Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Great Eight
SARAH JANE: The Great Eight is fully fleshed out: Holy Mountain Astral Projection, Georgetown Meowsa, Bale Breaker Bottomcutter, Wet Coast Two Flights Up, pFriem Double IPA, Fort George Skies of Wonder, Boneyard Hop Venom, and Block 15 Sticky Hands. Eight double IPAs that — according to public online voting — are the best doubles brewed in Washington and Oregon. Hello everyone. I’m Peaks bartender Sarah Jane and it’s all come down to eight.
BETHANY: Hi all, I’m Peaks bartender Bethany and all the signs in the taprooms, the mass emailings to customers and friends, the beer phone trees have paid off for these eight Northwest breweries and their double IPAs. It’s now hoppy time for the double IPA royalty.
SARAH JANE: On to today’s Peaks and Pints Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs Great Eight action after a quick recap of yesterday’s results.
Wednesday, April 21, Sweet 16 NW Double IPAs Games Results
GAME 1, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION
Old Schoolhouse Kief Box (#11 seed) vs. Georgetown Meowsa (#7 seed)
SARAH JANE: I feel bad for the School kids, and by School kids I mean all the beer-drinking students who attend Old Schoolhouse Brewery. Kief Box lost by only 13 votes. But something tells me the Winthrop brewery it’s one of the hottest breweries in the state churning out amazing IPAs along the banks of the Chewuch River. Unfortunately for Old Schoolhouse and their amazing Kief Box, the task yesterday of caging Meowsa was simply too difficult.
BETHANY: Georgetown Brewing produces the highest sales volume of beer in the state. In fact, they brew the 28th highest sales volume in the nation, according to the Brewers Association’s 2020 numbers. Plus, Meowsa is pawsibly the best thing since catnip. It’s fur real.
SARAH JANE: Meowsa will take on Holy Mountain’s Astral Projection in the Great Eight today.
GAME 2, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION
Bale Breaker Bottomcutter (#1 seed) vs. Everybody’s Velvet Tiger (#13 seed)
BETHANY: I saw the writing on the brewer’s chalkboard. Literally. Since we brew our Pop-Up Park IPA house beer at Everybody’s Brewing in White Salmon, we knew Velvet Tiger wasn’t coming back. It’s been replaced by the delicious Aggressively Relaxed, which is ironically on tap at Peaks. One hundred and 14 miles north in the Yakima Valley, Bale Breaker brews their über popular and number one seed Bottomcutter year-round. Those two factors had to come into play yesterday when Bottomcutter grabbed 67 percent of the votes.
SARAH JANE: Velvet Tiger had an impressive run.
GAME 3, NORTHERN OREGON REGION
Fort George Skies of Wonder (#3 seed) vs. Hair of the Dog Green Dot (#7 seed)
BETHANY: One of the largest breweries in Oregon was simply too much for one of the oldest breweries in Oregon — and the votes told the story. Fort George Skies of Wonder moves on with 65 percent of the votes and a spot in the Great Eight.
GAME 4, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION
Boneyard Hop Venom (#1 seed) vs. Pelican Beak Breaker (#5 seed)
SARAH JANE: Pelican Beak Breaker near-upset of number one Boneyard Hop Venom was the thrill ride that will go down in the history books. Hop Venom’s buzzer-beating one-voter will be the highlight of Tournament of Beer montages. But it was the entire game that turned out to be an unexpected masterpiece, from the controversial over-hopping call against Boneyard to Pelican’s breaking an actual beak on a fast break.
BETHANY: What a great beer game. They battled, battled and dug as deep, I think, as they could. The one-vote win allows Boneyard Hop Venom to move into the Great Eight.
SARAH JANE: Let’s weed through the hops. The following are advancing to the Great Eight:
Georgetown Meowsa
Bale Breaker Bottomcutter
Fort George Skies of Wonder
Boneyard Beer Hop Venom
BETHANY: OK, let’s dive into today’s Great Eight double IPA battles. Please vote for one beer per game. Voting for today’s double IPA battles ends at 11:45 p.m. The winners will be announced tomorrow morning around 10 a.m., followed by the Final Four Games!
SARAH JANE: Ladies and gentlemen, please join in the singing of our national anthem.
BETHANY: Thank you Jennifer Hudson! OK, let’s get to voting!
Thursday, April 22, Great Eight NW Double IPA Games
GAME 1, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION
Holy Mountain Astral Projection (#1 seed) vs. Georgetown Meowsa (#7 seed)
SARAH JANE: Holy Mountain continues their expected domination of the Northern Washington Region, the number one seed easily surpassing Googly Eyes from Wander Brewing in the First Round. In the Second Round, Astral Projection went hop to hop with Black Raven’s Wisdom Seeker before giving Wisdom Seeker some bad news. In the Sweet 16, Structures Double IPA put up a good fight, but the Seattle double IPA played out of its medium body for the win. Today, Astral Projection takes on Georgetown’s feline-themed double IPA, Meowsa.
BETHANY: Meowsa had an equally impressive road to the Great Eight. It beat Great American Beer Festival gold medalist Burke-Gilman The Hopsplainer out of the gate. Then, it batted Reuben’s Double Crush out of the Tournament. Yesterday, it squeaked by Old Schoolhouse’s Kief Box (and actually stepped on one of its squeaky toys).
SARAH JANE: Astral Projection versus Meowsa — it’s going to get weird.
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GAME 2: SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION
Bale Breaker Bottomcutter (#1 seed) vs. Wet Coast Two Flights Up (#6 seed)
BETHANY: Brewery taprooms aren’t like regular businesses. People don’t laugh and share good times in tire stores. But they do in brewery taprooms. People don’t meet new friends or lovers at Radio Shack. But they do in brewery taprooms. People don’t feel at home in a cell phone store. But they do in brewery taprooms. Bale Breaker and Wet Coast have small, intimate taprooms, ignoring the outdoor spaces. I don’t know where I’m going with this other than I adore hanging out in these two taprooms.
SARAH JANE: Me too! I used to tend bar at Wet Coast — so much fun! Regarding these two double IPAs, analysts could argue Bottomcutter has the edge due to availability, reach, and the fact that Bottomcutter is brewed on a hop farm. But, as stated previously, the Tournament of Beer isn’t voted by analysts, it’s voted by finger taps. Vote now!
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GAME 3, NORTHERN OREGON REGION
pFriem Double IPA (#4 seed) vs. Fort George Skies of Wonder (#3 seed)
SARAH JANE: Only 81,840 row boats end-to-end separate pFriem Family Brewers from Fort George Brewery along the Columbia River. It’s safe to say this battle is for double IPA bragging right of the Columbia River.
BETHANY: Here are two of the best, and completely different double IPAs. Skies of Wonder is a hazy, fruity rotating series double. pFriem’s Double IPA is a clear, dank, and piney beer. Here we go …
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GAME 4, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION
Boneyard Hop Venom (#1 seed) vs. Block 15 Sticky Hands (#2 seed)
SARAH JANE: Has Block 15 Brewing’s Sticky Hands been so dominating that the bracketologists (read: citizens who seeded this thing through nominations) have started to take this double IPA for granted? How could they? Block 15’s hop experience ale features ample additions of sticky, resinous, lupulin-packed hop buds grown in the Pacific Northwest for intense hop flavor that ends with a balanced bitter finish.
BETHANY: I can guarantee you Boneyard’s Hop Venom has been paying attention to Sticky Hands’, er, hands. Hop Venom watched Sticky Hands slap Bend Brewing’s HopHead, Sunriver’s Resin Nation, and Barley Brown’s Forklift — all hoppy AF. Boneyard’s number one seed Hop Venom knows it needs to bite back and hard to make it to the Final Four.
SARAH JANE: The Tournament champion could arise from this game that will, do doubt, leave hop leaves scattered all over the court.
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LINK: Peaks and Pinks Tournament of Beer: NW Double IPAs previous games
LINK: Tournament of Beers: NW Double IPAs explanation
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