Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships Second Round April 18

In March, we pulled the public asking what are the top 64 flagship beers along the West Coast? You chimed in. Friday, April 3, we launched the Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships, pitting your 64 flagship picks against each other, similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, only with more Wyeast 1272 yeast strains. Below is a recap of yesterday’s action. The last flagship beers in the Second Round will do battle Monday, April 20.

OK, here’s a recap of yesterday’s battles, and a look at Monday’s Tournament of Beer line-up. Thanks for voting!

Yesterday’s Results

GAME 1, 1980s REGION

7. Boont Amber Ale, Anderson Valley Brewing (17700 Boonville Road, Boonville, California) vs. 2. Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Brewery (1044 NW Bond St., Bend, Oregon)

Ah, history. The factor we all owe so much but for the most part choose to ignore — except in the Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships. This tournament is all about history. Anderson Valley Brewing is still going strong after more than 33 years in the biz and its delicious Boont Amber Ale is one of the major reasons for its success. But youth lies with Deschutes Brewery — it’s one year younger — and its popular Black Butte Porter. The historic brewery from Bend, Oregon grabbed 64 percent of the vote yesterday over the Northern California brewery, and moves into the Sweet 16.

GAME 2: 1990s REGION

1. African Amber Ale, Mac & Jack’s Brewing (17825 NE 65th St., Redmond, Washington) vs. 8. DBA, Firestone Walker Brewing (1400 Ramada Dr., Paso Robles, California).

This game has the Tournament of Beer Statisticians stumped. The beloved Mac & Jack’s African Amber Ale, which was on tap in nearly every bar, restaurant and tavern in the state, and blew minds today when it hit coolers in cans, fell yesterday to the almighty Firestone Walker and its flagship, DBA, or Double Barrel Ale. Mac & Jack’s isn’t going to lose sleep over the loss. They can’t. They need all their energy to fill one million cans of African Amber. Firestone Walker, on the other hand, basically announced that they have what it takes to win it all, and marches into the Second Round with a 56 percent of the vote win.

GAME 3, 2000s REGION

11. Country Boy IPA, Everybody’s Brewing (177 E. Jewett Blvd., White Salmon, Washington) vs. 3. Trickster IPA, Black Raven Brewing (14679 NE 95th St., Redmond, Washington)

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s don’t mess with White Salmon, Washington. Back in the day the town had the Jewetts on one side and the Suksdorfs on the other. They feuded on every issue in the developing town, especially over where to put the post office. Finally, the Suksdorfs became weary of being called Sucksdorks, so they traveled down the bluff and founded Bingen. Doug and Christine Ellenberger, co-owners of Everybody’s Brewing in White Salmon, have the same fighting spirit. Both are tough as nails, although they have huge hearts — which doesn’t fit this story so we’ll just announce Country Boy IPA grabbed 63 percent of the vote and enters the Sweet 16 as a strong contender.

GAME 4, 2010s REGION

5. India Pale Ale, Breakside Brewery (1570 NW 22nd Ave., Portland, Oregon) vs. 4. Topcutter IPA, Bale Breaker Brewing (1801 Birchfield Road, Yakima, Washington)

Expectedly, Breakside India Pale Ale vs. Bale Breaker Topcutter IPA was an epic battle … the kind of thing Tournament of Beer” instant classics” are made of. A surprisingly low scoring affair, with much of the action on defense, the fifth seeded Breakside IPA and the fourth seeded Bale Breaker Topcutter were in a dead heat — literally tied — going into the final hour of the competition. Tournament of Beer officials frantically discussed what to do in the case of a tie? Overtime? Coin flip? See which establishment could deliver a fresh IPA to our Proctor District taproom the fastest? Luckily, after a late push, Breakside edged out the win, securing exactly 50.40 percent of the vote. This one will go down in the history books.

OK, pour your Peaks & Pints growlers into your H.R. Pufnstuf collector glasses and let’s weed through the Medusa hops. The following are advancing to the Sweet 16:

2. Deschutes Black Butte Porter

8. Firestone Walker DBA

11. Everybody’s Brewing Country Boy IPA

5. Breakside IPA

The Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships takes the weekend off, with more Second Round action beginning Monday morning. Cheers!

MONDAY, APRIL 20 TOURNAMENT OF BEER: WEST COAST FLAGSHIPS ACTION

Game 1, 1980s: 6. Rogue Ales Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout (2320 SE Marine Science Dr., Newport, Oregon) vs. 3. Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen (929 N. Russell St., Portland, Oregon)

Game 2, 1990s: 5. Pelican Brewing Kiwanda Cream (33180 Cape Kiwanda Dr., Pacific City, Oregon) vs. 13. Cascade Lakes Brewing Blonde Bombshell (1441 SW Chandler Ave., Bend, Oregon)

Game 3, 2000s: 10. Skookum Brewery Jackass IPA (17925 59th Ave. NE, Arlington, Washington) vs. 15. Double Mountain Brewery Hop Lava IPA (8 4th St., Hood River, Oregon)

Game 4, 2010s: 1. Reuben’s Brews Crikey (5010 14th Ave. NW, Seattle, Washington) vs. 9. Stoup Brewing Citra IPA (1108 NW 52nd St., Seattle, Washington)

LINK: Tournament of Beer: West Coast Flagships explained

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