Friday Beer Post: Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of Beer Madness

I hope you've been keeping up with your beer brackets.  DRAFT Magazine's 2011 beer madness tournament has entered it's second weekend, which means voting for the 3rd and 4th rounds is now open!

I was kind of disappointed that Myrcenary, the overly hop-oiled brew from Ft Collins' own Odell Brewing, didn't make it out of the first round, but seeing Fat Tire go down early filled my heart with joy.  Seriously, I can't stand anything New Belgium makes; Moose Drool rules!.  Additionally, I was kind of surprised that a national brand like Sam Adams couldn't even win one round of popular voting.

In terms of advancing to the final four, I really like Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.  Not only am I a Stone whore, but their stuff continues to be popular amongst the brewing community, and this is a popularity contest, afterall.  Moose Drool, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, and Alaskan's Smoked Porter round out my survivors.  ASP is a dark horse pick for me as it's a style that some people just can't handle, but I just can't get enough of that flavor; it reminds me of a family vacation I took to Alaska over a decade ago where I mostly ate smoked salmon.  Me picking them is the equivalent of picking St Peter's to win in this years Tournament because you think the nickname "Peacock" is "different."

My dark horse entrant for the final four is Alaskan's Smoked Porter

As I passed along last week, by entering a bracket you get entered to win a professionally-built Beer Meister Kegerator, and the competing breweries are donating winnings to charity!  So head on over, and fill out a bracket.  Voting on the final four starts next Tuesday.

Happy Friday!