Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers Final Four
PAPPI THE GREY: Welcome to the Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers Final Four everyone! I’m Peaks & Pints co-owner Pappi the Grey and believe it or not there have been days during this amber and red ale tournament when, by noon or so, it was already obvious which beer would be moving on and which would be going home. There were blowouts … oh were there ever. Oh, but yesterday was different. The votes just kept coming — from tip off to the final buzzer.
Thursday, April 25, Ethanol 8 Northwest Ambers Games results
PAPPI THE GREY: One game was an open to close win. Boneyard Beer’s Diablo Rojo kept the lead all day even though Block 15 Brewing’s Ridgeback Red had big vote surges in the Southern Oregon region. The surges, however, weren’t sustainable and Diablo Rojo let out a devilish laugh at the final buzzer with 54 percent of the votes.
In the Northern Oregon sector, Double Mountain Brewery’s India Red Ale grabbed the early lead with 62 percent of the vote by 9 a.m. Then, the hordes of Oregon Coast clammers headed inside to vote for Pelican while they cooked their panko-breaded fried razor clams. The Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships Champion Pelican Brewing didn’t panic early. They knew of the clamming phenomenon. At the buzzer, Pelican nudged past Double Mountain with 54 percent of the vote for a slot in the Final Four.
Up in Northern Washington, Stemma Brewing had an early lead by 9 a.m. but Triplehorn Brewing lit a bonfire, sharpened their axes, pounded a few Folkvang’s and scoured the region for votes. As Instagram proved, Stemma owner Jason Harper was attending the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas. Did it hurt Stemma’s vote count to have Harper rubbing shoulders with Carrot Top and playing a round at the Kiss Themed World Mini Golf rather than walking downtown Bellingham soliciting votes? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And what also happened was Triplehorn grabbed 61 percent of the vote for a Final Four spot.
In the Southern Washington Region, Top Rung Brewing and Triceratops Brewing were, for once, starting fires all day. Top Rung Brewing had a huge 68 percent of the vote lead by 9 a.m. No doubt many of those votes were from Top Rung co-owner and McLane Black Lake Fire Department Captain Casey Sobol’s early-riser firefighter friends voting around the region. Triceratops Brewing co-owner Rob Horn was a Joint Base Lewis-McChord firefighter before opening Triceratops with his wife, Kelly. Sobol and Horn were crossing phone tree paths often talking to the same firefighters. Fed up with Capt. Sobol’s success, Horn started working the paleontology community. It paid off. He became Tyrannosaurus Wrecks Brewing for several hours smashing everything in his path. It was close all the way up to the final buzzer where Triceratops grabbed victory with 51 percent of the vote.
Naturally, yesterday’s beer voting action set the mark for the highest vote count for a single day so far in the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers. Let’s remember every amber and red ale nominated into the Tournament is worth a pint. Still, some brewery’s amber or red must win. We began April 5 with 64 amber and red ales brewed in Washington and Oregon. Now, these four boss ambers and reds face off for the ultimate glory — malt-to-malt battles to determine the best amber or red in Middle-Northwest.
Thanks to your votes, we’ve narrowed down the Tournament of Beer to these four amber and red ales:
Triplehorn Brewing Folkvang Red (#15 seed)
Triceratops Brewing Collin James Irish Red (#10 seed)
Pelican Brewing Sea’N Red (#4 seed)
Boneyard Beer Diablo Rojo (#1 seed)
Alright, it’s time to launch the Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers Final Four. Please vote for one beer per game on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories. Voting for today’s battles ends at midnight. We’ll announce the two winners tomorrow morning around 9 a.m., but today’s Final Four went live at 12:01 a.m. on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories.
Friday, April 26, Final Four Northwest Ambers Games
Game 1, WASHINGTON REGION
Triplehorn Brewing Folkvang Red (#15 seed) vs. Triceratops Brewing Collin James Irish Red (#10 seed)
PAPPI THE GREY: These two Washington state breweries might have low seeds, but their vote grabs were high. Triplehorn Brewing’s Folkvang Red beat number 2 seed Skookum Up River (formerly known as Amber’s Hot Friend) in the First Round followed by another huge win beating Rainy Daze’s Test Drive Amber in the Second Round. Triplehorn then sent a horde of Vikings north to Bellingham where they pillaged longstanding Boundary Bay Brewing and defeated their Railroad Ave. Amber. As previously mentioned, Folkvang Red beat Stemma’s First Amber in the Ethanol 8 yesterday halting number 16 seeded Stemma’s incredible run in the Tournament. Triceratops Brewing Collin James Irish Red also had an impressive run. It ripped through the Southern Washington Region beating Narrows’ Eldies Amber and then dropping jaws with a big win over Silver City Brewery’s Ridgetop Red. In the Saccharification 16, Wet Coast Brewing, which makes late round appearances in every Tournament of Beer, has its Hi Jack! Red jacked by Collin James. Yesterday, the red hot Top Rung Box Alarm Amber felt the mighty three horns and fell silent. OK, here we go. Irish red versus Irish red. Vikings versus dinosaurs! Which Washington brewed red ale will represent the state in the Championship game? Vote now!
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Game 2, OREGON REGION
Pelican Brewing Sea’N Red (#4 seed) vs. Boneyard Beer Diablo Rojo (#1 seed)
PAPPI THE GREY: On the other side of the bracket sits a scenario few could have predicted. Number four seed Pelican Brewing Sea’N Red has killed it in the Tournament of Beer. That said, some prognosticators still assumed the Oregon Coast brewery’s red ale would fall on its beak after facing McMenamins Red Rhino, Ancestry’s Irish Style Red, Living Haus’ Kenny Hoppy Red, and the uber popular Double Mountain I.R.A. Au contraire maltheads! But Pelican faces the red that took down Oregon Trail Mosaic Red, Bend Brewing Outback Amber, Kobold Brewing Brimstone Red and for heaven’s sake, Block 15 Brewing Ridgeback Red. We’ll let that sink in for a second. Seriously. Boneyard Beer Diablo Rojo is the real deal, folks. Plus, Boneyard has its brewery partner Deschutes Brewery in its lair, too! So here we go. …
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LINK: Tournament of Beers: Northwest Ambers explained
LINK: Tournament of Beer Headquarters
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