Sweet Water sounds better to me than a Fried Dog Fish so I’ll start today with the SweetWater IPA which, as you recall, had a very deep flavor particularly for an IPA. Beers like these are among some of the greatest around because you wouldn’t think “deep” and “pale” could be used to describe the same beer, leaving a pale to be a lighter brew but that is clearly not the case. The SweetWater moves to the next level in the flexibility that the flavors have. The fruit flavors, while rich, do not taste as acidic as, say, eating an actual fruit would, so they have a better ability to pair with a wide variety of food or even just be quaffed solo. Not a big fruit fan? Well fortunately SweetWater hit the aftertaste out of the park too, using spicier hopped flavor to temper the fruit so that it doesn’t linger, which also adds to its overall drinkability. Seasoned drinkers and newcomers alike can all find something to love about this brew, it is truly a great ale to have in the tournament.

Then there’s the powerhouse, the DogFish Head 60 Minute IPA. As I will recall for you, I did not vote for this beer in round 1, I like it as a measuring stick for newcomers, but the seasoned drinkers may find this beer not as polarizing as they would like. This beer has a wealth of hop and malt flavors that each are very pronounced which does make for a good beer, I’m just missing the qualities that would make it a great IPA. I want this beer to change my mind because it has the potential to be a great brew in either direction: there is so much malt potential and hop potential, but I feel like they are sacrificed in favor of balance. Ultimately, the 60 Minute IPA will not step on anyone’s toes and will not blow anyone away with bitterness or molasses, but I think to become a truly classic beer it needs to take the risk of scaring some off in favor of stronger flavor (like the 90 Minute does with its malted sweetness).

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Today started with an hour for me, the 60 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head.  From what I remember from the initial round (as well as the several times before my first round tasting), this beer is a quality IPA.  The visual appearance was exactly as I remembered it – clear, copper colored with a red hue, with a rather large, bright-white head that slowly recedes.  The aroma is packed full of hops, both citrus and pine, and invites you in with the full expectation that this beer will be a straight shot stylistic definition of an IPA.  The taste verifies that claim, with delicious hops notes packing a punch from start to finish.  Speaking of the finish, it’s neither overly dry nor overly bitter – simply a well-rounded conclusion, which makes for a very memorable IPA.

The SweetWater IPA comes into this match as somewhat of an underdog in my mind.  After all, this is only my second ever tasting of this beer, and I am well experienced with the competitor.  But, that’s the point of this competition isn’t it? To objectively review brand new brews in hopes of finding the ultimate beer?  I love the visual appearance of this IPA.  It displays very similar to the beer above, except with the increased level of carbonation which I mentioned last time.  I’m a huge fan of the sweetness in this beer, as it works very well to balance out the expectedly high dosing of hops.  Speaking of hops, the complexity of hops in the aroma is incredibly inviting, adding a new dimension to the typical IPA style.

This match isn’t easy, but I think I have my mind made up.  Stay tuned for Brad’s thoughts a little later, and remember that you can vote until 3PM!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

A huge eleventh-hour voting effort for Sweetwater turned it’s relatively modest early lead into a decisive victory.  Here’s how the voting turned out today:

Brad: I felt these beers were fairly evenly matched, though they present an interesting issue this early on. The Sweetwater was the more flavorful IPA, but the Breckenridge was more balanced, though not as powerful. I think balance can be tough to detect in some beers and can be as simple as the right mouthfeel, but flavor is hard to fake. Therefore I’m voting for the Sweetwater IPA today. I look forward to sampling it in round 2 as it feels good and strong, and I am a fan.

John: Today had two IPAs that were similar in their style and in many subtle aspects, yet different enough that you could tell the two apart.  I have to vote for the better IPA in my opinion, and while this was no easy call, I’ll be tossing my vote in for the Sweetwater IPA. Both beers were good, but  in my book the Lucky U couldn’t quite keep up with the flavor profile and finely constructed nature of the brew from Sweetwater.

Fans: There’s little doubt about which beer you selected as your favorite today, and that beer was the Sweetwater IPA. Today’s match pulled in the most votes of any so far in the current tournament, and Sweetwater ultimately took home an impressive 93% of the votes.

We’ll see you tomorrow for a closely contested match between Victory and Flying Dog, so make sure to cast your vote!

So with no adieu today I’m jumping right into the Sweetwater IPA, a beer I’ve seen a few times at a restaurant nearby that I have saved so I don’t develop a bias. The beer pours to a delicious-looking cider-orange with a bit of cloudiness and not a lot of a head, although nice carbonation for a darker-looking brew. The smells are similar to an orchard: rich, darker fruit flavors and an underlying pine hop aroma as well. The taste is smooth but a little fruity bitterness up front, which is fine because spicy bitterness is the harsher kind which this brew does not have. The flavors mainly mimic the aromas oddly enough, with sweeter fruit flavors giving way to the piny hop finish that is pretty standard for an IPA. Definitely the better of the two Sweetwaters in this tournament, and a tough beer to beat. Quite possibly the best it could be within the confines of the IPA division.

Squaring off against Sweetwater today is an IPA from Breckenridge, a brewery that has a wide array of beers and all of them stylistically great. Today’s competitor, the Breckenridge Lucky U IPA pours to a bright reddish-orange, one of the brighter looking beers I’ve seen thus far. It has a nice 1-2 finger head that rolls out slowly but not too slowly. The aromas are less impactful than those of the Sweetwater, but a wooden caramel and a spicy citrus have more balance. The taste reveals just how hoppy this IPA is, and yet somehow they manage to temper the bitterness. Instead of loading up on spice hops I taste very distict floral, wooden, and citrus hops that are balanced on a caramel malt back which comes together to make this beer a smooth ride. This is a kick back and enjoy a hop bonanza beer that doesn’t pucker your face up. Come home from work, grab one of these, and enjoy the day.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

There’s certainly no Blue nature to the Sweetwater IPA, today’s first competitor up in my book. It pours a hazy, golden-orange color with a nice and white head. I was surprised with the level of carbonation bubbles rising up through the glass, and thought that it made for a delightful appearance. The aroma has a solid citrus hops kick as well as a far more gentler herbal side. The taste, as I expected from the style and the aroma, is loaded full of hops up front, loaded full of hops in the finish. But, I could still detect a pleasant sweetness lingering in the background, making its best effort to balance things out a touch. A somewhat thin mouthfeel leads to the dry and bitter finish. Perhaps the mouthfeel was so thin because of the seemingly high level of carbonation? Whatever the case may be, the folks at Sweetwater put together a solid IPA.

The hoppy competitor is a brew of the same style, the Breckenridge Lucky U IPA. This IPA poured a very similar orange-copper coloring, and was quite hazy with a good deal of floaties in the glass (but not to the same extent as with the Hand Ten). The aroma was an complex combination of earthy, citrusy, and grassy hops, which was very inviting to say the least. More of the same characters showed up in the taste, but it also had a near-perfume addition as well. As I slowly drained the glass, I found myself wondering just how many types of hops were used in this beer, as the flavor profile was very busy. Like the Sweetwater above, the Lucky U also has a subtle sweetness in the background. It was also well matched in the mouthfeel, and I did enjoy the bitter, fade away finish. I’m a fan of the brews from Breckenridge, so we’ll have to see how this one does later today!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

The squeak refers to our reviewers today as you all came out en masse. Here’s how the votes were cast:

Brad: I hate sounding like a beer homer because we are supposed to be objective, at least until we are done having a vote in things, but when a brewery makes beers that are constantly talked about as the favorites in tournaments and they stand up to any competition, they do become the big players in the tournament. Today is not very different, as the Shoale’s Pale Ale faced off against a very unique and well-balanced brew in the Sweetwater Blue. The Sweetwater ultimately just fell short when compared to the Shoale’s because the Shoale’s has it all and does it well. The only real knock against it is that it may be too malty and earthy for a Pale Ale but you’d rather a beer be overbalanced than not be even at all and that’s why my decision today goes to the Smuttynose Shoale’s Pale Ale. Rock on, SN…

John: This match was actually difficult to call. On one hand, the Sweetwater Blue was a very well done pale wheat fruit beer. Granted, if you’re not a fan of blueberries or fruit beers in general, you won’t like this beer, but it is well done. But, not quite as well done as the Smuttynose Shoale’s Pale Ale. I have to side with Smuttynose today, in part because of the surprising level of complexity and drinkability.

Fans: SN is looking for the gold, and they’ve found out the way to do that is through the polls. Smuttynose Shoale’s Pale Ale: you drink it, you love it, and thanks to you it schlacked the Sweetwater Blue 88%-12%.

Finally we apologize for the late post today, travels through off our clocks and we were off by an hour on our time zones, we will do better tomorrow!

We start off the first week after Christmas with an interesting newcomer and a familiar face. Letting the newbie Sweetwater Blue go first seemed to be a good idea to me as fruit beers have proven very interesting over the last tournament. The Abita Purple Haze that John mentioned was really a beer in a class all its own because sure, it was a fruit beer, but within the fruit beer genre its hard to compare a blueberry beer to a grape or watermelon brew because it literally turns into comparing apples to oranges. This beer poured to a light yellow color with not much of a head that disappeared quite quickly. As I poured I was overwhelmed by the blueberry smell, yet challenged that I might be able to find some other flavors blended in. With fruit beers I always think that what makes it classic is not the flavor it advertises, but the balance that lies underneath. As for the taste, well, remember that this is a blueberry brew. But its a blueberry brew with something more, something kind of doughy. I can’t think of a word besides wholesome to describe the flavor that is not the blueberry powerhouse that I was expecting, rather a fruit beer that remembers it is a beer and works to blend the two concepts instead of overloading on fruit.

Now for the beer that comes in with high expectations, as it had 2 beers nearly make the Fermented Four, and one managed to take the Silver. Today’s entry comes from the suggestion box, and that combined with its lineage leads me to have high expectations for the Smuttynose Shoale’s Pale Ale. Another beer with little head that dissipates very quickly, I’m assuming this is going to be par for the division, this beer poured much darker than the Sweetwater. It is very interesting how there is a great variety of colors even within a division. As I found with the Old Brown Dog, Smutty’s silver entry, this beer has smells that are a lot maltier (word?) than I was expecting from a Pale Ale. Dark Caramel, doughy, down to earth malted flavors with an underlying hop citrus that certainly keeps this beer balanced. The taste is great, I don’t know right away if it is as delicious as the OBD but it certainly can give it a run for its money. It is a doughy and ultimately thicker beer than I was anticipating but it is great nontheless. It even has a pine-citrus finish that brings it full circle and left me wanting more. One of the best parts, as John said, is that the hops do not feel crammed in to try and fake a balanced beer, they are laced throughout making for a smooth, delicious brew that can be enjoyed any time.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

I kicked off week two of the second bracket with the Sweetwater Blue.  This beer pours with a bright white, bubbly head that quickly recedes.  The clear, golden-straw color leaves the solid stream of carbonation readily visible.  For the aroma, I could smell it a mile away, even before I poured the bottle.  Mixing mixing wheat and blueberry, the aroma transitions very well into the taste, which is very mild initially before developing into a clear-cut blueberry.  To round things out, the blueberry then leads into a dry, less intense finish.  A lot about this beer reminds me of the Abita Purple Haze (which I actually gave a “personal” MVP award to after the last tournament).  The primary fruit flavoring isn’t as intense and overpowering as some other fruit beers, which I really enjoy.  In other words, this beer still goes down smooth all the way through to the end of the glass.

And now we return to another medalist brewery from the last tournament with the Smuttynose Shoale’s Pale Ale.  The small, off-white head dropped rather quickly – faster than it took me to walk from my kitchen to my living room couch.  My first thought was that the murky, dark copper coloring is far darker than I was anticipating for a pale ale.  I picked up a lot of sweetness and hops in the aroma, but an earthy sweetness for certain.  The taste is somewhat similar, with a sweetness based with fruit being the key player, alongside a bready malt core.  When the taste finally winds down to the finish, I enjoyed the non-overly bitter aftertaste.  This is a very drinkable brew, with a surprising complexity for a pale ale (in my opinion, of course).

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!