Beer Luvvas,
The Holidays are upon us, and I'm happy to report that Freebird and I successfully completed our travels to Midland, MI - and three feet of snow! We will most assuredly be having a White Christmas.
But today it's time to close out the results of the Pale Ale Bracket. When we left off last time, we had just completed the Elite 8 - with vote tallies this time, per request from the previous post:
Elite 8 Round
#9 Mirror Pond over #16 Full Sale Pale - 8-4
#4 Hop Trip over # 21 Hammerhead Ale - 10-1
#23 Fire Rock Pale over #18 Pike Pale - 6-5
#3 Stone Pale over #11 Tipperary Pale - 9-3
That left us with the following Final Four:
Black Region #3 Stone Pale Ale v. Brown Region #23 Fire Rock Pale Ale
Yellow Region #9 Mirror Pond v. White Region #4 Hop Trip - A Deschutes v. Deschutes battle!
After the Elite Eight round, the tasters paused for a meal while Gooney went to the store to buy more of the remaining four beers (part of the plan, believe it or not).
For the Final Four and Championship rounds, all tasters samples all beers. So the vote count will be much higher than the previous rounds.
And the winner of the first match: Fire Rock upsets Stone 17-6! The slipper still fits!
In the Deschutes v. Deschutes battle: Hop Trip pounds Mirror Pond 22-1!
Setting up the Championship Match up: #4 Hop Trip v. #23 Fire Rock Pale Ale
Drum roll please....
Hop Trip wins the Blind Beer Bracket Challenge 20-3 over Fire Rock Pale Ale!
Kudos to Bill for predicting this result in his comment on the previous post.
Some interesting items to note...
Caldera Pale Ale was the only beer in a can. I was expecting it to be Dick's Pale Ale, or an Oskar Blues Pale. I had no idea that Caldera was canning their beer.
One of the quotes on my taste sheet from the first round:
"If this beer moves on, it's evidence as to why beer bloggers think we're stupid." - in reference to some feedback on Beervana's site after he posted the results to the inaugural IPA Blind Beer Bracket. The beer in reference: Mirror Pond.
Some other great quotes while the beers were still unknown....
Fire Rock Pale Ale:
"Too hoppy....blah, blah...my friends have no taste!"
"Boring. I almost fell asleep drinking it."
Hop Trip:
"Mmmmm...Roses are red, violets are blue, I love hops, how bout you?"
Mt. Tam Pale Ale:
"Decent, just smashed by (Hop Trip)."
"If not up against (Hop Trip), probably a contender."
* Hop Trip filled in for 'Beer U' as it was known during the competition.
Stone Pale Ale:
"Tastes better this time (later round), but I'm really drunk now."
"This beer is tasty goodness."
"The aftertaste is like Freebird farted in your mouth" - another later round quote.
"(Stone) just saved my taste buds!"
Mirror Pond:
"If this beer moves on, it's evidence as to why beer bloggers think we're stupid."
"Not great, but better than a baby bottle nipple."
"The other room must be high." - in reference to the Elite 8 round where the Brown/Black Region tasters, tasted the remaining beers from the Yellow/White Region tasters and vice-versa.
"Smooth. Like diarrhea."
"Voted against (Klickitat), not for (Mirror Pond)." - Round 1 quote.
Denver Pale Ale:
"100% Kicked Ass!"
"Oh, an angel just high-fived my tongue!"
Full Sail Pale Ale:
First Taster: "I call this the McCain of beers."
Second Taster: "What does that mean?"
First Taster: "It means it tastes old."
Moe's Backroom Pale Ale (upset Sierra Nevada in Round 1):
"Now this is a pale ale! Hello Mommy!"
"Jolly tasting. Am I at the Holiday Ale Fest?"
"Darker. Hopalicious!"
Hales Pale Ale:
"(Hales) and me in the hot tub after a day of skiing would be the bomb." - Freebird
Liberty Ale:
"Only because (Slingshot) tastes like ass does this get a vote."
Slingshot:
"Ass." - same taster as above
He'brew Genesis Ale:
"Ho-hum. I smell the piss of an Englishman."
Bass Ale:
"This tastes cheap."
"These hops were picked with unwashed hands."
Firestone Pale 31:
"Try rinsing the bottle after you add soap."
"Makes my mouth feel slimy, but it's better than (Fire Rock)." - minority taster
"Only got my vote because (Fire Rock) sucks a big one." - other minority taster
Sierra Nevada:
"My nose is pissed off right now. No scent. A real snoozer."
Poleeko Gold Pale Ale (Beer O):
"I looked away and somebody peed in my cup."
"Yuck, or rather Yuck-O."
"Something went terribly wrong at the 'O' factory."
What do I take away from this? First, everyone has their own opinion. And when regarding taste, who's to say what's right and wrong? Second, marketing works. I had a Sierra Nevada Pale last night and thought it was just fine. But, I wasn't comparing it to Hop Trip at the time....
Prost to Gooney and all my beer tasting friends! Prost to Hop Trip Best Pale Ale in the land!
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