramel, tobacco and char are the dark flavors that seduce my palate in flavorful waves while drinking the Bible black Dark Helmet from Titletown Brewing of Green Bay.

It turns out Dark Helmet is a popular name for German-style black lagers because there are at least two others out there – both Westbrook Brewing of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. (which is very near Mayberry RFD) and the Brew Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse in Strongsville, Ohio, have Dark Helmet black lagers, although the Ohio version is an imperial Schwartzbier (8 percent). The labels on both of those versions reference the Dark Helmet of Mel Brooks’ Star Wars spoof Spaceballs, and the Brew Kettle version includes the tagline “May the Schwartz Be With You.”

As required by law in Green Bay, Titletown’s label references football rather than film. At least I think that is an old school football player on the label of their Dark Helmet, although it looks a bit like a helmeted ape from the 21st century Planet of the Apes.

Even though Dark Helmet just entered Titletown’s bottle offerings this spring, it has been around longer than that at the brewery. In 2009 it earned a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival. The Iron Hill Brewery in Wilmington, Del., and the Chuckanut Brewery of Bellingham, Wash., took gold and silver, respectively; I would really like to try those to see how they could possibly be any better than the Titletown version because each sip of Titletown’s Dark Helmet takes me deep into a black hole. Each time I climb out, pleasantly exhausted by the experience but eager to dive back in.

All of a sudden I have an intense craving for Mettwurst, sauerkraut, whole grain mustard and pumpernickel.

Welcome to the Schwartz side!

••• 

While on my way to a night meeting in Luxemburg, I stopped in Algoma to get a shot of the marina, which had been closed after five boats caught fire overnight. And since the marina is conveniently located just down the street from Ahnapee Brewery, I stopped in for a quick glass of beer.

Before I was even seated, beertender Scott Masarik asked if I had tasted the wheat wine. No, I answered, I’ll have one.

The Barrel-Aged Wheat Wine is a 10 percent wheat beer made to barleywine standards. Yum! An intense wheaty flavor commandeers my palate. A rich and silky mouthfeel reminds me that I am drinking a wheat beer, and an undeniable alcohol presence reminds me that it is a high octane wheat beer. Wish I could have stayed for another, but duty called.

I did learn that at noon this Saturday, July 2, the brewery will debut an Imperial Raspberry Ale that sounds heavenly. Brewed with more than 60 pounds of raspberries per barrel, the beer was then aged in barrels used to make Von Stiehl Winery’s Raspberry Framboise.

You can order bomber bottles of Imperial Raspberry Ale online (brownpapertickets.com/event/2551597), but you have to retrieve however many bottles you buy from the brewery by 5 pm on July 31.

Me, I hope to be at the brewery on Saturday for the release.