Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales Sweet 16 April 26
AMBER HAMILTON: It’s been 20 days since Peaks & Pints launched the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales, and everything else pales in comparison. People are singing Tears For Fears’ “Pale Shelter”. Clint Eastwood’s film Pale Rider has received a bump in Northwest viewership. Everyone has switched to eating pasta, bread, and rice. I’m Peaks bartender Amber Hamilton and I’m really pale today.
BRANDON CRESPIN: That’s because you drank a bunch of pale ales last night, Missy. I’m Peaks bartender Brandon Crespin and welcome to Day Two of the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales Sweet 16.
HAMILTON: Our job is two-fold today, Brandon — to re-hash yesterday’s Sweet 16 games and announce the first four pales in the Great Eight round, then preview today’s final four games of the Sweet 16 while people vote on Peaks & Pints Instagram Stories.
Tuesday, April 25, Sweet 16 Northwest Pale Ales Games Results
Game 1, Northern Washington
Georgetown Johnny Utah (#1 seed) vs. Hellbent Seattle Sunshine Hazy Pale (#12 seed)
CRESPIN: Despite a late push from Hellbent Brewing’s Wenatchee pub, Georgetown Brewing and its large, devoted Point Break following proved too powerful in yesterday’s action, catapulting Johnny Utah Pale Ale into the Great Eight with 60 percent of the votes.
HAMILTON: Whoa!
Game 2, Southern Washington
Odd Otter Ottzel Quatzel (#14 seed) vs. Bale Breaker Field 41 (#2 seed)
CRESPIN: R-E-S-P-E-C-T is how the song goes, and that’s just what Odd Otter Brewing has been earning so far in the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales, knocking off Wet Coast Baronesse Pale and Single Hill Sightglass in the first two rounds. Here in the Sweet 16, they faced Bale Breaker Brewing’s long history of hop farming, their estate bounty of malt, and their longtime pale ale named after the plot of land in which their operation resides. Hold your head high, Odd Otter. Hold your bales even higher, Bale Breaker. With 54 percent of the vote, Field 41 heads into the field of eight.
Game 3, Northern Oregon
Fort George City of Dreams (#1 seed) vs. Buoy Beer Pacific Pale (#5 seed)
HAMILTON: The Astoria, Oregon, Sweet Wort 16 game was heavy on flavors and light on drama. In pre-game chatter, Tournament of Beer analysts predicted a close game due to an extremely even match-up of two strong offensive breweries with serviceable defenses. Proving the analysts wrong, Fort George Brewery‘s City of Dreams moves into the Great Eight round with 70 percent of the votes.
Game 4, Southern Oregon
Pelican Paddleback Pale (#6 seed) vs. Goodlife Sippy Cup Hazy Pale (#9 seed)
CRESPIN: GoodLife Brewing was enjoying the good life of moving through Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales games with ease. But experience in king in the Tournament of Beer. Pelican Brewing’s Kiwanda Cream Ale won the Peaks & Pints 2020 Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships. Pelican Brewmaster Darron Welch knew to push Paddleback hard in the early hours of this game. Then, he eased back a bit to rest the New Zealand hop driven pale through the afternoon and early evening encouraging GoodLife to pounds the boards. Toward the end of the night, GoodLife needed to sip the Sippy Cup to maintain energy. That’s when Welch pulled out his old trusty brewmaster paddle, held it high in the brewhouse, and the brewers went nuts. There’s never been such a fervor phone tree in history. It was the perfect phone tree. It worked. Pelican Paddleback Pale pounded its way to the win with 57 percent of the vote. Paddleback paddles into the Great Eight.
HAMILTON: Let’s weed through the hops. The following are advancing to the Great Eight:
Georgetown Johnny Utah
Bale Breaker Field 41
Fort George City of Dreams
Pelican Paddleback
CRESPIN: Alright Amber, it’s time to launch the Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: Northwest Pale Ales Sweet 16 with the final four games today. Please vote for one beer per game on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories. Voting for today’s battles ends at midnight. We’ll announce the winners tomorrow morning around 10 a.m., but today’s games are live on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories.
Wednesday, April 26, Sweet 16 Northwest Pale Ale Games
Game 1, Northern Washington
Fremont Sky Kraken (#3 seed) vs. Holy Mountain Kiln & Cone (#2 seed)
HAMILTON: Fremont Brewing and Holy Mountain Brewing brew delicious pale ales. That much is obvious. But it’s not the only factor that landed them with high nominated seedings in the Tournament. Both Seattle breweries are always listed in “Top Ten Breweries in Washington” lists. Both are among the few Washington breweries that still have beer geeks standing in long lines to grab special releases. The last decade has brought a resurgence of such craft breweries across the country. The coolest not only make outstanding beer but also are important to Washington’s beer culture. Fremont versus Holy Mountain. This is important.
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Game 2, Southern Washington
E9 Brewing Don of Time (#1 seed) vs. Everybody’s Brewing Mountain Mama (#4 seed)
CRESPIN: Throwing down from their brewhouse in Tacoma’s Historic Brewery District, fan favorite E9 Brewing only used three of its nine tactics for victory over Ram Brewery’s ’71 Pale Ale. They added two more tactics for their win over Matchless Brewing’s Eastside Club Pale. Today, Don of Times faces Mountain Mama, the badass queen of White Salmon, Washington. Does the Everybody’s Brewing pale ale have anything left after the brutal battle with Silver City Sonic Reign yesterday? Will E9 uses all nine of its tactics? This game is basically Donovan Stewart versus Christine Ellenberger. Vote now!
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Game 3, Northern Oregon
Level Pixelated Pale (#6 seed) vs. pFriem Mosaic Pale (#2 seed)
HAMILTON: pFriem Family Brewers’ Mosaic Pale has had an easy time dispatching the competition up to this point. But this battle for a birth to the Great Eight may prove more of a challenge. Level Beer’s Pixelated Pale has the heart, the talent, the video games, and the impressive wins (Laurelwood Piston and StormBreaker Safety meeting) in the first two rounds. And, lo and behold, we haven’t mentioned Portland’s Level Beer brewed some support for the Columbia Slough’s conservation with Slough Slayer Golden Ale, as part of an Earth Day Oregon partnership. Level Beer was also part of the council’s healthy industrial lands initiative and hosts the watershed council’s slough science events at the brewery. Voters remember these things. pFriem also has environmental programs. They also have a gold medalist Mosaic Pale.
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Game 4, Southern Oregon
Boneyard Bone-A-Fide (#1 seed) vs. Block 15 Joy (#4 seed)
CRESPIN: Boneyard Beer’s Bone-A-Fide battles Block 15 Brewing’s Joy. Talk about a heavyweight battle. A match-up like this is why we created the Tournament of Beers. Everyone knows the pales at Boneyard and Block 15 are just about as good as it gets. But whose pale has the ever-so-slight edge? Needless to say, it’s debatable. It’s also vote-able – which is where you and your finger come in.
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LINK: Tournament of Beers: Northwest Pale Ales explained
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LINK: Tournament of Beer archives
