Well, it’s Week Two of the 2022 season, and welcome to the first Bottoms Up! post of the season (last week was a weird week so no way that was happening). Our Tigers head to Manhattan to take on the Kansas State Wildcats with another glorious 11am kickoff. While these kicks aren’t ideal if you are actually tailgating, for those of us at home, there are some definite benefits. Get up, walk the dogs, knock out some chores, and, boom, it’s game time. (Editor Karen’s note: or just get out of bed like 30 mins before and go sit in front of the tv) It’s nice not to have to wait around all day. Also, it allows our site members stationed in Europe to watch the game.

Today’s beer of choice will be Avondale Brunch Punch, a fun tangerine ale shandy that’s only 3.8% ABV, so it’s great for an early kick in hot weather. If AlaWife joins me, she’ll likely have the last of our Back Forty BamaMosa, which is a brut-style ale with orange juice added. It checks in at healthy 7% ABV, so it’s probably a good thing that there’s only one left. With a very low IBU and no sourness, it has a very different flavor profile than Karen’s choice below.

It looks like the rain will clear up before the game, so I plan to throw some chicken on the Egg to smoke low and slow, which I will have with some leftover summer squash, lady peas, and green beans. A healthier lunch than your stereotypical game food, but it will be tasty and not impede on me watching the game.

kristina

So besides the play on being “the little apple” I’m not sure what else Manhattan, KS has to say for itself, and apparently google agrees, as one of the first options was, “What does it offer besides K-State?” Not sure anyone would agree an 11am kickoff is the time to bust out the obvious drink choice (to be fair, ever?), so I’ll pass on that one and go with a grapefruit mimosa. Kind of boring, but it’s less sugary than your orange juice, and you’re not in trouble by half time. And yes, for you regulars, there’s always the wine for later in the game if our team decides to not play so well.

Food - normally on a weekend, we do a later breakfast/brunch deal with a potato/bacon/egg bake and whatever else he can find in the fridge. Given the time of year, it’ll have some zucchini in it as well since we’re completely overstocked on those and need to use them up. It has obviously nothing to do with Kansas, but then then again, do we ever really want to deal with that boring mess to the west? A second option would be a BLT since the tomato season is coming to an end and also involves bacon. It’s kind of a must have in our house. (Note: do not post when insanely hungry)

Josh

Disclaimer: Josh didn’t write something new here. Karen just copied over his Pregamin’ drink of the week into this slot

Choosing a Manhattan seemed far too easy so, hard worker that I am, I googled “purple manhattan drink” and settled on a Red Moon Over Manhattan which seems to be related to a real Manhattan in no way, shape or form. But it kind of seems like a weird, half-thought-out Sangria and I’m not picky so I’ll give it a shot. Recipe courtesy of Sugar and Charm.

2 oz red wine

1/2 oz bourbon

1/2 oz simple syrup

1 large round ice sphere

3 gourmet maraschino cherries

Instructions

Shake all of the ingredients together with ice for 20 seconds.

Rub orange peel around the rim of the glass.

Add in the ice sphere and strain the cocktail over the ice.

Scoop one cherry to place inside the drink and add two more on a twig or cocktail stirrer to garnish the glass

Editor’s Note: THREE CHERRIES? Let’s cool it, Sugar and Charm.

Sugar and Charm

Karen

Normally, I will find google a brewery near the area and select something that sounds nice to me for the occasion. I usually end up selecting a beer that I likely will never try, mind you, but I like to think if I could find the beer, I’d give it a whirl. ALAS, an 11am kick - the first of many for our Tigers - means something a bit different, like a mimosa-ish drink. But not just any prosecco and Simply Orange (or Mango) concoction, my friends! A Mimosa sour beer! You’re probably thinking that sounds rather unpleasant, but actually, it’s quite different and rather refreshing to drink, not unlike a mimosa at brunch.

A few weeks ago while at Macadoodles, I was looking for something to take to a friend’s house, and came upon this 6% ABV beer by New Belgium Brewing, the Dominga Mimosa Sour, described as “a blend of their iconic wood-aged sour and the citrusy-sweet, detoxifying juice of Calamansi fruit, Clementine and Mexican orange, all blended into a refreshing and light wheat ale.”

There’s also an origin story on New Belgium’s site about how this came to be:

While sipping mimosas on a Sunday afternoon, our Wood Cellar Blender, Lauren Limbach, was gifted a new foeder (large oak barrel) that she aptly named Dominga—a play on the Spanish word for Sunday. The first beer she created from that barrel was a mimosa-inspired golden sour called “Dominga: Goddess of Brunch.” Sour fans absolutely loved it and we decided it deserved a spot in our year-round line-up.

I love a good fruit beer, as much as it displeases my father, who doesn’t think fruit should ever be in beer (then don’t have any, DAD. By the way, happy almost birthday!), and so I thought I’d give it a try. Some stats:

AVAILABILITY: Looks like you can pick this up all over CoMo, as New Belgium’s site says it is available at a dozen locations near/around the area.

TASTING NOTES: Surprisingly refreshing and light. Not very sour, and has a bit of hoppiness to it to offset the sour. A little bit tart, which I love.

As for what I’ll pair with this brew? I have no idea at this point. I need to make a trip to the grocery store to get snacks.

NewBelgium.com

MIZ-DBH

It’s Week 2, and the season begins for real for our Tigers in Manhattan. So, to pair with that, I’m going with the only drink I know how to make for real, margaritas. Do I know exactly what kind? Nope! Blueberry sounds fantastic but is a little bit too close to KSU purple. So maybe we’ll go with raspberries this time? Now, if you say that 11 AM is too early for margaritas first, rude. Secondly, maybe you’re right, but they’re a good insurance policy to have in place in case things get sideways. Or to celebrate if we cement our place atop the Unholy Alliance?

Food-wise, I’m planning to try cooking a recipe I’ve been curious about for buffalo chicken egg rolls. Since I would be the one cooking it, it will probably go poorly, but it might go unexpectedly well and be awesome. Did I just stumble into a metaphor for Saturday’s game?

SweetPeasKitchen.com

ZWal93

It’s almost kind of fall and the Missouri Tigers are 1-0, and it’s truly the most wonderful time of the year. Here’s a fun fact for you— this week’s opponent is the only old Big 8 program with fewer team national titles across all sports (zero) than Missouri (two). In fact, the Wildcats and Virginia Tech are the only two Power Five programs without a single NCAA team national title. Hooray for clearing the lowest bar possible!

Anyways, with a game in Manhattan you might be tempted to make a Manhattan as your beverage, and as your friendly neighborhood “why are they letting this guy contribute to this” contributor I am here to rescue you from that mistake. Manhattans, like Manhattan, Kansas, are terrible. It’s getting to the point where the weather might start cooling off soon, so take advantage of one of the few warm weather football weekends and enjoy a nice sour beer or tropical IPA instead. Pair it with a good sandwich, the most underrated of gameday meals. I’ll personally be making a homemade version of the best Whataburger menu item, the Buffalo Ranch Chicken Strip Sandwich. Notice that when Whataburger expanded to the Kansas City area, they put four locations in Missouri and only two in Kansas, which makes this a pro-Mizzou choice of meal.

QSRmagazine.com

Levi

To start the day, what I will be sipping on might be a bit different from the above as I won’t be able to drink at the time of kickoff. I will be heading out of town at 12PM Eastern (11AM for all you CT people) to drive three hours to Columbus, Ohio (GO BLUE) for a wedding. So I will most likely be downing coffee, water, then a sugar-free Monster energy drink. In that order. With this I will be pairing a lovely Luna Bar because those are the only bars we have in the house and the only bars our kids will eat. Most likely peppermint flavor (meh).

HOWEVER. IF I were to be at home, enjoying the game by TV and not by radio, I would go with Founders Brewing Company’s Breakfast Stout. This is a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout that is just sweet and thick enough to be a wonderful post-breakfast treat. It’s also rated 100 on RateBeer and has an ABV of 8.3%. IT IS PERFECT. I’m not sure how far out Founders, from Grand Rapids, Mich. ships (Editor’s note: I’ve found it’s pretty widely distributed and have seen it in town) but I wish all of you could get a chance to try this fantastic stout.

With it I would most likely be pairing it with a plethora of snacks. Like Hot Tamales (candy), cajun trail mix, another Breakfast Stout, etc. I am not much of a lunch person. I would rather eat little snacks throughout the day. The best treat would be a Mizzou win, though...

CraftCity.com

Lauren

Unlike my family, I’m not a big drinker so my drink of choice for game days are a bit different. 99% of of the time, I choose iced coffee (large Dunkin’ with mocha and hazelnut, add cream) no matter what the weather is. Note: I’m in Houston so it’s hot.

For Game 2, my drink of choice will probably be from a bottle of Dunkin’ I get from the grocery store. It’s unsweetened, and I’ll use either hazelnut or peppermint mocha creamer, and drink it out of my favorite mug. It’s the one I got for graduating and being a part of KCOU. Team #NoAlcoholOnGamedays!

Eater.com

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Join us in the comments and share what you’ll be drinking and noshing on today! Also let us know if you’re interested in contributing in the main post up top here in the future!