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Michigan Football: The Beer Drinking Man’s Guide to the Rutgers Game

By Michael Moeller

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Michigan football welcomes Rutgers to Ann Arbor this weekend after a Halloween scare against a mediocre but motivated Minnesota team.

Everything points to the team getting back on track: Rutgers is bad (it’s getting 24.5 points), Michigan shouldn’t come out as flat as it did in Minneapolis, and you know that Jim Harbaugh and company will have the team ready to come out and make a statement against an inferior opponent.

After the catastrophic Sparty game and last week’s contest that they could have easily lost, there are the makings of a trap game here, but I’m having a hard time seeing it, if only because the Scarlet Knights are just not good. The defense should get back to its usual marauding self and the running game won’t have nearly as much trouble as it has the past few weeks; this will most likely be a pretty one-sided affair.

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Since this game is slated for a 3:30 p.m. ET start, the temperature should be somewhere in the 40s for the majority of the matchup. Combine that with the fact that most of the second half won’t be particularly close if everything goes to plan, and we’re all gonna need a warm and strong libation to stay comfortable and interested.

Thus, Bell’s Expedition Stout is the beer for the job. Hailed by some as Bell’s best beer (which, no, but it is a defensible position), Expedition packs a hell of a punch, both in flavor and alcohol content.

Considering its 10.5% ABV, you’ll want to be careful, but chances are you probably physically won’t be able to put away a full sixer over the course of a game anyway because it’s such a rich, thick beer, but, you know, just keep that in mind. One of these in the first half and one or two in the second should have you feeling the proper amount of liquid happy for a November trouncing by the end of it.

Expedition Stout is, more than any other Michigan beer, the harbinger of winter (much like how Oberon is the harbinger of summer). Oh, look at that. Expedition Stout is back on draught, guess it’s time to put snow tires on the car and chop some wood. It’s the Stark family of midwestern craft beer, if you will.

Things are going to get colder and harsher from now until the end of the season on the field as well. Everyone should have more faith this year than in years past that the team can keep it together and finish strong, but let’s not forget that since 2009 Michigan teams have had a maddening habit of completely wearing down and limping to the finish line. After the past two games, an excellent showing could do a lot to alleviate those concerns.

Expedition Stout is the last beer before we transition into the cold, dark home stretch that ends with a fight against a scarlet and grey abominable snowman, and there isn’t a better one to hold that spot, in my opinion. Three of these and a 24-point lead will have you feeling warm and toasty, ready to face blizzards and Nittany Lions alike.

It pours basically a perfect black with a dark brown head, so you know from the fore that there won’t be anything light about this beverage. It starts out a little tart, which can take some getting used to considering its syrupy texture.

The bitterness doesn’t last too long before you’re greeted by an intense cocoa flavor. I’m not the biggest stout fan because breweries overdo the chocolate to compensate for lack of other subtle flavors way too frequently. That’s not the case with Expedition, though.

There’s an incredible amount of supporting flavors as well, like blackberry and cranberry, aided by the faintest hint of citrus. The people at Bell’s don’t try to jam too much into this beer, they just arrange the flavors in a sophisticated, very successful way.

Next: Rutgers players to watch

Throw a couple of these back and hope that you don’t need to drink them all to avoid crying on the floor in the fetal position because Michigan just lost to Rutgers at home.

(They won’t.)

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