Today, we make Brewlimination history.  Sure, the match isn’t over yet, but as my post title says – Allagash will win.  Today features the first match of its kind – two beers from the same brewery facing off in head-to-head competition, the Allagash Dubbel and Allgash Tripel.  I was excited as soon as I realized this match was coming up, and I’m glad to get started.

These two beers have very different visual presentations.  The Dubbel is a dark orange to an almost brown color, with a red hue, while the Tripel is significantly lighter.  The two beers have very similar heads, however, although the Tripel’s drops far quicker and leaves a persistent layer behind.  The tripel is very light and quite fruity in the aroma, with a hint of herbal spiciness.  The dubbel has a very subtle, trailing sweetness on the tail end of the aroma, pairing well with the impressive combination of malts.

It’s rather difficult to try to compare the taste of these two beers simultaneously.  Both beers have a very delicious taste profile.  On one hand, the Dubbel has a somewhat generic caramel sweetness, masked behind the dark fruits and yeast flavorings.  The Tripel, however, has a wonderfully complex crescendo of flavorings, from a somewhat simple beginning to a tremendous finish.

I could easily drink another one of either of these brews.  How do I decide who to vote for?

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

First, as a quick note, a small glitch in voting for next week’s matches was brought to our attention.  It has been resolved, and all matches for next week should now be available on the Current Matches page.  Now, on to the match at hand…

Today was another case where voting was rampant during the first few days of the match.  But, by the voting effort stagnated on the last day, with neither beer able to change the gap.  Here’s what we thought:

Brad: Again I’m at a literal toss-up, this time I’m not going against the New Belgium Mothership Wit. The smoothness combined with the well-defined flavors make for a taste that reminds me of a classic vintage of wine, no hint in the finish and mouthfeel of imperfection.  The New Belgium gets my vote, though I love the Allagash too. May the better beer win!

John: From top to bottom, I think one of these two beers has an ever-so-slight edge.  On the surface, they break even on most contested areas, but I think one – the Allagash Tripel – has the edge where I think it matters most, it presents as the more 3-dimensional contender, and that’s why it earned my vote.

Fans: The final tally was 64% in favor of the Allagash Tripel.  Pack your bags Allagash, you now have two beers headed to the third round!

I think Brad hit the nail on the head earlier today in describing Division 4 of this bracket.  Prior to the start of the second tournament, I had little experience with many of the styles in Division 4, and it seems that every four days I’m glad to return, more and more so as the competition progresses.  I started today’s match with the New Belgium Mothership Wit, which does indeed have a pleasant, witbier visual presentation.  I have to say the best part about this beer is the spicy nature of both the aroma and the taste profile.  A clear spice (possibly coriander?) leads off in both, followed by a citrus and malty wheat base.  The quality flavoring goes a long way toward helping the drinkability of this brew, but the perfect level of carbonation and balance take care of most of the leg work in that department.

The Allagash Tripel, on the other hand, is another brew with a fantastic visual presentation, as I mentioned last time as well.  I loved the sweet and fruity nature of the aroma.  Upon second inspection, I could detect the clear hint of honey, but I’ll be honest in saying that I have no idea whether the fruity nature was the proclaimed “passion fruit” (and as an aside, I’m not entirely sure what passion fruit smells and/or tastes like…).  The complex taste profile of this beer really is something, expanding from an almost mute initial volume to a great finish.  The crescendo from one flavor to the next is quite impressive, and very memorable.   For the second day in a row, I’m really not sure which beer to honor with my vote today…

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Part of why I like the Belgian-style division so much is it was a step outside of my comfort zone. I’d never gone after the Belgian brews, not because I didn’t like them, just because I never thought to order them. Which is a shame because these are among some of the more painstakingly crafted beers in the tournament, rivaling the Stout division for Most Meticulously Crafted. We’ll do alphabetical order today and start with the Allagash Tripel, a sugary and fruity beer that surprised me with its complexity. This beer has an organic fruit sugar base to it, accented by some traditional hop flavors of spice and citrus. It is a very sweet beer that takes it to the next level with a crisp mouthfeel. This brew could be written off if the mouthfeel was particularly thick and the beer was just a syrupy mess, but Allagash somehow manages to contain all of the flavors within a crisp taste that lightens up a beer that needs it. Finally what I like about this beer is that it has its own identity. Much as the DogFish Head IPA series is not just “Oh, the 90-Minute Ipa, it must be stronger than the 60 and lighter than the 120″, rather distinct beers with distinct identities. The Tripel is not merely a continuation of the Dubbel, but its own beer with its own personality, and it is a winning personality.

Themes, themes, themes. I try too hard to make this middle rounds about themes. That said today is another match with a great slow sipper and a delicious bar beer. As I said before, I like the New Belgium Mothership Wit as a bar beer and I back that up by ordering it from my local pub when I step out to catch a game or race. First things first, I didn’t vote for this in round 1 because it lost in what was essentially a coin flip for me. Too similar styles left me totally unable to make a decision. I fell in love with this beer because of the finish. The sip can transition into anything: fried food, upper scale food, bread, another sip of beer, the smooth finish and the smooth overall impression of this beer makes it a great all-purpose beer. As usually goes with that praise, it is a good starter beer because it isn’t harsh. This is a perfectly balanced beer as there is no bitter overhopped notes or molasses overmalted notes, and not a hint of alcohol at all. The only gripe I could even have about this beer is that maybe it doesn’t taste hardcore enough for some of the grizzled drinkers out there and they would get the impression that this beer is lighter. If you think that, then have two. This beer can live up to any expectations you place on it and I may be reversing again to vote for a beer I missed on in Round 1.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

The Allagash Tripel pours a murky, golden orange color with about a quarter inch of bright, white head.  The visual presentation of this beer is very intriguing, and immediately peaks my interest.  The aroma packs a punch simply upon pouring, even from a solid distance.  I first thought the aroma was full of a generic fruity sweetness.  From a closer inspection of the bottle label, I was led to believe that the “fruity” nature was from passion fruit, while the “sweetness” was from honey.  The aroma on this beer was highly successful in hurrying a taste, as much as I tried to protest.  My first thought upon tasting was to notice the light mouthfeel, as well as the minimal initial taste. This beer truly develops its flavors and explodes from the initial “minimal” taste, almost immediately.  In addition to the flavors mentioned above, I also detect a hint of banana, helping to make this beer quite complex.  With a good level of carbonation and a very clean finish, the folks at Allagash have again found a way to produce a smooth drinking beer.  As a closing note, I was somewhat reminded of the Victory Golden Monkey when drinking this beer – if I hadn’t read the bottle, I would have never known this was a 9% ABV brew.

Closing out this match is the Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night, which pours a pleasant copperish-amber color.  The moderately sized head didn’t seem to last as long as I expected, but still resulted in delightful visual appeal.  I wasn’t overly “wowed” with the aroma, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I picked up on – a sweet, roasted, malty presence with a hint of spiciness as well.  In a way, the aroma reminded me a lot of the Ommegang Hennepin from the last tournament.  The taste of this beer is more impressive than its scent, showcasing a higher complexity than the aroma implied.  The same characters found in the aroma are likewise present in the taste, but they also bring along a flavor or two that I can’t quite place.  With a decent mouthfeel and carbonation, this beer produces a similar drinkability as the Allagash brew.  But, in my opinion, this match will be decided by more than just drinkability…

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Here’s what we thought today, and why the Merry Monks will be moving on to Round 2:

Brad – Like I said, these are some quality beers that are each at the higher level in terms of sophistication and it feels wrong to have to knock one of them out so early. If I have to pick a winner today I will take the Weyerbacher Merry Monks. The Ommegang is very distinctive and a good beer, but the Merry Monks just has more to it and each flavor is as strong as the Apricot in Ommegang. Both beers are great, I may have one with a cigar and a New Yorker later, but one has to win and that is Weyerbacher.

John - Today, I have to vote for the Weyerbacher Merry Monks.  This match was closer in my eyes than a few this week, but in the end the crisp and refreshing nature of the Monks take the win in my book.  This wasn’t an easy call, however.  Both of these beers are quality productions that I would be happy to sample again in the future.

Fans: In a closer match than some during this first week, you agreed with our votes above and sided in favor of the Weyerbacher Merry Monks 56%-44%.

As is the trend for me so far this tournament, this match again features two completely new beers to me, so I was excited to see what they had to offer.  The Ommegang Abbey Ale pours with a large, light-brown head that seemed to take ages to recede.  The foamy head left excellent lacing around the glass as it left, leaving only the ruby-brown coloring and a soft carbonation rising up to the surface.  The aroma is powerful – I first noticed it still a good ways from the glass – and consists of a sweet and malty presence of dark fruits and perhaps a bit of cherry.  The taste is more of the same, but I definitely picked up on a hint of apricot as well (my mind immediately rolled back to the Audacious Apricot).  This beer is all about the malty sweetness, and it does it well.  Something about the flavoring seems to remind me of my childhood, and I have no idea why.  Perhaps it’s a slight candy note I detect (or perhaps I’m imagining things)?

The Merry Monks from the folks at Weyerbacher weighs in at a hefty 9.3% ABV (a mere 1% higher than its competitor), and immediately leaves an impression with the visual appearance.  A white bubbly-foamy head leaves some decent lacing behind, along with a thin, persistent film on the surface.  The murky golden-yellow coloring is right in line with my expectations for the style.  The aroma is refreshing, light, and simply begs for a taste.  The taste?  Well the taste is an even better version of the aroma.  I picked up an earthiness and grass type flavor in the aroma, but found more of a citrus presence added to the taste profile.  This brew from Weyerbacher has a great level of carbonation as well as a terrific finish, both crisp and of a perfect length.  To a slight degree, the Merry Monks ironically remind me ever so slightly of the Ommegang Hennepin, which made it to Round 4 in the first bracket before falling to the bronze medalist.

Today is an interesting match as I don’t recall voting for either of these brews in the previous round, so I’m certainly objective here. One of them has to win, so let’s look at the basics of both beers. On one side we have the Victory Golden Monkey, a nice spicy beer that packs a punch but hides it well, which gives it a nice underrated flavor throughout that is very uncommon. In the other corner is the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, a beer that has been steamrolling its opponents with a combination of a hint of spicy sweetness but a brown sugar malted sweetness that I have yet to taste anything similar to.

Which means I have to bite the bullet and admit that I’m wrong, both of these beers turned out to pair together in an excellent match. Both have innovation, drinkability, and an overall appeal to them that in short, means they deserve to be here. So what to base the decision on? That’s where things are tough. Like I said, while differently flavored, both of these beers have the same basic traits which makes them very similar in terms of the categories for judgment. I really don’t want to boil it down to something like “well, I like brown sugar more than spice, so this beer wins”, that just doesn’t seem fair. Sorry for the short reviews today, I’m frantically typing this out while waiting in an airport with less-than-stellar internet access. Oh well, it leaves more to the imagination for my decision!

Unlike the last two matches, I went into today’s match having a pretty good idea who I would be voting for.  Or so I thought.  One of these two beers, the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, is one of the more unique and original brews that started this tournament.  The Victory Golden Monkey, on the other hand, has an impressive drinkability and a surprisingly complex flavoring.  Here’s how I sum both of these beers into as few as words as possible, which will be the main basis for my decision:

To me, the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog is: unique; compelling; dark; hoppy, yet sweet.

On the other hand, the Victory Golden Monkey is: light; complex; impressive drinkability; “keeps-you-coming-back-for-more” kind of beer.

It turns out, this match isn’t nearly as uneven as I originally projected.  Tune back in later this afternoon for the results!

Today’s match came in just two votes shy of our recent record setting day, and more than two-thirds of you were in agreement.  In the end, 68% of the vote went in favor of the Victory Golden Monkey, sending it into Round 4 and the Final 8!

Here’s how the two of us called the match today:

Brad:  When a brewery does something uncommon exceptionally well, it should be rewarded. Breckenridge took a vanilla porter that seems, while drinking it, to be very simple, and made it outstanding. Today my vote goes to the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter because they were able to take something as complex as a flavored and make it seem so effortless that the reviewer can make the mistake of calling it simple. Congrats Breckenridge, and good luck! Victory, I apologize but I just could not get on board.

John:  I did really enjoy the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, but I am afraid I can’t cast my vote for it today.  I wish I could vote for the Vanilla brew, as it might be my new favorite dessert beer.  But, in the end the complexity of the Victory Golden Monkey won out in my book.  The superior drinkability of the tripel ultimately trumps the porter due to the massive vanilla sweetness.

Tune in tomorrow for what looks to be a Great match!