It’s matches like these that make me thankful for our ability to link back, because if we took the time to list all of the different flavors and ingredients both of these brews use, my post would be 20 pages long. So please, if you are making your vote based on our reviews, go read the backed articles so you can get the whole feel of these amazing beers.

The Founder’s Porter has had a very difficult road to get here, defeating what could arguably be considered the best beer from the first tournament’s champion beer. If you can, give this beer a minute to open up because it packs a lot of flavor into a bottle, and airing it out helps the flavors separate instead of barrel into you at once. If you can’t do that, you must swirl the beer around in its glass to force some air in. Anyway, I consider this beer to be an intro to the “higher society” of beers for newbies and a very welcome experience for the seasoned tasters out there. The flavors themselves are nothing like what you get from anything outside of a porter/stout, and even then they are quite unique to the Founder’s. Somehow they managed to put incredibly rich and varied flavors in yet attain a consistency and a temperance that doesn’t make it too strong, and doesn’t make it unable to pair with food. We couldn’t have chosen a better beer to represent the “ultimate” porter/stout and it will more than hold its own today.

Where Founder’s has a good resume getting through the stout division, the Allagash Tripel has an equally impressive resume, running through the European-style division and even defeating its brother beer, the Allagash Dubbel, in the process! What I cannot stress enough is that this is the most natural beer in the tournament. Now, what the heck does that mean? You know when you have sugary cereal, the sugar tastes different than, say, the sugar in an apple? You know how you feel much different when you eat the natural food? That’s what Allagash does, and how it has captivated so many of us. While they obviously aren’t dumping raw fruit into their vats, they have painstakingly selected the most choice hops, barley, malt, and yeasts to create this natural feel that is quite impressive. To be able to create a beer with so many deep, rich flavors that doesn’t taste like it was simply made by mixing a bunch of chemicals together is truly a feat to be proud of. And one that has gotten Allagash into the Fermented Four. These beers are simply astounding, and the winner of it all could very well come from this match! Both brewers should be very proud and here’s to you all!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!