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FOAMDOME
18340

FOAMDOME
18340

Beer Madness 2011

General Beer Discussion by FOAMDOME

The Washington Post's 5th annual March Madness-style tournament for beer is on! Check it here: http://wapo.st/gSkRLB Notice 64 beers this year, up from 32 in past years. Notice also that the four 16-beer "regions" have beers with common flavor profiles. For example, hoppy beers are grouped together, and malty, and roasty, and fruity / spicey. Remember, this is a blind judging--no one knows the brand names when they do the pairwise comparison and vote. There are a dozen experts on the panel. Videos and a printable bracket are at the link: http://wapo.st/gSkRLB


13 years ago
# 10
# 10

FOAMDOME
18340

Second round results are out. The article: http://wapo.st/h7hdy7 The updated ballot: http://wapo.st/eMWTMF It bears repeating that this is for fun and I don't plan on changing my preferences based on what this committee decides. Even if I COULD update my March Madness Bracket with what I know now, I'd STILL pick Notre Dame to win it! Are we having fun? There have been some similar March Madness-inspired brackets, such as these (Hat Tip to ALD) Brew Madness Bracket by Brewbound http://bit.ly/ieaKqF Big Bucks Bracket (about corporate sponsorship Nike v. Adidas) http://to.pbs.org/f3Mi5s

13 years ago
# 11
# 11

A look at how a Delaware Bracket fared.. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110323/LIFE05/103230318/Beer-bracket-bash Hard to imagine that's the best they put into the contest from any of the brewers (Iron Hill and EVO both offer way better, as does DFH really), but ah well... An out of state transplant won. Figures.

13 years ago
# 12
# 12

FOAMDOME
18340

Thanks for sharing that, EF. Of course, I like that Jerry Baily's awesome Oak Barrel Stout came out on top. I guess the A-B/Coastal collaborative hasn't messed it up too bad. But I hear you on the initial 16. Wouldn't it be nice if we could seed a bracket based on BeerPal ratings? I like Greg Engert's four sub-divisions (malty, roasty, hoppy, & fruity / spicy). I bet we could find all the Delaware-brewed beers in the vault, sort em into those four groups, and seed em based on rankings. Then do the blind pairwise-comparison taste-test. Their method did not solicit the best competition.

13 years ago
# 13
# 13

FOAMDOME
18340

And then there were Eight! Here's the weekly update from WaPo. The article illustrates why this type of contest is both delightful and frustrating. We humans seem to love comparisons and competitions, so a beer bracket is inevitable. Yet even the learned experts couldn't detect the correct fruit in Three Philosophers (cherry). Not only were their sensory perception abilities suspect, but their judgement was affected by unrelated external factors like the weather! Best beer? The world may never know! Synopsis of Round 3: http://wapo.st/etbK0r Interactive bracket: http://wapo.st/eMWTMF

13 years ago
# 14
# 14

FOAMDOME
18340

Round four produced the Final Four. Those results were published April 6th. The article is here http://wapo.st/gCtbcj Final Four are the winners from Greg's four main taste categories, and the winning margins indicate decisive victories for each winner. Malt winner: DuClaw Misery, 7-2. Fruit/spice winner: Flying Fish Exit 4, 7-2. Roast winner: Rise Up Stout, 7-2. Hops winner: Lagunitas Maximus, 6-3.

13 years ago
# 15
# 15

FOAMDOME
18340

Round Five cut the field to TWO The article is here: http://wapo.st/hBGa4y The interactive bracket is here: http://wapo.st/eMWTMF On the bracket, notice the disparity between the panel's choice and the public's choice in the Hops v Roast match-up. Lag Max won to advance to the finals, but the public vote was Ev Rise Up 1273 to Lag Max 221. From the article comes this insight: "A wheat wine from DuClaw Brewing in Abingdon, Md. An Americanized version of a Belgian tripel from Flying Fish Brewing in Cherry Hill, N.J. A coffee stout from Evolution Craft Brewing in Delmar, Del. A double IPA from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, Calif. None of those breweries existed 20 years ago; neither did any of those styles." Who do you like in the Final, Flying Fish Exit 4, or Lagunitas Maximus? Results next week...

13 years ago
# 16
# 16

HEEMER77
21924

quote: Originally posted by FoamDome
Round Five cut the field to TWO The article is here: http://wapo.st/hBGa4y The interactive bracket is here: http://wapo.st/eMWTMF On the bracket, notice the disparity between the panel's choice and the public's choice in the Hops v Roast match-up. Lag Max won to advance to the finals, but the public vote was Ev Rise Up 1273 to Lag Max 221. From the article comes this insight: "A wheat wine from DuClaw Brewing in Abingdon, Md. An Americanized version of a Belgian tripel from Flying Fish Brewing in Cherry Hill, N.J. A coffee stout from Evolution Craft Brewing in Delmar, Del. A double IPA from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, Calif. None of those breweries existed 20 years ago; neither did any of those styles." Who do you like in the Final, Flying Fish Exit 4, or Lagunitas Maximus? Results next week...
Not had the FF Exit 4, but I am going with Maximus. I am a fan of Lagunitas anyway.

13 years ago
# 17
# 17

FOAMDOME
18340

I've had em both and I didn't pick either of these to go past the 2d round--so what do I know? I am also a fan of Lagunitas. The reason I picked FFE4 > LM is that FFE4 is plenty hoppy, yet it also has a LOT of other stuff going on. LM is a straight up hop bomb*. Currently the popular vote has FFE4 enjoying a 3:1 margin. *Not that there's anything wrong with that!

13 years ago
# 18
# 18

FOAMDOME
18340

Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel is the Champion of Washington Post's 2011 Beer Madness Tournament! Article: http://wapo.st/fcWh7S

13 years ago
# 19
# 19

FOAMDOME
18340

WaPo's video showing the judges evaluating the beers is worth a look, too (http://wapo.st/fcWh7S). You can see Greg Engert being his quirky, charming self as the em cee [:D]. The judges are not all beer experts or even "experienced" beer drinkers. One spits. One just discovered hops. How do you get this gig, show up at Greg Kitsock's local? One exception is the highly qualified Bob Tupper, a renowned beer expert revered in these parts. Bob, creator of Tupper's Hop Pocket, is the one who points out that it was hard to judge between dissimilar beers. Unlike GABF, where beers are judged within style, this contest brought the winners from four distinct flavor and aroma profile groups into a "Clash of the Titans" finale. The last battle pitted the Hop King vs. the Fruit / Spice Champion. Bob's analogy was picking the perfect fruit: do you prefer the perfect apple or the perfect orange?

13 years ago
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