Behold, the one guaranteed week per year* where it’s not only acceptable but practically required to throw or attend an adult party on a Sunday. Super Bowl 57 is almost here.
There are several elements that go into making a proper Super Bowl party. I’m only here to talk about the one I care about, however. The beer lineup.
Twelve years in Wisconsin have left me keenly in tune with great beer (and sweet, fruity old fashioneds. They are great and I will not argue with you about this). My year-plus writing the Beverage of the Week column here at For The Win has helped expand those horizons to the worlds of hard seltzers, canned cocktails, fancy-looking mocktails and one thing that was just watered-down whiskey.
We’ve already talked about the most popular beers in America — a list that’s mostly a smattering of gas station brews and the beverages you see advertised in primetime. That’s fine; we all need a common denominator. But if you’re setting up a beer spread for the Super Bowl that’s just Corona and Bud Light, it’s gonna be kind of a bummer. So how should you pad that list?
I’m glad you asked. I’m gonna give you my best brew options separated by category alongside how much you’ll need of each to curate a perfect party beer fridge lineup. And I’ll even toss in my personal, glorious Wisconsin preference next to a nationwide one you should be able to find most places.
*You may be saying “but Christian, what about the day before Memorial Day? That, friends, is the evening in which we prepare for the Indianapolis 500 and thus take it easy. Or relatively easy.
1
Beer 1: The common denominator
The best-selling beers in America aren’t critical darlings or IPAs or perfectly-crafted coffee stouts. They’re light beers.
American lagers have a broad appeal as a safe choice. They’re mostly inoffensive without any strong taste in one direction or another. They’re like a CBS procedural drama— sure, it’s not very good, but it’s also not objectionable. If it’s on in the background, only a jerk’s gonna complain.
This is your base. It’s the fallback for anyone who isn’t into the more exciting offerings out there. It’s also lighter, which means your guests can drink a few without getting full, sick of the taste, or inappropriately drunk.
This beer is going to make up roughly 40 to 45 percent of your supply. It’s safe, a little boring, but ultimately reliable.
The Wisconsin option: New Glarus’s Spotted Cow
Spotted Cow is great, even if it’s roughly the eighth-best beer New Glarus makes. It’s an easy-drinking farmhouse ale that no one objects to. That’s why it’s on tap at every single bar, from upper crust to townie, across America’s Dairyland (but nowhere else, that’s illegal).
The non-midwestern option: Miller/Coors/Bud Light
Don’t overthink this one. Grab the kind of beer you’d find at a stadium or atop the tap list at Buffalo Wild Wings. It’s fine.
2
Beer 2: The fancy IPA
The fervor over IPAs has cooled recently, but their place in the beer landscape is safe. A good, floral, slightly bitter, slightly citrus beer usually retains its flavor as it warms and makes for a good sipper. It’s a brew that can get you through a full quarter or half of football without wearing you down.
IPAs should make up about 20 percent of your pre-game beer run. The bulk of that stash will likely be polished off by one or two people. But if you find a good one, they’ll rave about it. Like, almost too much, you know?
The Wisconsin option: City Lights Hazy IPA
Last year’s choice, Karben4’s Fantasy Factory, remains a tremendous option. There are plenty of other great choices as well. Tyranena’s Lost Adult is a great choice, assuming you can find it on shelves anywhere. O’So’s Hop Debacle, 3 Sheeps Waterslides, and Hop Haus’s Magic Dragon are wonderful as well.
But City Lights deserves a little shine after emerging as a rock solid brewery in Milwaukee. I’ve never had anything I didn’t like from them. Their hazy IPA is a crowd pleaser — it carries the bitter hops of a stronger pale ale and weaves it into a fruity, smooth beer. It’s a great sipper that straddles the line between heavy IPA and citrus brew.
The non-midwestern option: Elysian’s Space Dust
Space Dust has always been a go-to for me; not least because Elysian’s entry into the Wisconsin market featured a deal that marked cases down to $10 at my local Woodman’s (I bought five). It’s a potent beer at 8.2 percent ABV, but it’s one that will linger in your hand through slow gulps and waves of pine-adjacent hops and brief tinges of citrus.
Elysian gets featured here more often than any other brewery. That’s because it’s great.
3
Beer 3: The classic German
Heavier than a light beer and robust with malt, a good German lager is the sweet spot for anyone who’s had their stance on bitter beers roundly formed by Keystone Light commercials.
These are the beers that have been around for centuries. They’re the recipe our macrobrews were based on. And they rise far above their pale imitators. This should take up another 20 percent of your beer haul.
The Wisconsin option: Sprecher’s Black Bavarian
OK, so you’re not going to get an authentic German beer in Wisconsin. But a state ripe with Bavarian immigrants has dialed up its tribute to the homeland as more and more brewers opt for authentic recreations of their European forebears. Randy Sprecher, founder of the company that bears his name, lived in German for several years, came back to the states, then because opened one of the midwest’s earliest and most notable craft breweries by working off those recipes (and, yes, an absolutely lights-out soda lineup).
Black Bavarian is the answer to anyone complaining about watery beer. It pours so dark light struggles to escape it. It’s malty up front before being balanced out by a little chocolate and roasted nuttiness. It’s a lot to handle, but it’s worth it.
The non-midwestern option: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel
A blend of two of the styles the Germans do best; a wheaty hefeweizen crossed with a malty dunkel. This dark lager is damn near perfect; roasty and smooth and a little bit sweet. It’s easy to drink and tough to get sick of, which is all I ask of a beer. Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with any brand that has its own tent at Munich’s Oktoberfest — Lowenbrau, Spaten, Paulaner, Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, or Hofbrau.
4
Beer 4: The fruited option (also, seltzers)
If you’re not interested in beer, you can keep things in the canned realm with a couple of options. A good fruit beer can serve as a halfway point between malt beverage and cocktail. The rising tide of hard seltzers and canned cocktails has proven there’s a massive market for low-calorie, pre-mixed drinks. This should take up about 10 percent of your spread — maybe more, if you want to go with more seltzer and less light beer.
The Wisconsin option: Karben4 Hard Seltzer
It’s not my style, but for a hard seltzer it gets the job done. The strawberry kiwi is probably the best flavor, even if I wouldn’t drink it over anything else on this list.
The non-midwestern option: Sweetwater Blue
Atlanta-based Sweetwater makes very good IPAs. They also make a pretty great blueberry ale. Maybe my judgment is clouded by the fact I could always find a $2.50 pint as a broke graduate student, but this, Abita’s Purple Haze and Magic Hat’s No. 9 are my go-tos when I want something a little sweeter than my typical pull.
5
Beer 5: The trendy sour
OK, I’m not going to tell you to go out and buy some sour beers. It’s a tricky style to lock down and many are hit-or-miss. Get the wrong one and you’ll feel like you’re sipping a cold glass of bile.
But get a good one and, hoooo buddy, there’s a lot of great flavor in a brew that’s significantly different than anything else in your fridge. It’s not going to be most people’s first choice — but choose wisely and that one sour-loving weirdo in your group will be in your debt. You’ll only need a four-pack of these.
The Wisconsin option: New Glarus Serendipity
Back to Swisstown for an in-state exclusive. Serendipity isn’t a traditional sour; it’s a mix of tart and sweet(ish) fruits. Apples and cherries and cranberries about in a rich mix that comes across crisper than most sours. It’s a fruit beer you won’t get sick of halfway through. It, and I cannot express this strongly enough, rules.
The non-midwestern option: DESTIHL’s Wild Sour series
DESTIHL might be hard to find — it’s based in Bloomington, Illinois and ships to 36 states. It’s worth seeking out. The brewery casts a wide net looking for new flavors and keeps what works. That’s included a lot of sours that walk that fine line between refreshing and overwhelming. Pick a flavor you think sounds good and roll from there.
6
Beer 6: The non-alcoholic option
Obviously you need sodas and waters for any party, unless you’re opting for an all-booze buffet and allowing everyone to stay the night and a very hungover morning. Having a non-alcoholic choice for the Super Bowl goes beyond the teetotalers in the group. A weekday — a work day — looms. No one is going to go whole hog with the threat of a 6 a.m. wakeup call hanging over their head.
This makes it important to go beyond the Diet Cokes and provide something that isn’t just alcohol-free but also helps replicate the ritual of drinking. For me, football feels better with a tall boy or a mixed drink in my hand — but I can’t do that on Sundays, because it’s the start of my work week.
Fortunately there are a handful of solid NA options to fill that void, ranging from sodas to boozeless beers and liquors.
(courtesy of Sprecher)
The Wisconsin option: Sprecher Root Beer, Puma Kola, and Orange Dream
Sprecher began life exclusively as a brewery. As it evolved and realized kids needed something to drink on its tours, it added a house-made root beer to the mix. Now that root beer out-sells the company’s entire beer portfolio on its own.
Sprecher’s root beer is great, but it’s not the undisputed king of its soft drink empire when it comes to taste. Puma Kola is a caffeine-free cola that pours like velvet and gives way to subtle, sweet vanilla. The Orange Dream is a melted down, carbonated creamsicle. Do yourself a favor and keep these refrigerated rather than pouring over ice — they’re way, way better that way.
The non-midwestern option: Athletic Brewing’s NA beers
Athletic makes the closest thing I’ve ever tasted to a traditional beer in an alcohol-limited (less than 0.5 percent ABV) format. It’s a proper upgrade from O’Douls.
