UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — Three Floyds executive chef Pat Niebling plans to turn up the heat at Dark Lord Day, the namesake celebration of the world’s most wanted beer.
He’s bottled a new twist on last year’s Dark Lord-infused hot sauce and whipped up a spicy pork shoulder rub made with ancho and guajillo chili peppers left behind after aging for a year in cognac barrels to make Dark Lord de Muerete.
“Last year it was a hotter version of barbecue sauce. I’d rate it a 7 on a 1-to-10 scale of hotness. We wanted to make it hotter and thinner and bridge the gap between that super rich roastiness of Dark Lord with brighter flavors of an Asian flare,” Niebling said. “So it’s got lemongrass and ginger, garlic and carrots."
The flavor, well, besides the noticeable kick, is “a lot more samurai,” Three Floyds founder Nick Floyd said.
That description might not mean much to foodies, but it certainly explains the sword-wielding samurai decorating the label for the “Dark Lord special edition hot sauce” that Floyd dubbed “Bjorn Swole.”
On Saturday, there will be more than 1,000 of the tiny bottles dipped in black and silver wax just like Dark Lord for sale.
Niebling and his chef de cuisine, Scout Hughes — who are expected to be featured for their cheese curds on an upcoming episode of “Top Five Restaurants” on Food Network — didn’t let their culinary creativity stop with their special sauce.
They also pulped, dehydrated and pulverized peppers from the same Dark Lord de Muerete barrels to create a signature barbecue rub used to season 1,000 pounds of pork shoulder — and 2,000 pounds of brisket — that will be served up with white bread and pickles at the mammoth beer fest at Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Ind.
“It’s legit,” Hughes said. “Spicy and tangy.”
The chefs pushed themselves to infuse as much food as possible with Dark Lord. It’s an effort that Floyd jokingly called “barrel to hog to table” cuisine.
On Dark Lord Day, even the ice cream will have a hint of Russian imperial stout … with a subtly spicy kick.
“Our Dark Lord Ice Cream is almost a gelato,” Niebling said. “We used vanilla bean, coffee and, yes, some of the guajillo peppers.”
And like the Dark Lord, it’s available for one day only.
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