What a match, what great brews, and what great rationale behind the voting. Our reviewers can spin it however they want but at the end of the day, SweepWater takes home the gold!

John: What a fitting match to wrap up the second tournament!  I can still see reasons why both of these brews deserve to be on top of the podium. At least we can all have comfort knowing that the “loser” today still walks with silver!   I’m voting for the SweetWater IPA. One of the primary deciding factors for me was its well-rounded nature and “anytime” drinkability.  Congrats to both beers today!

Brad: To me, today’s match isn’t voting for a winner because that would be nearly impossible, it’s just putting in order the top two beers in this tournament. And for me, the number one beer is the Sweetwater IPA because of its superior drinkability and broader appeal, combined with a fantastic taste and great overall beer experience. It feels good to have tournament #2 behind us and thanks to you, the fans, we couldn’t have done it without your record fan support!

Fans: You came out in droves and you came out for SweetWater mostly. The guess is that more of you identify with the beer you can snag at the bar with the game on, as you have come out en masse for this brew all tournament. Anyway, with a near 3:1 ratio, the SweetWater IPA takes him the gold with a 74%-26% victory. Thank you for voting early, voting often, and mainly coming back! Your support keeps us going and your voices are certainly being heard by the breweries!

Here we are, in the finals! Let’s jump right in with the SweetWater IPA, a beer that I have enjoyed all along, that a local pub near me just got on tap and basically cemented my business now, and a beer that I feel represented our blue-collar drinkers today. This beer is the ultimate bar beer as far as this tournament is concerned, its going to pair well with your greasy fried food, but it somehow also pairs well with grill food that isn’t overly greasy too. Equally as amazing is that this beer is packed full of flavor, so it stands well on its own. It was obviously the best IPA that we’ve had and that is saying something given the breadth of competition we had, and it has made it farther than any IPA has thus far, giving you an idea of how great this beer is. I don’t know if I would call this beer “classic” because it’s too down-to-earth for that. What SweetWater has done is made a bar beer, a party beer, a daily drinker; basically just a beer that you can enjoy any time any where and love it. This is the beer to have when you’re hanging out with your buddies or shooting pool, an uncommonly common IPA.

Like I said, we can’t get more different for two beers today. Here is a brew with an equally impressive resume, edging out our best Porter and  Bronze Medal Founder’s Porter as well as winning the European-style division and crushing the second-best beer from the same brewery, I must be talking about the Allagash Tripel. Where I wouldn’t call the SweetWater “classic” because it is too blue-collar, rich and classic are perfect words to describe the depth and fantastic flavor that the Allagash brings to the table. It’s a tough beer to call in a tournament like this because the seasoned quaffers will be able to enjoy and love the complexity of this beer, yet some newbies may be intimidated. I always hate to skew this tournament as to whom will like which beer, because I don’t know what everyone thinks, which is why this beer is here and has a shot at winning the whole thing. For newcomers, this is a great beer to step up your flavor sensing to the next level, because the flavors are very organic and easy to handle (versus some of the complex fruits of say, the Founder’s) so you get the richer flavors without the liquor or bitter notes that come with some other strong brews. Who will take home the gold? The down-to-earth and anytime deliciousness of SweetWater or the high-profile stylish Allagash Tripel? Your votes make the call and we can’t wait to see how it plays out!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

It seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the results of the first tournament, in order to see who would claim the first Brewlimination Gold medal.  Today, we get to see which beer will be the second to claim the gold.  It has been a long, hard-fought tournament, and has taken us since late December to reach where we are today.  Before I make my comments today, I first want to extend a huge thanks to everyone for your comments and voting efforts.  With the frequent disagreement between Brad and I, there’s not a chance we would have been able to narrow this field of 64 down to the final two beers without your help.

In the previous round, I said that The Allagash Tripel has a amazing taste profile and an easy-drinking nature.  Going all the way back to the first round, I remember saying how the strong nature of this beer is well-masked behind the complex and impressive flavor profile.  This beer does its style justice, and brings a wonderful 3-dimensional character to the table.  I mentioned in the early rounds how almost all of the Division 4 beers (and even styles) were somewhat new to me before this bracket started, and I have a new-found affection for these styles of beer more so now than ever.

The other beer on the table today is the SweetWater IPA, and while I didn’t vote for this beer in the Fermented Four, it’s easy to see why this beer still has a shot at the title.  This IPA packs a citrus punch and is loaded full of hops from start to finish.  A similarly amazing taste profile leads to a similar easy-drinking nature.  The kick of sweetness in the background helps to balance this brew out.  Again, this beer does its style justice, and while I’m only half-way through the glass I can tell this is shaping up to be one difficult match to call – quite fitting for a Championship bout.

Two delicious beers, two vastly different styles, to equally deserving competitors.  I can’t wait to see which one takes home the gold – stay tuned, and make sure to cast your final vote of the match!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Founder’s Porter!  Congratulations to both beers today, as both are fantastic productions.  In the end, however, it seemed that the general consensus was in clear favor of the brew from Founder’s.  Here’s what we thought today:

John:  The Founder’s Porter tells a great story from start to finish, from the aroma to the taste to the finish.  When I think of a stylistic defintion of a porter, it’s difficult not to think of the porter from Founder’s.  And that’s why it earned my vote today.  The Terrapin Rye might be one of my new “favorite” beers from the entire bracket, but in the end I couldn’t find a reason to vote against Founder’s.  Both beers are fantastic, and I highly recommend both!

Brad: Today I will be going with the Founder’s Porter as I believe that this is the best “sophisticated beer” we have run across since the tournament’s inception, and it is deserving of a medal. The Terrapin is nice and a great brew to be sure, but up against the elite of the elite it simply was lacking anything that would make it stand out, especially against the Founder’s Porter which is almost unparalleled in terms of unique flavor and flavor complexity. Congrats to both breweries for making it this far, you both deserve hardware but only one will get it!

Fans: In keeping with what seemed to be a common trend for this second bracket, the margin of victory was close to two-to-one.  The final tally was 68% in favor of the Founder’s Porter!

This tournament’s first medal matchup is a battle of two very strong and consistent brews. Both of these beers lost by a hair in my opinion and were more than worthy of moving on. Let’s take a look at exactly what made these brews stand out in the earlier rounds:

First, the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale was a beer noted for its consistency. But lost in that praise somehow were the remarkable flavors. After all, if a beer is consistently bad, well that doesn’t make the ultimate brew does it? The Rye Pale is a great example of both styles of beer with its malty caramel and brown sugar notes that are tempered by the pale hop spices that keep this beer grounded and give it a very natural flavor. The mouthfeel itself seemed to be dominated by the malts as it was very smooth and not so much carbonated, which I think is refreshing for a pale and much better than a lot of over carbonated laziness that is out there. That’s great, but what really sets this beer apart as a legitimate Fermented Four threat? That would have to be what I assume was a very methodical selection by the brewmasters because not only do the flavors embody their genre, they are very pronounced. That is to say you can taste all of the flavors that I have mentioned very easily. With a lot of beers the flavors just mush together and you are left searching for flavors because it is hard to tell where the malt ends and the hops begin. This beer is truly great because of the strength of the flavors. Not to mention that all of these well-selected flavors pair well with almost any food as well as by themselves to make a beer you can have anywhere, any time and you will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately for the Terp, it faces another beer with great and well-pronounced flavors for the bronze, the Founder’s Porter. The Porter may present the strength of flavor that the Terrapin has, but the Porter has a great many more strong flavors. As has come to be my usual warning, if you do not decant this beer, it will taste like root beer, so let it breathe for a minute before drinking. When you let it breathe this beer opens up to rich fruit sugars, and incredible hop flavors that I can’t place over the deep fruit flavors but it is noticeable that they are there. What got this beer to the Fermented Four were those rich flavors, and a uniqueness of both flavor and overall feel that made it the best porter/stout we had selected. It’s main problem comes in the pairing with food, although it is not as big of a hang-up as I had originally made it out to be. This is a relaxing and laid-back beer once you get over that the initial taste is going to be powerful. This may be the most complex beer in the tournament, and I’m certain my words don’t do it justice, so drink today’s matchup and let us know what you think, you’ll begin to understand the complexity.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Well, after 5 previous rounds, both of these beers have gone a long way to make it to the bronze medal match-up.  As such, I feel that there is little more I can say regarding both of these beers which I haven’t already mentioned.  Let’s face it – these two beers are quality beers, otherwise they wouldn’t still be in the tournament.   Of course, that also means that either one of these beers could easily walk away with a victory in this match.

So, how to pick a winner?  Which one of this pair of brews is truly a better example of its style and a more complete all-around package?  The Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout is a powerhouse – it will make certain that you remember it for next time, a fantastic quality in a beer.  The folks at Great Divide do the style justice with the Yeti – which makes it difficult to vote against.

However, the Troegs HopBack Amber Ale is right in the same boat.  Coming off as more balanced in comparison to the Yeti, the HopBack is a great anytime beer that goes down easy.  I’ve already said that the Troegs brew is “smooth and well-rounded,” which makes this beer equally difficult to vote against.

To make my decision in this match, I think I’ll be going all the way back to the beginning – looking at just why and how each of these beers handled their previous opponents.  Remember, voting will remain open until 3PM, with the match winner announced shortly afterward!

Just tossing up a quick reminder that tomorrow will be the first match in the Championship round, deciding the bronze medal winner! You still have just under 24 hours remaining to cast your vote for either the Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout or the Troegs HopBack Amber Ale!  The match is a close one, so make sure your voice is heard.  As per usual policy, the poll will close at 3PM tomorrow, with the match results posted shortly afterward!

But, stay tuned – the Gold Medal Match is coming to a close only two short days later on Thursday!  Up until now, voting in the Championship match has been going wild – both beers have enjoyed multiple short-lived leads!  The final match of the inaugural Brewlimination bracket will close for good at 3PM on Thursday, 10/28/2010.  So, sit down, grab a few beers, and help decide our first Champion – Southern Tier’s Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale or Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale!  Remember, you can vote once per day until the match closes.

Thank you once again for all your support and voting efforts, and make sure to stick around for the exciting conclusion of the first bracket!