The first iteration of Brewlimination has come to a close, and in our books it was a wild success! We figured that we would take a few moments today to briefly summarize how it all unfolded, how our medalists ended up on top, and some of the key matches along the way.  But first, before we get into that, please take a moment to notice the new poll questions in the sidebar and on the Current Matches page.  The questions you see there are just the beginning of the second bracket of Brewlimination, and we want to make sure we have your input to make it as best as possible!  Now, back to July, when this first bracket found its feet…

Round 1 featured 64 quality brews.  Many of these beers were new to both of us here, as well as to many of you.  Some of them had some interesting names, and this was how we first fell in love with our eventual Gold Medal champion – Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale, which started it’s impressive run with a decisive victory over the Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale.  Later on in Round 1, our other two medalists had similar victories, with the Old Brown Dog raking in 53% of the vote in its match, while the Yeti Imperial Stout claimed an impressive 77% of the vote against the Sierra Nevada Torpedo.

With the Yeti an upcoming favorite entering Round 2, it showed us that it was here to stick, winning the vote in the following round vs the Troegenator by a 2-to-1 margin. But, the earlier performance by the Brown Dog in Round 2 left us all impressed, by managing to pull 100% of the vote.

By Round 3 – the Final 16 – the field was really beginning to narrow, and the star contenders began to shine through.  The 90 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head was having a terrific run, as were several other beers (such as the Victory Golden Monkey) that would eventually meet there downfall thanks to our medalists.  It was in Round 3 that Phin and Matt really started to come out of the shadows, taking down the Magic Hat Lucky Kat with 57% of the vote.  Meanwhile, the two of us were split about the Brown Dog, but the Smutty vote was more than clear – 76% of you helped propel the Old Brown Dog into the Final 8.  In similar fashion, the Yeti moved on with 65% of the vote against one of our favorites, the Great Lakes Eliot Ness.

The Final 8 was where the competition really heated up, and the matches got more and more difficult to decide.  The Yeti continued it’s rampage by taking out the Ommegang Hennepin in the final hours of voting, winning by an eventual 12% margin.  The Old Brown Dog, however, barely squeaked through by taking in 52% of the vote against the Victory Golden Monkey.  And, in one of the most hotly contested matches of the entire tournament, Phin and Matt knocked the 90 Minute IPA out after an intense week of voting.  Seriously, we couldn’t even keep track of the number of times the lead changed in that match.

So, after 3 months of systematically narrowing down the initial field of beers, the Final 4 finally kicked off on October 19th.  In one of the more surprising matches in the tournament, Phin and Matt blew the Troegs HopBack Amber Ale out of the water to claim the first spot in the Championship Match, claiming 62% of the votes in the process.  As you all know, the other spot in the finals was claimed by the Old Brown Dog in a considerably closer match – a huge stack of votes came in right at the end, pushing the Old Brown Dog to a 54%-46% victory over the the Yeti.

From there, the rest is history.  The Bronze medal match was decided in favor of the Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout, and winning by a 28% margin leaves little doubt in that decision.  The Championship Match was far closer, with the winner decided by only 8%, but while also taking in a record-breaking number of votes.  The Silver went to the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale in an intense voting battle.  But, you spoke up loud and clear throughout the tournament, claiming Southern Tier’s Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale as your Gold Medal Champion!

Congratulations to all the beers and breweries that were randomly chosen to participate in this first Brewlimination bracket!  We hope you’ve had as much fun as we had during the process, and we can’t wait to get another iteration off the ground!  Please take a moment to help us get the formatting squared away for the next bracket, and feel free to chime in with any suggestions for beers or breweries to include!

Thank you once again for all of your support and voting efforts throughout the competition, we wouldn’t be where we are today without you!  Keep your eyes peeled for frequent updates as well as some unique content throughout the coming two weeks as we get ready for the next bracket!