23 brews that local beer experts are drinking on Super Bowl Sunday
Drink like a pro during the big game.
It’s time to get down the serious business of buying beer to drink on Super Bowl Sunday.
Amid all of the options available in New England, we asked a dozen local brewers, buyers, and beer experts what they’ll be drinking, and their answers are as pragmatic as they are aromatic, hoppy, malty, and otherwise delicious. The common theme? Locally brewed session beers that pack a flavorful punch and graciously carry you throughout the day with an ABV around 5 percent.
“For a great American beer drinking holiday like the Super Bowl,” said Tom Casey, owner of Boston Homebrew Supply, “I need something that I can drink all night without getting weighed down, drunk, or sleepy.”
Read on for their picks, and remember their wise refrain: When it comes to beer drinking, Super Bowl Sunday isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon.
1. Peak Organic Brewing Company’s “The Juice”
Geoff Thompson, beer director of Foundry on Elm
“My go-to beer for the Super Bowl this year is Peak Organic Brewing Company’s The Juice. This beer features Azacca hops, which have characteristically fruity aromas of mango and papaya. The unfiltered texture is soft on the palate with bright tangerine and grapefruit notes. The Juice is only 5.6 percent ABV, so you can … make it to the fourth quarter.”
2. Notch Brewing Company’s Infinite Jest, 3. Session Pils, or 4. Cerne Pivo
Ryan Brawn, beer critic for Hoppy Boston
“I’m sticking to a selection of flavorful, lower alcohol session beers. Some of my personal favorites are brewed by Notch Brewing Company in Salem, especially their hoppy wheat beer Infinite Jest, Session Pils, and Cerne Pivo, a Czech style black lager.”
5. Notch Brewing Company’s Black Lager, or
6. Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers’ House Lager
Liz Kiraly, brewer and co-founder of Bone Up Brewing Co.
“[I’m not a big sports person], but I know when I’m drinking with friends all day, I like to go for a flavorful session beer. I could drink Notch Black Lager or Jack’s Abby House Lager all dang day.”
7. Dorchester Brewing Company’s Old Ale
Todd Charbonneau, brewer and owner of Dorchester Brewing Co.
“I’ll be drinking Dorchester Brewing Company’s kettle-soured Old Ale. It’s light and refreshing, but still has great malt presence. It’s an excellent food beer and a good palate cleanser. It has fairly low alcohol, so I can have more than one, too.”
8. Jack’s Abby’s House Lager
Tom Casey, owner of Boston Homebrew Supply
“I have to go with Jack’s Abby House Lager. Hoppy beers wear out my palate and drown out the flavors of the food I will be eating way too much of. House Lager is definitely malt-forward, but light-bodied. It has some sweet, cracker-y malt flavor and just enough hops to beg another sip. It pairs well with pretty much any food, and at 5.2 percent ABV, it won’t knock you out before the fourth quarter. They also just came out in 15-packs of cans. What says Super Bowl party more than that?”
Lamplighter Brewing Werewolves of Cambridge via Josh Foisey
9. Lamplighter Brewing Company’s So Much For Subtlety, or 10. Werewolves of Cambridge
Cayla Marvil, co-founder of Lamplighter Brewing Co.
“[Co-founder] AC Jones, [head brewer] Tyler Fitzpatrick, and I agree that we’ll probably go to So Much For Subtlety, our latest Double IPA, because it will pair really nicely with the dogs and tots in the taproom. It’s super fruity and juicy—lots of melon and tropical flavors going on in there. Our two bartenders who are currently working say they’d jump to Werewolves of Cambridge, our porter. It’s roasty, smooth, and a great mid-winter beer, and, as bartender Mike put, ‘it’s also the same color as a football.’”
11. Exhibit A Brewing Company’s The Cat’s Meow,
12. Jack’s Abby’s House Lager,
13. Night Shift Brewing Company’s The 87,
14. Lord Hobo Brewing Company’s Consolation Prize, and
15. Mystic Brewing Company’s Spectral Evidence
Phil DiCarlo, co-owner of the Craft Beer Cellar Fenway
“Early in the game, I’ll have The Cat’s Meow from Exhibit A Brewing, starting the game with a great IPA from a local brewery. Mid-game, I’ll stay with Framingham and switch to House Lager from Jack’s Abby. It’s a perfect, easy-drinking beer for [when] you want to pay attention. Later in the game, I’ll go heavier. As the celebration starts—and you realize you definitely aren’t going to go to work the next day—start with some DIPAs. The 87 from Night Shift or Consolation Prize from Lord Hobo will do the trick for me. For the post-game celebration, I’ll break out a stout. Spectral Evidence from Mystic Brewing is an excellent Russian Imperial stout clocking in at 12 percent.”
16. Bunker Brewing Company’s Machine Czech Pilz
Matt Maguire, beer director of Social Wines
“I’ll be drinking Machine Czech Pilz from Bunker Brewing out of Portland, Maine. It’s a near-perfect beer for having more than one, with its crisp body, clean finish, and light, floral hop character.”
17.Castle Island Brewing Company’s Candlepin, or
18. Otter Creek Brewing Company’s Couch Surfer
Adam Romanow, founder and president of Castle Island Brewing Co.
“For me, it’s gonna be a mix of Candlepin, [Castle Island’s] hoppy session ale, and Otter Creek Couch Surfer, which is a crushable oatmeal stout. I’m a hophead at heart, so I need that citrus fix from the Candlepin. But it’s still winter, and winter calls for dark beer, and Couch Surfer is one of my favorite local stouts, so I’m gonna be alternating between the two. Plus, the Super Bowl is a marathon, not a sprint, and both of these lower ABV options will keep me going long after the Pats hoist the Lombardi Trophy.”
Castle Island Brewing Candlepin via Adam Romanow
19. Idle Hands Craft Ales’ Czech for Charles
Chris Tkach, founder and president of Idle Hands Craft Ales
“I’ll be drinking that dirty water, Czech for Charles. It’s a beer that we made with 100 percent Charles River water for this past HubWeek. We saved a couple kegs of it from this fall and have it on tap at the brewery for the playoffs. It was what I was drinking during the AFC Championship game, which seemed to work. No need to change it up.”
20. Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers’ House Lager, or
21. Notch Brewing Company’s Notch Session Pils
Andy Farrell, brand director and ‘Resident Beer Man’ at City Tap House
“I always think of the Super Bowl as a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a six-hour event on a Sunday night; for me, that screams session beers: low ABV with big flavor, but easy to drink. I like to pair what I’m drinking with the teams playing, so this year it’s a Jack’s Abby House Lager or a Notch Session Pils to represent the Pats. If the game isn’t going their way, there’s always whiskey.”
22. Cambridge Brewing Company’s Remain in Light, or 23. Working Class Hero
Will Meyers, brewmaster of Cambridge Brewing Co.
“I’ll want to have more than just one, so my focus will be on cans of CBC’s Remain In Light and Working Class Hero. Remain In Light is an American lager, super crisp and clean and with more flavor (and integrity!) than the industrial light lagers you’ll see in those expensive commercials on TV. Working Class Hero is our American saison, brewed with orange peel and lemon peel and super refreshing and easily crushable—like the Falcons. ”
Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
