Throwing A Super Bowl Party

By Bob Lipinski

The Super Bowl, the ultimate battle between the best football team in the AFC and NFC, will take place this year on Sunday, February 12, 2023.

Typically, a super bowl party consists of beer, dips, chips, salsa, hot dogs, and more beer. I have some suggestions for a great Super Bowl party, but first let’s go back in history to the first Super Bowl game. On January 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35 to 10. The game was played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the attendance was 61,946. The MVP of the game was Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr. Now on to the party.

My suggestion for a “super” Super Bowl begins with setting up the television room. Grab a roll of masking or duct tape and place a length on the rug separating the room in half (one for each team) so guests can choose which side of the room they will sit and root for their team. No co-mingling is allowed!

Super Bowl Hero

The food is next; one six-foot (or two, three-foot) “super” heroes puts the work, care, and decision making on your local deli. If a hero is not in the cards, consider making a 6 to 8-pound pork shoulder in a slow cooker, creating “pulled pork” sandwiches with plenty of barbecue sauce. Another food option is a steeping hot pot of chili, made with beef cubes, red kidney beans and plenty of hot sauce. Although lasagna is not necessarily thought of for Super Bowl, it’s hearty, can be enjoyed warm or even cool, and is fairly easy to make. Most people love it and it “goes a long way.” The last food item entails taking out your old fondue pot and making a cheese fondue, with plenty of crusty bread (and perhaps vegetables) for dipping. You can even melt chocolate instead of cheese for the sweet lovers.

Beer, an integral part of Super Bowl can be purchased from your local brewpub, beer distributor, or brewery in large growlers, beer balls, or even a half-keg, which has a capacity of 7.75 gallons or about 82 (12-ounce) drinks.

Large Bottles of Wine

Although there’s nothing like a “cold frosty one” while watching football, I enjoy wine before, during, and even after the game. Because it’s a Super Bowl and everything is large, why not shop for large-format wines bottles, ones that contain 3-liters (also known as a double magnum or Jeroboam), 101 ounces or the equivalent of 4 bottles, or perhaps a 5-liter, containing 169 ounces or about 6.5 bottles. Virtually every wine shop (or liquor store) sells them, and most will have an assortment of both reds and whites priced accordingly. Before purchasing large bottles of white wine, be certain you have a container or location large enough to chill.

There you have it… now let’s hope that your team wins!

“All the buildup and hype, everything else, is foam. The game is the beer.” (Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills Head Coach, on the prospect of Super Bowl XXVIII)

Bob Lipinski is the author of 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need To Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He conducts training seminars on Wine, Spirits, and Food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com OR bkjm@hotmail.com