Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships Final Four April 24

If you were to open a brewery in 2020, chances are you wouldn’t settle on a flagship beer, but a never-ending rotation of experimentation and trend spotting. That makes the 64 flagship beers the public nominated into the Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships all the more valuable. May they never fade away.

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: West Coast Flagships. And favorites fell. They fell hard. In the 1980s Region, number one seed Sierra Nevada Pale Ale fell to number two seed Deschutes Black Butte Porter by 128 votes. Down in the 1990s Region, 5th seed Pelican Kiwanda Cream stunned Tacoma advancing to the Final Four with 53 percent of the votes over second seed E9 Brewing Tacoma Brew. Across in the 2000s Region, number eight seed Chuckanut Pilsner stopped 15th seed Double Mountain Hop Lava IPA’s flow with a 57 percent victory. And, in the 2010s Region, 11th seed Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA batted around a quiet fifth seed Breakside IPA, eventually winning by a 33 vote margin.

What flagship royalty will move onto the Final Four?

The barrel roll please (we know you just read them but we hired a drummer) …

Thanks to your votes, we’ve narrowed down the Tournament of Beer to these four flagships:

2. Deschutes Black Butte Porter

5. Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale

8. Chuckanut Pilsner

11. Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA

Let’s remember that every flagship beer that made it into the tourney is worth a sip. Still, there has to be winners. We started with 64 of the best flagship beers the West Coast has to offer. Now, these four remaining boss flagships face-off for the ultimate glory — malt-to-malt battles to determine the best flagship to come out of Washington, Oregon, and California in the last four decades. Which flagship has the moxie to nail down the championship? Whose flagship will win it all?

Today’s Final Four match-ups are:

GAME 1: Deschutes Black Butte Porter vs. Pelican Kiwanda Cream

GAME 2: Chuckanut Pilsner vs. Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA

OK, pour your Peaks & Pints growler into your Peaks & Pints camper coffee mug and dive into today’s Final Four flagship battles. Vote for one flagship per game, and only once. Voting for today’s flagship battles ends at 11:45 p.m.

Friday, April 24, Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships Final Four

GAME 1, 1980-1999 REGION

2. Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Brewery (1044 NW Bond St., Bend, Oregon) vs. 5. Kiwanda Cream, Pelican Brewing (33180 Cape Kiwanda Dr., Pacific City, Oregon)

It’s a 190-mile journey from Deschutes Brewery in downtown Bend, Oregon, to Pelican Brewing in Pacific City on the Oregon Coast. Residents in both cities could take the day off and make the three hour and 45 minute journey to grab a growler full of the other city’s flagship, the drive back home to enjoy both while voting on the game. Aside from small recipe tweaks, Deschutes Black Butte Porter remains unchanged since it first poured at the brewery’s brewpub in 1988: A delicate, creamy mouthfeel contrasts with layered depth revealing distinctive chocolate and coffee notes. Inspired by one of America’s traditional 19th century beer styles, Kiwanda has a golden color, floral aroma, refreshing body, and a clean, snappy finish, much like it did in 1996 when Pelican opened at Pacific City. A porter and a cream ale battling for the right to be named Oregon’s Best Flagship Beer. …

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GAME 2: 2000-2019 REGION

8. Pilsner, Chuckanut Brewery (601 W. Holly St., Bellingham, Washington) vs. 11. Bastard Kat IPA, Kulshan Brewing (1538 Kentucky St, Bellingham, Washington)

In keeping with the driving theme, Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen in Bellingham is 1.9 miles away from Kulshan’s K2 main production facility on Kentucky Street, making much easier for Bellingham residents to enjoy growler fills of both competing beers while voting. Named “Best Small Brewpub of the Year” at GABF in 2009, Chuckanut was the first all-lager brewery to win the title. Their Pilsner is a sparkling golden beauty with a soft, biscuit-like character that gives way to an earthy, minerally hop bitterness. Ironically, Kulshan won our Tournament of Pilsners last year, which means nothing in this game. Kulshan Bastard Kat earned its place in the Final Four, beating Cruz Pilz, pFriem Pilsner, GoodLife Sweet As! Pacific and Breakside IPA with its strong citrus notes, resinous pine and assertive hop bitterness. Not only does this game crown Bellingham’s Best Flagship, but also Washington’s Best Flagship — a dream come true for the Championship Game.

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LINK: Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships explained

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