It's back... DC Washington Post Beer Madness..

I took a look at this, and I am always a little confused by their choices. Why not put a brewery's best beer into the bracket? For example, pandemic and southern belle arguably perform better than the saison for three stars, so why not put those in?

Additionally why throw together disparate styles? Its like asking if the patriots are better than the Miami heat, or if a steak is superior to jim beam- it's apples and oranges

 

Last year I think it was Maui Coconut Porter that won the whole bracket....that tells you everything you need to know about how much faith I put in this thing.

 

No need for any sort of faith. It is all good-natured fun. It brings craft beer into the world of many people who would not be otherwise exposed.

 

I find myself voting for the brewery. Not necessarily the beer.

 

Even though it's clearly only for fun, I like that this year they're showcasing breweries from the surrounding area, even if some of them are more than a little obscure. With any luck, that should inspire more interest and a greater awareness of the [hyper]local beers available (similar to the notice of distilleries awhile ago) if people are willing to search a bit and go out of their comfort zone.


On a side note, "Not-Yet-Milwaukee-on-the-Potomac" is pretty much my new favorite proposed nickname for DC.

 

Does winning the bracket make the beer trade better?

 

It's definitely more for people who are just starting on the path to beer enlightenment, but it is interesting to see which beers do well. The non-experts chosen for the panel the past few years seem to have been fairly experienced beer drinkers (like one of my best friends who was on the panel last year!), whereas some of the "experts" have just been chefs or mixed drink people. I'm sure they have a great palate for what they prepare at their jobs, but if they haven't had much beer, I'm not terribly interested in what they have to say. At least they're just comparing two at a time, and not trying to rank all of the beers in each category together.

P.S. Jace, I think the Maui Coconut is a stellar brew. I wouldn't choose it over most of the exclusive, barrel-aged stouts or porters that I've tried, but for a not-too-expensive, usually available porter, it's quite tasty.

 

LOLWHUT?
The Fruit & Spice is messed up.

Optimal Wit vs. Rock Bottom White and Citizen vs. Gordon Biersch BPA ended in Rock Bottom White vs. Small Craft Warning?

How the fuck does that work, exactly?

Go home Beer Madness bracket, you're drunk.

 

Never liked the Post's Beer Madness - I think the jury consists of Post staff members and not anyone who knows squat about beer.

 

It seems as if you are talking out of your ass.

Our panel, split between four laymen chosen from The Post’s readership and four professional tasters, included the daughter of a hop grower, a celebrity chef and U.S. Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), co-chairman of the House Small Brewers Caucus. (“It’s the only bipartisan thing in Washington,” said DeFazio, who also judged last year’s Beer Madness.) I was the ninth member and potential tiebreaker.

 

What are the glasses they are using for the tastings? They look kind of neat...