Ymm, Beer

[wilson]

The West region had better have an Anchor offering. If seasonals are allowed, then this year's "Our Special Ale" (their Christmas brew) should definitely be it. I sampled some the other day, and it's delicious...nicely nutty, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, but the perfect amount of bite too. Really well done (as usual).

[Lavabe]

The West region had better have an Anchor offering. If seasonals are allowed, then this year's "Our Special Ale" (their Christmas brew) should definitely be it. I sampled some the other day, and it's delicious...nicely nutty, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, but the perfect amount of bite too. Really well done (as usual).

Surprisingly, I am getting tired of the nutmeg, clove, cinnamon Christmas ale specialty brews.

Agreed, however, that Anchor should be in the mix out in the West. I expect that Kona's coffee brew should make it in there. I don't know that I will ever vote for Sierra Nevada (bad memories of the West Virginia game), but the Pacific is loaded. The Alaska folks (Glacier Beam Stout, Alaska Smoked Porter) alone should be giant-killers in the bracket. And we're ignoring the Rogue brewery?

Now that I think of it, The West and Midwest will be mighty tough.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[wilson]

Surprisingly, I am getting tired of the nutmeg, clove, cinnamon Christmas ale specialty brews.

I am kind of with you, but Anchor's offering is consistently the best, and it's especially good this year. Very well-rounded taste, only the slightest hint of nutmeg and cinnamon...the nut notes are the strongest ones. I highly recommend it.

[devildeac]

Emerging as 1& 2 seeds are the following:

Portland: #1
(Will defer to Mr. Portland expert, devildeac. Having said that, I expect a fine showing with the Bridgeport.)

Denver: New Belgium Trippel #1 or #2
(Breckenridge will have a little say in this... will defer to rockymtn devil on this one)

St. Louis: #1: Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
(clearly New Glarus, Schlafly, Bell's, Goose Island, Great Lakes, and O'Fallon will make this the toughest bracket)

Philadelphia: #1 Dogfishhead PSM
(Now that Louisville is in the Big East, I'm shipping Louisville's BBC to the East, to join the battle with Brooklyn, Sweetwater DP/HE, Victory, and a myriad of others)

Portland: Bridgeport Old Knucklehead or Full Sail Old Boardhead

Denver: Avery Samael or The Beast

StL: New Glarus Raspberry Tart or Wisconsin Red

Phila: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout or DFH Immort Ale

Those are 8 really, really good beers.

[devildeac]

Word.

This is one of my 3 or 4 favorites. I drink it year round.

I am out of time tonight to write a review but I had a Samichlaus Helles last PM and it was dee-licious. I'll try to post tomorrow with some thoughts.

[Lavabe]

Portland: Bridgeport Old Knucklehead or Full Sail Old Boardhead

Denver: Avery Samael or The Beast

StL: New Glarus Raspberry Tart or Wisconsin Red

Phila: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout or DFH Immort Ale

Those are 8 really, really good beers.

St. Louis bracket top two seeds: #1 New Glarus Raspberry Tart and #2 Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Here are my other picks for the St. Louis bracket:
#3 Wisconsin Red
#4 Great Lakes Burning River
#5 Leiney Honey Weiss
#6 Bell's Expedition Stout
#7 Schlafly Oatmeal Stout
#8 Mishawaka INDIAna Pale Ale
#9 Great Lakes Nosferatu
#10 Goose Island Honker's Ale
#11 Rock Bottom (Chicago) Hop Bomb
#12 O'Fallon Weiss (would opt for Peach Weiss, but have never tried it)
#13 Bricktown Brewery (Dubuque, IA) Vanilla Bean Stout
#14 Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
#15 Barrelhouse (Cincinnati) Red Legg Ale
#16 Bell's Winter White

Philadelphia: Good call on Brooklyn as a #2, but no DFH PSM at #1? Oh my!! The natives will be restless on that one.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[rockymtn devil]

Another for the West: Damnation Golden Ale by Russian River Brewing Company (very similar to Avery's Salvation Ale that was reviewed last week by devildeac).

And, in the Midwest, Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (although you can't go wrong with a beer named after the Cuyahoga).

[devildeac]

St. Louis bracket top two seeds: #1 New Glarus Raspberry Tart and #2 Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Here are my other picks for the St. Louis bracket:
#3 Wisconsin Red
#4 Great Lakes Burning River
#5 Leiney Honey Weiss
#6 Bell's Expedition Stout
#7 Schlafly Oatmeal Stout
#8 Mishawaka INDIAna Pale Ale
#9 Great Lakes Nosferatu
#10 Goose Island Honker's Ale
#11 Rock Bottom (Chicago) Hop Bomb
#12 O'Fallon Weiss (would opt for Peach Weiss, but have never tried it)
#13 Bricktown Brewery (Dubuque, IA) Vanilla Bean Stout
#14 Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
#15 Barrelhouse (Cincinnati) Red Legg Ale
#16 Bell's Winter White

Philadelphia: Good call on Brooklyn as a #2, but no DFH PSM at #1? Oh my!! The natives will be restless on that one.

Cheers,
Lavabe

I'd have no problem with DFH PSM as a #1 or #2 seed. I went with the tradition of BBCS as one of my favorite brews of all time. Kinda like Duke getting a #1 seed even though we lost in the finals of the ACC Tourney.

[devildeac]

St. Louis bracket top two seeds: #1 New Glarus Raspberry Tart and #2 Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Here are my other picks for the St. Louis bracket:
#3 Wisconsin Red
#4 Great Lakes Burning River
#5 Leiney Honey Weiss
#6 Bell's Expedition Stout
#7 Schlafly Oatmeal Stout
#8 Mishawaka INDIAna Pale Ale
#9 Great Lakes Nosferatu
#10 Goose Island Honker's Ale
#11 Rock Bottom (Chicago) Hop Bomb
#12 O'Fallon Weiss (would opt for Peach Weiss, but have never tried it)
#13 Bricktown Brewery (Dubuque, IA) Vanilla Bean Stout
#14 Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
#15 Barrelhouse (Cincinnati) Red Legg Ale
#16 Bell's Winter White

Philadelphia: Good call on Brooklyn as a #2, but no DFH PSM at #1? Oh my!! The natives will be restless on that one.

Cheers,
Lavabe

I'll give it some thought tonight and try to come up with 1-16 seeds for the East bracket. I hope RMD would submit his Denver bracket and then we'd need someone to do the Portland 16. I can offer a lot of suggestions here, or organize that bracket on Thursday or Saturday. Working, dancing and travelling on Friday.

[Lavabe]

And, in the Midwest, Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (although you can't go wrong with a beer named after the Cuyahoga).

Here's a thought:
Put the Great Lakes EFP in the 64/65 game!

[Lavabe]

I'll give it some thought tonight and try to come up with 1-16 seeds for the East bracket. I hope RMD would submit his Denver bracket and then we'd need someone to do the Portland 16. I can offer a lot of suggestions here, or organize that bracket on Thursday or Saturday. Working, dancing and travelling on Friday.

The St. Louis bracket has an unusually large number of wheats, and seems lacking in white ales.

BUT THAT'S OKAY!!

[devildeac]

Here's a thought:
Put the Great Lakes EFP in the 64/65 game!

Ooh, that's a tough one. Do you really think the GL-EFP is really the 64/65th best brew in the US?

[devildeac]

The St. Louis bracket has an unusually large number of wheats, and seems lacking in white ales.

BUT THAT'S OKAY!!

I have my brews in the East and West regionals but have not seeded them yet. I may want to ship 1-2 from each region to the MW or Denver location so I don't nave so many Victory/DFH brews in the east and Rogues in the west.

[Lavabe]

I have my brews in the East and West regionals but have not seeded them yet. I may want to ship 1-2 from each region to the MW or Denver location so I don't nave so many Victory/DFH brews in the east and Rogues in the west.

Ooooh, don't forget they play in pods!

I don't think the GL EFP is the 65th best brew in the country, but I am excluding a large number of growlers/bombers from the running. For example, the Schlafly 2007 Barleywine.

Will be interested to see what you do with the Sweetwater collection.

Thanks,
Lavabe

[devildeac]

Ooooh, don't forget they play in pods!

I don't think the GL EFP is the 65th best brew in the country, but I am excluding a large number of growlers/bombers from the running. For example, the Schlafly 2007 Barleywine.

Will be interested to see what you do with the Sweetwater collection.

Thanks,
Lavabe

I'm not organizing a pod system. These brews don't care where you play/drink them.

Growlers are tough 'cuz they're drafts and most taste different than their bottled brethren.

The 2007 Schlafly's Barleywine sits unopened in my garage awaiting your assistance in consuming it during a forthcoming holiday season.

Not among my top 64/65 and not discussing any further than that.

[devildeac]

Word.

This is one of my 3 or 4 favorites. I drink it year round.

It's in my top 10, probably my top 5 but I enjoy it more in the cooler months along with the other high gravity brews.

Samichlaus Helles-2007-This is different than the standard Samichlaus, but not that much different. Lighter in color with probably a bit less caramel malt and very little hop bitterness/fruitiness/zest. Sweet, cloying and a real lip-smacker as it lingers on the palate with lots of butterscotch and caramel flavors and sweetness. Enjoy slightly cooled in a snifter and shared-if you can find someone else to handle this 14% ABV brew. Think of a lighter sherry here for a dessert beverage or night cap. Label say first time this has been brewed since 1987, I think. These are brews that I think one can either greatly appreciate or hate entirely due to their unusual nature (little head, winey, high alcohol, complex aromas and tastes). If you can find this one, Oh Throaty one, I think you'd like this, too.

[rockymtn devil]

I'll give it some thought tonight and try to come up with 1-16 seeds for the East bracket. I hope RMD would submit his Denver bracket and then we'd need someone to do the Portland 16. I can offer a lot of suggestions here, or organize that bracket on Thursday or Saturday. Working, dancing and travelling on Friday.

I will try to get the Denver bracket set in the next few days. It'll be a nice distraction from work. It will not, however, happen before the game tomorrow night. That will take most of my free time (and most of my mental energy during the day tomorrow).

Question: do we have limitations? Are seasonals fair game? Is Montana in the Denver regional (there's a beer from there that, while I'm not a fan, there are enough fans here that it would make the list)?

[wilson]

Are there really not gonna be any Sweetwaters in on this? I know that some won't agree, but I think it'd be a crime to leave them completely out.

[rockymtn devil]

Are there really not gonna be any Sweetwaters in on this? I know that some won't agree, but I think it'd be a crime to leave them completely out.

The problem for Sweetwater is geography, which maybe isn't fair. The east coast has so many great breweries that, in a 16 beer bracket (where Dogfish Head could have half the field) it's tough to find room.

Perhaps the best SW beer could be in the play-in game. Do we have anyone from Dayton to do a tasting?

[devildeac]

I will try to get the Denver bracket set in the next few days. It'll be a nice distraction from work. It will not, however, happen before the game tomorrow night. That will take most of my free time (and most of my mental energy during the day tomorrow).

Question: do we have limitations? Are seasonals fair game? Is Montana in the Denver regional (there's a beer from there that, while I'm not a fan, there are enough fans here that it would make the list)?

I have about 16-18 brews for the East and West regionals and left the list at the office. I will be watching and snrubbing tomorrow PM so I won't have my list until Saturday.

No limitations. I have several seasonals included, mostly imperial stouts and barleywines.

Do I smell a Moose Drool on your list for the Denver regional? Lavabe, DA and I would be upset if you did not include The Drool.