The Spring Beer Tourney: The Elite Eight

      Now we are down to just eight beers left, sixteen are gone.  The second round was full of upsets, with the lower seed winning 6 out of 8.  The only high seeds left are #2 SA Red and #3 GB Maibock.  There are no #1s, but both #10s.  Well here is the lineup for the Elite Eight.

  Farm, Hops, and Reds

# 10 Farmers Tan  vs  # 6  Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball

# 2  SA Red  vs  # 5  Red Hook Mudslinger

  Bocks Plus

# 10  Abita Mardi Gras Bock  vs  # 3  GB Maibock

# 9  Mendocino Bock  vs  # 5  Pandora's Bock

      This is such a great time in the Tourney for me cause all the crap has been weeded out.  From here on out it's all good.  On to more drinking.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 2 Sam Adam's Red vs # 9 Dundee Red

      Sam Adam's was the class of the reds last year and was in the Final Four.  Dundee was not impressive in the first round, but escaped with a win.  They're both red, but Sam looks a bit thicker.  Sam has nice honey caramel and a hint of citrus and mocha on the nose.  Dundee has sour caramel and a bit of mocha.  Sam has nice clean caramel, citrus and mocha with a hop bite that hits on the finish.  Dundee is still to damn fizzy, but the flavors aren't too bad.  Wait this is so inferior.  Sam's is up by twenty at the half.  People file out, it's over.  By far the most lopsided win  by far.  SA Red is good stuff. Well that's the last of the second round matches, time for the Elite Eight.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 1 Anchor Bock vs # 10 Abita Bock

      This is another # 1 vs # 10 seed battle.  Abita Mardi Gras bock has been a surprise for me, it's pretty good. Anchor Bock was last years runner up.  Anchor is a brown color with honey, caramel, mocha and prune on the nose.  Abita has really nice flavors of honey, caramel and citrus.  It also has a nice bit of body to it.  Anchor also is awash with good  flavors as well.  Mocha, prune, dried fruit, citrus and smoke.  This is a very strong dark bock, nice.  These are both quite good,but this Abita Bock is a real revelation.  I could drink a hundred of each of these, but I'll have a hundred and one Abita Bocks.  Boy not a good year for the one seeds.  Abita moves on to the Elite Eight.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 2 Big Thaw vs # 9 Mendocino Bock

      Big Thaw is a Spring Bock from Dominion, whose Spring Buck won the Tourney last year.  Mendocino Bock beat Aprihop in the first round.  Big Thaw is straw with big caramel, citrus and herb on the nose.  Mendo is amber with a kind of weak citrus and caramel nose.  The thaw is pretty hop heavy, way stronger than the other bocks.  It still has decent caramels and citrus though.  Mendo has real nice flavors of honey, caramel and citrus.  Thaw is a decent hop heavy bock, but this is no contest at all.  Mendocino Bock is quite a bit better.  I can live without Thaw, much worse than last years Spring Buck.  

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 1 Garde Dog vs # 10 Farmers Tan

      This is a bit unfair for the # 1 seed, cause if I hadn't got rid of the terrible Nectar Nugget this would be a cakewalk.  Instead, the # 10 seed is now the very good Southern Tier Farmers Tan.  Against this is one of the final four beers from last year, Flying Dog Garde Dog.  They are both a cloudy straw. The Dog has honey, citrus and farm, while Tan has herb, honey and caramel on the nose.  The Dog has strong flavors of honey,citrus a bit of yeast and farm.  It's pretty good.  Tan is strong with honey, caramel, citrus, herb and farm.  That is such a good beer.  These are really the same beer.  the flavors are quite similar, but the Tan is stronger in flavor and precious alcohol.  They are both good but Farmers Tan is better.  This is hardly fair.  Life is not fair.

Analysis:  Wow a 10 seed beats a 1 seed.  Might be a tourney of upsets.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 4 Harpoon Red vs # 5 RH Mudslinger

      The # 4 seed is Harpoon Celtic Ale, just a classic red.  The # 5 seed is Red Hook Mudslinger.  I get why there would be a lot of mud in Spring, but this is the only brown ale this spring, odd.  Harpoon is orange with nice caramel and a little citrus on the nose.  Mud is light brown with caramel, mocha and floral notes.  Celtic is a standard red with toasted caramel and citrus herb bite.  It's not bad, but not exciting.  Mud is kind of odd, it's a weak brown ale red ale cross, I think.  Caramel, mocha and herb.  I'll keep on and see were it goes.  The Harpoon is decent, but the mud seems a little more interesting.  Neither of these beers inspire me.  I guess Mudslinger is a bit better, but they can both go away as far as I'm concerned.  The Mud moves on.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 3 GB Maibock vs # 6 Yuengling Bock

     Back  in the Bocks Plus Region we have two hopefully yummy bocks. # 3 Gordon Biersch Maibock lost in the first round last year,but they were victims of a bad match-up.  Yuengling Bock is new to the tourney.  GB pours light amber with honey, caramel and citrus on the nose.  Yueng is a very light brown with strong caramel and light mocha.  GB steps up with big flavors of honey and caramel with citrus herb on the finish.  It also brings a big body.  Yueng also brings it strong with the flavor, nice caramel and mocha, but there's a bit of an odd aftertaste.  It has body, but a gulp of the GB washes any trace of it away.  GB has that almost syrupy thick body to it. Nice.  The Yuengling has nice flavors, but Gorden Biersch has it all. GB wins, but I could go for a six of this Yuengling Bock, it's good.

The Spring Beer Tourey: # 3 SA Noble Pils vs Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball

      From the Farms, Hops and Reds Region we have two of the hops. # 3 seed  Sam Adam's Noble Pils against the # 6 seed Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball.  Pils pours out a clear gold with a citrus, herb, floral hop nose with a touch of caramel.  Hairy pours out a reddish brown with prune, floral mocha and caramel.  As I thought last year Noble Pils is a perfect beer to teach people about hop flavors.  You can distinctly taste citrus, herb , floral and other hop notes.  That being said the hop notes are about it besides some background caramels.  And it's a tad bitter on the finish.  Hairy has way more IBU's than Pils, but much less hop dominance.  This has big rich flavors of dried fruit, mocha, caramel, jam and a bit of smoky tang.  I'm not sure what it is but it's good. Noble Pils is a good fresh citrus herb refreshing beer, nice.  But not as nice as The Hairy Eyeball.  Hairy is a big winner her and worth a try.  Drink it up ,Yum.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 4 Vinyl vs # 5 Pandoras Bock

      The # 4 seed is Magic Hat's Vinyl, which has a stupid name and a bizarre bottle, but I liked it last year.  The # 5 seed is Breckenridge Pandora's Bock, which has a great name and a lovely bottle.  Both pour out a light brown amber.  Vinyl has a rich caramel, mocha and citrus nose.  Pandora has a slightly sour caramel and herb nose, kind of weak.  Vinyl has quite a bit of mocha to its caramel, with some tingly citrus herb.  It's good, but I remember it being better.  Pandora has caramel, mocha, honey and a nice rich mouth feel.  There's some hop tingle it's nice and creamy and very good.  The Vinyl seems to improve a bit it has some body and it's flavorful.  But Pandora has a full body and  big complex flavors.  I'll try some sip for sip action.  The Vinyl can't hold up here, Pandora is to strong.  Pandora's Bock moves on easily to the Elite Eight.

The Spring Beer Tourney: On to the Second Round

      Well the first round is over and we have 16 beers left, and 8 have gone home.  There are some intriguing match-ups in the second round, and I think the tops seeds are big time in trouble.  The ten seeds, farmer's tan and Mardi Gras bock, are both pretty damn good.  But, I was wrong so many times last year.  Throwing in the scabs kind off changed the equation. Because all those beers, DT, Nugget Nectar, Blue moon Spring and Shiner would have been destroyed in the next round.  So the seeding is screwed, but at least I don't have to drink that crap again. Well here are the match ups for round two.

      Farm, Hops and Reds                           Bocks  Plus

# 1  Garde Dog  vs                                  # 1  Anchor Bock  vs                  
# 10 Framers Tan                                    # 10 Abita Bock    

# 3  Noble Pils  vs                                   # 3  GB Maibock  vs
# 6  Hairy Eyeball                                    # 6  Yuengling Bock

# 2  Sam Adam's Red  vs                        # 2  Big Thaw  vs
# 9  Dundee Red                                     # 9  Mendocino Bock

# 4  harpoon Red vs                                # 4  Vinyl
# 5  Red Hook  Mudslinger                     # 5  Pandoras Bock

     This looks like some fine drinking for me.  Follow along at home by opening and pounding two beers at once.It's your duty.

The Spring Beer Scabs: # 8 Aprihop vs # 9 Mendocino Bock

      After the dreadful Blue moon and Shirner I'm pretty excited about these scabs.  We have Dogfish Head's Aprihop and Mendocino Spring Bock.  Aprihop was good last year and was in the final eight, Mendocino made quite a good Winter Beer, so this should be good.  They both are an identical amber.  Aprihop, of course, has a big apricot, caramel and herb nose.  Mendo Bock has nice caramels and lots of citrus.  Aprihop is big on the herb, real big, I get the apricot a bit , but the herb is a bit much.  We'll see if it calms down a bit.  Mendo Bock is really big with caramel, fruit, honey and citrus.  A nice bock indeed.  Aprihop does get better as the massive herb subsides and the fruits and caramels come out.  Still the Mendo is a very complete beer, I don't know that Aprihop can compete.  I drink them down to the last sip and Mendo is the clear winner.  But, Aprihop is an interesting beer worth a try if you like your apricots.  That brings the first round to an end, next we set up the brackets for the exciting second round.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 8 Blue Moon Spring vs # 9 Shiner Dortmunder

      Blue Moon made a pretty good Spring Beer last year, but this sounds terrible, Spring Blonde Wheat Ale.  Shiner Dortmunder could be good although I can't figure out exactly what it is.  Blue moon is light gold with some caramel, citrus and biscuit.  Dortmunder is gold with dull caramel and citrus.  Moon is fizzy and crisp with almost no flavor, at least there's no bad flavor.  Dort is sour caramel and barnyard, like an awful farmhouse ale.  I can't believe how lame these are, no flavor vs bad flavors.  these are dogs, get them the fuck out of here I can't stand the thought of having to drink either one of these again.  Since I used replacements in the other region, I'm doing the same here.  Next, the scabs.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 8 Saranac Red vs # 9 Dundee Red

      This brings us two off your standard reds, Saranac Irish Red and Dundee Red.  First off, they are both red.  Saranac has caramel, light mocha and citrus herb on the nose, while dundee is a bit more on the citrus.  Saranac is a classic red and is just what I thought caramel citrus herb with a hint of mocha.  It's a little too damn fizzy.  But the Dundee is so fizzy it caused to burp almost immediately, annoying.  Dundee Red has really the same flavor profile just maybe weaker, although its hard to tell through the fizz.  Once the carbonation calms down, and it took a while, neither of these is very exciting.  They are decent reds, but I would not buy either one of them.  Oh well, Dundee is the winner here, as soon as I could extract the flavor from the fizz.  Just a bit better.

The Spring Beer Scabs: # 7 HS Aarsh vs ST Farmers Tan

      Since the #7 and #10 seeds from the Farm, Hops and Reds Region were so F-ing bad, they have been replaced.  So we bring in two big beers to replace them.  Heavy Seas Aarsh Imperial Red Ale will take the # 7 seed. While Southern Tier's Farmer's Tan Imperial Farmhouse Ale takes over the # 10 seed.  Two imperials head to head.  Aarsh pours out a light red with big caramel, citrus and a touch of yeast on the nose.  Tan pours out a slightly cloudy straw with a strong honey,caramel, and citrus herb nose.  The Aarsh has big yummy flavors here with mocha caramel,and citrus hop throughout, that's good.  Wow Farmer's tan is very impressive as well with nice crisp citrus herb, honey, and caramel.  The Aarsh has a nice body with a pleasant 7 % ABV.  But Farmers Tan has a nicer 9 % ABV, point Farmers.  I really like these both and Aaarsh is the best red I have ever had by a long shot.  This is as close as it gets, but Farmer's Tan pulls away at the end to win this one.  I would recommend both these beers unreservedly.  Again now we have a very good 10 seed, oh well.  Better than me having to drink crappy beer.  Oh yeah, fuck those losers I threw out, those beers sucked.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 7 Founder's DT vs Troeg's Nugget Nectar

      Our next match up in the first round is Founders Double Trouble and Troegs Nugget Nectar.  These are hop heavy beers from the Farm, Hops and Reds Region. And founders DT wins with a 9.4 % ABV.  Just kidding. Actually, Troegs Nugget has a 7.5 so I'll give it a chance. DT is a clear light gold with nice herb, honey and caramel on the nose.  Nugget is a very light amber with herb and strong caramel. Wow, both of these beers are nearly identical, with massive amounts of herbal hop up front, in the middle, and gobs of painfully strong herb on the finish. What do I do with this.  They are both equally worthless. I soldier on , but I still can't really get anything out of these, you can't even taste the alcohol. I fear picking one, cause I'll have to drink more of it. You know what, fuck it, screw them both. These guys are locked out, I'm gonna find some scabs to replace them. Bwa, ha, ha.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 7 Glissade vs # 10 Abita Bock

      This is NOT a play in game, it's a first round game.  In ours Bocks Plus bracket we have a first round match between #7 Sierra Nevada Glissade and #10 Abita Mardi Gras Bock.  Glissade was ok last year they were in the elite 8, but their X-mas beer sucked so they get a 7 seed.  Abita gets a 10 seed based on their stunning inconsistency.  Glissade is a pale straw with caramel, citrus herb nose. Abita is dark gold with a strong honey nose.  Glissade is nice, with caramels, herb a touch of honey.  But the aftertaste is a bit off.  Mardi Gras has honey, caramel, citrus and a hint of mocha.  This is really good,it's woefully under seeded.  Let's see if the Glissade can compete.  Sierra Nevada is a pretty good bock, the flavors are really good, but I still have an aftertaste issue.  Mardi Gras Bock has no real flaws, great flavor, a big winner.  This is a very dangerous beer in this tourney.

The Spring Beer Tourney: Selection Sunday

      It's finally time for the second annual Spring Beer Tourney.  Here, this years batch of Spring Beers are pitted head to head until one champion remains.  Last year the very good Dominion Spring Buck was the winner, and of course they stopped making it.  They do have a new Spring Bock this year that will get a high seed.  Seeding is based on last years beer and with the case of new stuff, if it looks good.  This year some attempt has been made to organize the brackets by style.  Thus we have Farm, Hops and Reds, with some farmhouse ale, some hop heavy offerings and a bunch of Irish Reds.  The other bracket is Bocks Plus, which is almost all bocks with a couple other beers similar in style thrown in.  Well here we go.

                  Farm, Hops and Reds                                        

1.      Flying Dog Garde Dog                               
2.      Sam Adam's Irish Red
3.     Sam Adam's Noble Pils
4.     Harpoon Red
5.     Red Hook Mudslinger
6.     Lagunitas Hairy Eye Ball
7.     Founder's Double Trouble
8.     Saranac Red
9.     Dundee Red
10.     Troeg's Nugget Nectar  

                Bocks Plus

1.    Anchor Bock
2.    Dominion Big Thaw Bock
3.    Gordon Biersch Maibock
4.    Magic Hat Vinyl
5.    Breckenridge Pandora's Bock
6.    Yuengling Bock 
7.    Sierra Nevada Glissade
8.    Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale
9.    Shiner Dortmunder
10.    Abita Mardi Gras Bock

      There we go twenty beers enter one beer leaves.  The first six seeds get a by so basically # 7 vs # 10 and # 8 vs # 9 are sort of like play in games. With the lowest seed remaining facing the # 1 seed and the highest facing the # 2 seed.  So the first four matches are Founder's DT vs Troeg's Nugget Nectar,  Saranac Red vs Dundee Red,  SN Glissade vs Abita Bock  and  Blue Moon Spring vs Shiner Dortmunder.  See how I got the styles to go up against each other this year.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer: The Finals, Duke vs North Carolina

      How chalk can you get the #1 and #2 seeds.  They were both real good though.  NC ( Duck Rabbit Amber ) and Duke ( Highland Gaelic Ale ) now go head to head in the all North Carolina finals.  Duke comes out strong with rich flavors and a big jammy body.  Carolina comes out a bit off, but they seem to get better late.  But Duke is really hitting on all cylinders and their making their threes.  The Heels are too long, strong and quick to stay down forever.  And they are starting to make a run late in the game.  Duke's still up a few late, but this is coming down to the last sip.  Boy Duke is delicious, but Carolina is divine.  Another last second comeback for Carolina to win The ACC Tourney, of Beer.

Analysis and Recap:  Duck Rabbit Amber has this magical ability to get better as you drink it.  It's really good, although the Gaelic Ale is a worthy challenger.  How I would rank the eight beers in the Tourney.

1. Duck Rabbit Amber
2. Highland Gaelic Ale
3. RJ Rockers Bell Ringer
4. Landshark Lager
5. Saint George Golden Ale
6. Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber
7. Starr Hill Amber
8. Sam Adam's Boston Lager

      To wrap up the Tourney I will compose a Haiku to celebrate Duck Rabbit's victory.

                   Duck Rabbit Amber
                   Swirling Flavors of Delight
                   Champion of Beer

      Next it's Selection Sunday for the Spring Beer Tourney.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer: # 1 North Carolina vs # 5 Clemson

      Top seed Carolina ( Duck Rabbit Amber )  faces off against a surprisingly good Clemson ( RJ Rockers Bell Ringer Ale ).  Carolina comes out strong on the flavor, but perhaps a little weak on the body.  That's where Clemson shines with a thick body, and good flavors.  The Heels flavor really holds up well against Clemson's. This is gonna be very close, but Clemson is jumping out to a slight lead.  Still holding the lead late this is gonna come down to the last shot, literally.  Carolina hits a three at the buzzer for the late game winner.

Analysis:  I really thought the Bell Ringer was better almost the whole time, but DR Amber gets better and better.  I swear the last sip was 10 times better than the first.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer: # 2 Duke vs # 3 FSU

      I thought BC ( Boston Lager )would actually crush FSU ( Landshark ) but I was real wrong.  I also have trouble believing they can compete with a power like Duke ( Highland Gaelic Ale ), but we'll see.  Duke is very yummy with lovely flavors, excellent balance, depth and body.  FSU has some game too  though, it's so crisp, clean and refreshing. A classic lager.  Compared to FSU, Duke maybe seems a tad muddy?  Anyway Duke's still out front here, but FSU makes a small run.  It's close late so what is the last sip like.  FSU good, Duke better.  This sis a win for the Blue Devils.

Analysis:  I actually felt the Landshark for a while there, but the Gaelic Ale was just too good in the end.

ACC Beer Tourney: Second Round

      The second round features match ups between the #2 seed Duke and the #3 seed FSU.  Also, top seeded North Carolina versus the #5 seed Clemson.  It's been mostly chalk, but that's why they get the better seeds.  The Spring Beer Tourney is much more wide open.

ACC Beer Tourney: # 1 North Carolina vs # 8 Virginia

      The North Carolina Tar Heels are represented by NC's own Duck Rabbit Amber.  The Virginia Cavaliers have Charlottesville's own Starr Hill Amber on their side.  NC is amber with a rich creamy sweet caramel nose with a bit of citrus.  VA is amber with caramels,herb and perhaps a little yeast. The Heels jump out with their superior talent, but begin to stall.  The Cavs  hit some shots and keep it close early, but the talent isn't there.  The Heels are a bit off  but get better and better, sip after sip. Virginia is just average at best and they can't keep up with the excellence of the Tar Heels.  It's time for people to start heading to their cars this is a blow out.

Analysis:  Starr hill amber is drinkable, but way down on my amber list.  Duck Rabbit is near the top.  I will say the DR Amber tastes a little strange at first, but gets much better.

ACC Beer Tourney: # 2 Duke vs # 7 Maryland

      Duke's representative is Ashville NC's Highland Gaelic Ale.  Maryland has Frederick MD's,  Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber.  Duke is a cloudy Amber with a very fruity sweet caramel nose.  Maryland is a classic amber with a citrus caramel nose.  Duke comes out strong with big flavors of caramel, grape, herb and dried fruit with tingly hop throughout.  The Terps have some big flavors too with caramel, mocha and herb.  Pretty hoppy for an amber.  Duke has got some strong body, they should be able to clean the glass on both ends. But, Maryland has got the stuff to keep in this with their shooters.  It looks like Duke's size and strength is getting to be too much for The Terps.  When it comes down to it Maryland is a little off, not as balanced as The Blue Devils.  Duke holds on against a pesky opponent, but reigns victorious.

Analysis:  The Gaelic Ale is pretty good it 's like a slightly lighter Scotch Ale, but full of flavor.  Old Scratch is a good amber, but there are better out there.

A Brief Interlude: Old Chub

      I just opened a nice can of Old Chub from Oskar Blues Brewing.  It's really good.  Go and get some.  I just noticed that the front of the can says " It's Like Sputnik " WTF.  On the back it says " A Virtual Planetoid " ok.  Are they saying Sputnik was a virtual planetoid?  It wasn't a " virtual " anything.  But who the fuck knows. It smells of drug addled hippies.  Hippies who make great beer.  Why are you reading this instead of going to get some Old Chub.  Oops, that's a picture of the old can, no Sputnik.

ACC Beer Tourney: # 3 Florida State vs # 6 Boston Colledge

      Landshark Lager will be # 3 Florida State and Sam Adams Boston Lager will be # 6 Boston College.  FSU is very crisp and refreshing with nice caramel and citrus.  BC has caramel, a hint of mocha and a surprising herbal hop presence.  FSU jumps out early spotting up and hitting jumpers, this stuff really hits the spot.  BC, however, does not seem to be on their game early on here.  Just kind of average.  Maybe BC can get in rhythm. FSU is real refreshing, and there's no flaws in their game today.  BC is just a little off, FSU is just so clean.  FSU is just on cruise control, and this is a dominating win for them.

Analysis: This was a bit of a shock, Iv'e had Landshark before, see here, and wasn't impressed.  I thought Boston Lager would crush, but the Landshark was so clean and refreshing.  The Sam's was just not as good.  Looking back at my first review of Landshark I mentioned a mold smell.  I'm thinking that was a bad bottle.  Better do another look at it this summer.

ACC Beer Tourney: #4 VA Tech vs #5 Clemson

     #4 Seed  VA Tech is represented by St. george Golden Ale from Southern VA.  #5 Seed Clemson has RJ Rockers Bell Ringer Ale, from Upstate SC, as it's representative.  Tech pours out a dark gold with caramel, yeast and fig on the nose.  Clemson is a very dark gold with honey, dried fruit and citrus.  Tech has nice flavors of honey, caramel and herb, while Clemson has honey, herb, dried fruit and some nice body.  Clemson has some big bodies they can control the paint.  Tech's gonna have to rely on their shooters.  And i'm gonna shoot down some more Tech and a hefty draught of Clemson.  Tech's crisp and refreshing, but Clemson has a thick body and higher ABV.  Ummm, delicious alcohol.  Clemson just has too much size their dominating the boards and getting a lot of  second chances.  Tech's falling more behind it just can't make enough shots to keep up.  This is a big win for Clemson, once again Tech chokes in a big game.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer

      Well, March is the month that brings us the amazing Spring Beer Tourney, and another lesser known basketball tournament.  But, I just realized there's still more than a week till Selection Sunday.  So what shall I do?  Well this is ACC Country so it's the ACC Tourney, of beer.  I'm taking what I think are the top 8 teams in the ACC.  Here's who I will eliminate and why.  Wake Forest is the worst team in ACC history, they would get bounced in the first round of the Women's Tourney.  NC State blows and there's to many NC teams.  Georgia Tech sucks and and their rascists.  Last man out, The U, Fuck The U.  That leaves us with the top eight and here's how I see them finishing.

1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia Tech
5. Clemson
6. Boston College
7. Maryland
8. Virginia

      Your thinking, why doesn't he wait till the seeding is final?  Because there are only so many beers you can objectively try in one day.  Sure, I can drink ten, but I can only comment on the first few.  So, here's the beers that will represent these fine institutions.

1. Duck Rabbit Amber,  NC's finest.
2. Highland Gaelic Ale, produced somewhere near Duke.
3. Landshark Lager, the only Florida Beer I could find.
4. St. George Golden Ale, a little East of Blacksburg, but VA.
5. RJ Rockers Bell Ringer, Somewhere in SC.
6. Sam Adam's, a Boston fahkin non qweeyah beeyah.
7. Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber, a little North West of campus.
8. Starr Hill Amber, right in Charlottesville.

      So it's 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc. you get the drill. Now this is of course judged strictly on the beer so Duke won't get 20 phantom calls every game to win.  So prepare for a week of the ACC Tourney, of Beer.

Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

      Founders is a new brewery for me out of Michigan, so I hope for good things from them. Dirty Bastard pours out a dark red brown with a strong wine, mocha, dried fruit and alcohol nose.  The flavors are pretty strong.  Big mocha, plum, tingly hop, some herb and some awesome.  I really like Scotch Ale, but this is extraordinary. It's strong, full of flavor, heavy and Scottish,  so it's not crap.  I would highly recommend this to non pussies who like a big strong beer.  A big winner.

Full Sail LTD Lager 04

      Apparently this is Full Sail's 4th batch of their Limited Lager Series.  Full Sail's Session Lager is maybe the best lager I've had and I have had a number, a great number. And, with my serious beer commitments it's unusual for me to drink a lot of any one beer.  Anyway, I've just doomed this beer so let's get to it. The bottle cap says " Lorax Trees Decimated ", cool.  LTD pours out a light gold with a lush caramel and citrus hop nose.  Very crisp straight caramel, with citrus herb flavors.  I like this, it's a well crafted lager with nice flavor.  However, I really think they over thought this. It's inferior to their Session Lager by a fair margin.  Now I could knock these back all day.  But why would I when I can buy a superior Lager, from the same brewery, cheaper.  It does not make sense.  It does not make sense.

Yard's Tavern Spruce

      One of the best beers I remember was a spruce beer my sister and I made many moons ago.  I have not seen many on the market, this is the first commercial one I'll have tried.  Yards  pours out a slightly cloudy light brown,  and has a really sweet almost cola like nose.  Maybe with a hint of root beer.  That's funny it does't taste like that.  It's got sweet herb floral flavors as well as caramels, vanilla and a hint of fruit.  This is a pretty interesting beer, the flavors mesh well, it's balanced and has some body.  I like this but I think I'll have to try a couple more to be sure.  Worth a try, you could come to like this.  Winner.

Kelpie Seaweed Ale

      Well, I have found a number of unique beers lately, but this might take the cake.  It is in fact made with seaweed.  Kelpie pours out a very dark brown with mocha, caramel and a salty tang on the nose.  There's nice big solid mocha flavors, with a rich sweet caramel .  I don't get much seaweed here, but this is a really nice dark beer.  I forgot to mention it does have a bit of nice crisp hop.  Serve this less than ice cold it got better as it warmed up.  I could also start to taste the sea, but in a pleasant way.  This is surprisingly good, I will get this again.  Recommended.  Almost time for the madness that is the Spring Beer Tourney.

He'Brew Rejewvenator

      I loved He'Brew Jewbelation 14 soooo much I decided to try some of their other products.  Rejewvenator is a half Dopplebock,  half  Dubbel brewed with concord grape juice. OK.  Well it's worth a try,  especially the 8.2% ABV.  It pours out a slightly purple dark amber and has herb, grape and caramel on the nose.  Boy the flavors are all over the place.  Of course there's grape and herb, as well as raisin, white spice and yeast.  It's a bit strange,  I'm not sure about this mix of flavors.  As I soldier on I find this pleasant enough,  but this isn't something I would go seek out again.

Abita Abbey Ale

      Abita has been a disappointing brand for me,  but this Abbey Ale looked good.  They also caught my eye with 8% ABV.  Abbey pours out a nice dark amber with a strong caramel, spice and yeast nose.  The flavor is bursting with caramel, coriander, and sort of raisin berry.  The caramels are what shine, even mitigating that coriander flavor I'm not to fond of.  This is a winner, good big flavors, body and booze, what's not to like.  Abita could win me back with nice beers like this.  I say go drink Abbey Ale and be merry.  

Bateman's Combined Harvest

      This is an unusual entry from across the pond.  Combined Harvest is brewed with Wheat, rye, barley and oats.  This should be unique at least.  It pours out a slightly medium gold with caramels and grain on the nose.  The flavor is very sweet with nice caramels and a very distinctive lightly roasted grain flavor.  Kind of hard to describe, but a really pleasing flavor.  It's quite pleasant to drink and has some body to it.  It is a low alcohol beer so it does have one glaring weakness.  This is really worth looking into it's so unique.  I could see this becoming some peoples favorite beer.. Not me,  it's too weak.  Still,  try it.

Lagunitas Gnarleywine

      Lagunitas seems to be one of the only Breweries that make massively hopped beers that are also perfectly balanced.  It's amazing how few others can pull this off.  They are turning in to one of my favorite breweries.  Gnarleywine pours out a red orange thicker than oil.  The nose has strong herb, raisin, caramel, citrus and spice. Wow, that's some strong stuff.  It has gigantic hop flavors,  really huge herbal citrus.  But wait,  there's also tons of other yummy flavors.  That classic mix of dried fruit flavors, big caramels, spice, and your herb and citrus.  Very tasty and the body on this is titanic.  Add in the nice 10.6%ABV,  and you've managed to balance out that cascade of hop,  a whopping 75 IBU's.  Full Sail managed to completely ruin Bump in the Night which much less hop.  Once again Lagunitas has made another really good beer, well worth trying and cellaring.  Well played.

Diamond Knot Brown Ale

      Diamond Knot is another Washington State Brewery,  and I hope they are as good as The Pike or Scuttlebutt.  Knot Brown pours out a cloudy light brown with a nice caramel,  mocha and light citrus nose.  The flavor is terrible with very sour citrus, burnt mocha and a weak body.  I have to stop here this tastes like it has spoiled and I hope that's the case,  cause this is painfully bad.  I will try another one later and if it's this bad Diamond Knot will be cursed to eternal damnation.

The Pike Naughty Nellie

      The Pike, out of Seattle, has only failed me once,  and that was a good try.  This is their Golden Artisan Ale, which sounds nice.  Nellie pours out a very cloudy straw,  and has citrus, caramel and a touch of herb on the nose.  Boy,  there's way more hop pop than I expected.  Very crisp,  with nice sweet caramels.  A hoppy flavorful ale, kind of basic,  but that's OK if it's well crafted.  I do think there is a bit too much herb on the back end that messes up the aftertaste a bit.  Not one of their best,  but worth giving a try.

He'Brew Jewbelation

      I've never had He'Brew but I have had one of their Coney Island Brand.  This is their 14th anniversary beer in a nice big bottle with a startling 14% ABV.  You had me at 14%.  It was only 5 bucks too.  Jewbelation pours out like oil, black and heavy.  The nose is multifold, strong mocha, prune, other dried fruits like cherry cranberry,  and a hint of herb.  The flavor is equally complex.  Among the flavors are strong mocha, prune, massive burnt caramel, smoke and other fruits, it's just amazing.  This is so thick and rich a massive beer.  Oh yeah there's some hop in there as well.  This is a great beer, it's like an extra dark super barleywine.  This giant beer isn't for everyone,  like big pussies, but it's one of the best I've ever had.  Search it out if it's well worth it.  But don't look for it in the Total Wine in Sterling, cause I went back and bought the rest.  This would be a great beer to cellar.  Awesome.

Full Sail Sanctuary

      After the total debacle that was Full Sail Bump in the Night,  I wanted to try another Full Sail beer to get the suck out of my mouth.  Please restore some of my faith in your brewery.  Oh yeah this a Belgian Style Dubbel.   It pours out copper with a weak honey, caramel and a bit o citrus nose.  There's a surprising hop presence, it's quite crisp but a bit fizzy.  Lots of honey and caramel flavors with a decent medium body and a pleasant bit of alcohol.  It's not bad although it took a little while to warm up to then I really started to like it.  A nice beer that restores a little of my faith.  But it will take more than that Full Sail.

Sierra Nevada Porter

      I hope I can cleanse the suck out of my mouth from the Full Sail Bump in the Night.  This should be pretty safe, a nice porter from Sierra Nevada.  I'm sorry I'm gonna have to skip this.  I started drinking it and I can still taste that awful Bump,  F U Bump in the night.  I swear I'll do this beer another time.  This is a first.

Full Sail Bump in the Night

      I love Full Sail they have made great beer after great beer.  This is a Cascadian Dark Ale, whatever that means.  It pours out a light brown with a strong citrus herb nose,  way too strong,  on the nose.  I think there's a touch of mocha in there somewhere.  My first impression is terrible, what the hell is Full Sail doing.  I'll keep trying.  It stays equally bad as I try and choke this trash down.  Finally I have to pour most of the bottle down the sink.  I was really looking forward to another good beer from Full Sail,  and this is a massive disappointment.  One of the worst beers ever.

Mission Street Brown Ale

      Since I can find no website for this I assume it's another Trader Joe's label.  Mission pours out light brown with lots of caramel, light mocha and a touch of herb.  It has some nice citrus herb up front, but boy there is no flavor.  The body is shockingly weak,  this is mildly flavored water.  I was going to continue,  but this is so lame and awful.  A big loser.  Oh,  I see Beer Advocate gave it a B,  that is so insane and absurd.  No credibility.

Southern Tier Krampus

      Because this is called Krampus it must be a Christmas Beer,  but it just showed up in my store a little while ago.  Strange.  I had to try this cause Krampus is an excellent name for a beer.  Last time I had Southern Tier I was saying I hated them, and I used the words, terrible,  wretched and putrid. I hope this is better.  It pours out a medium gold with a massive herbal hop nose.  Oh no.  The first sip is awful.  Just a massive sledgehammer of painful herb.  I will keep trying to see if I can find other flavors.  It gets somewhat better when you get used to it, especially when the 9% ABV kicks in.  However,  this still sucks giant balls.  Southern Tier should drown themselves in barrels of this swill they call beer.  I hate them more.  Die.

Trader Joe's Hoffbrau Bock

      A Trader Joe's product, which usually means it 's pretty good.  Hoffbrau pours out a clear gold with a caramel, citrus and herb nose.  It brings some caramels with a lot of citrus herb.  It's also very fizzy with a nice sweetness.  Really over carbonated in an annoying way.  This is a solid bock,  not exciting,  but a nice beer.  Worth a try,  but there's a lot better bocks out there.  Probably find that out in the Spring Tourney.

Blue Dawg Wild Blue

      Blue Dawg, got that name sucks,  brings us a Blueberry Lager.  It pours out insanely purple with a strong Blueberry soda nose.  Yeah.  And it is in fact just an alcoholic blueberry soda.  It has no beer like qualities.  Now I think it's a very nice beverage.  One you should give a try, especially if your a wuss that loves fruity girl drinks.  I don't know where this hides its 8% ABV, you can't taste it.  This would be great stuff to get girls drunk with.  I prefer every other blueberry beer I've tried to this, cause they were beers.  Still, an interesting beverage.

Lagunitas Pils

      Lagunitas brings us a Czech style Pilsner, Pils.  I like Lagunitas, they are the only ones who seem to make staggeringly hopped beers that achieve perfect balance.  Pils has sweet caramel on the nose and pours out a clear medium gold.  Wow, Pils is nice and crisp with very nice caramels, and great mild herb and citrus hop flavor.  Also notable is the 6.2 % ABV,  which gives it a nice presence in the mouth.  This is a really nice beer that I think would drub any actual Czech Beers.  Which would be a good idea,  American VS Czech.  Maybe I'll do that after the Spring Tourney.

Cow Fight Final: The Beat Down in the Barnyard: Bag VS Hand

      Long Trail's Bag destroyed The Thunder while Left Hand crushed The Caster.  Now the final powerful struggle between these two courageous killer cow competitors commences.  Bag has a big body nice complex flavors, although there's a touch of an off flavor on the finish, maybe.  The Hand brings those big mocha flavors and a nice touch of sweetness.  That's a weaker body on this warrior though.  Maybe Hand can get a finesse win.  The Bag steps up again with that great mouth feel and honey alcohol vibe.  Bags flavors even stand up to the big mocha of The Hand.  Hands purity of flavor has the edge, but it needs more heft and as always more alcohol.  While the straight flavors of The Hand shine,  The Bag brings a lovely complexity with its caramel, honey citrus and herb flavors.  While both of these cows are fierce fighters The Bag throws a vicious blow to the tenderloin sending The Hand to the canvas.  The Bag steps on the throat of his fallen foe, ending it.
      While both of these beers are good the Double Bag is the one I would hands down recommend first.  It's interesting flavors, superior body and of course it's 8% ABV,  make it a winner.  This is one you need to try,  I will get more soon.  Although with the Spring Beer Tourney coming up I don't know when I'll find the time.

Cow Fight 2: Milk Stout Mayhem: Lancaster VS Left Hand

      Lancaster produced a very nice Winter Beer,  while the last time we saw Left Hand they were over hopping some Pale Ale.  Here we have two milk stouts we will call The Caster and The Hand, in a one on one, bone crushing cow conflagration.  First up in this titanic struggle for cow dominance is The Caster.  Caster brings a sweet and sour flavor with nice light mocha.  A pleasant flavor to be sure, but the body has the stature of Verne Troyer.  The Hand has a bit of that lactose sweetness, but lacks the sour note of The Caster.  What it does have is more traditional big stout flavors of mocha and coffee.  Also, The Hand has some weight behind him unlike his opponent.  The Caster has a unique flavor and it's a pleasant enough fellow.  However, in a fight, The Hand has much bigger flavors and a bigger body.  The better to crush the Caster in it's steely grasp.  The Hand wins easily by submission.

Cow Fight: Moo Thunder VS Double Bag

      Everyone Knows that cows are vicious animals always looking for a good scrap.  Just work with me here.  Due to the violent and unpredictable nature of cows, I thought I would take some cow themed beers and have them fight to the finish.  First up is Butternuts Moo Thunder, truly a fear some name, versus Long Trail Double Bag.  A fearsome name for a different reason.  What guy doesn't fear ending up with a double bagger.  Thunder is a farmhouse stout and Bag is a strong ale.  Let's begin with, Thunder versus, The Bag.
      The Bag struts out citrus herb hop through to the finish, and caramel, jam, honey and a hint of yeast.  The flavors are nice, but what sets apart The Bag is it's big full body.  That almost syrupy thickness that feels so nice in the mouth.  Next up is Thunder with a heap of vanilla, some mocha and a bit of that earthy farmhouse flavor.  Very nice, but Thunder has the body of Stephen Hawking.  Very weak for a stout.  The Bags substantial flavors and powerful body sweep away the stout flavors with but a sip.  Another pull on Thunder brings its flavors to the fore.  The Bag is strong, it stomps on the puny  Moo Beer.  Bag Crush.
      The Thunder on it's own might have been pretty good, the flavors are nice.  It just was like water next to Double Bag.  The bag has everything, flavor, crisp hop, body, balance and most importantly, lots of alcohol.  The Bag reigns triumphant.

Heavy Seas Siren Noire

      Oh,  Heavy Seas you produce such good beers,HERE and then utterly undrinkable garbage, HERE and HERE.  So to get back to just mediocre they need a winner.  Of course,  Imperial Chocolate Stout, sounds like a winner to me.  Noire, of course, pours out black as night with a staggering amount of chocolate on the nose.  There's nice hop bite all around strong chocolate and mocha flavors. This has a heavy body with a buttery quality to it.  The chocolate flavors have amazing depth and quality. I could see how some would complain that it's not that beer like, being more alcoholic chocolate.  I would disagree, I think there's enough hop here to bring it into the realm of beer.  I loved Young's Double Chocolate Stout, but this is way better.  This is great, the chocolate lover will adore this.  One of my favorites,  although this is not an easy drinking beer, more a dessert.

Scuttlebutt Amber Ale

      Scuttlebutt just appeared in stores around here and I really liked their Winter Beer.  This would be their Amber Ale.  Amber is the perfect all-purpose beer.  Good in any weather.  Flavorful, But not to strong for those pussies who don't like big beers. Not too big, not to little,  just right.  Scuttlebutt pours out a cloudy amber with massive sweet caramel, slight herb and citrus nose.  This is a nice crisp amber with gobs of caramel.  It also has a nice hop bite with a little citrus herb tone.  Nice balance, classic flavors,  a winner.  Perhaps, not as good as Duck Rabbit's or Full Sail,  but worth a look.  A classic done well.

Brooklyn Monster Ale

      This will be the fiftieth Winter Beer and I'll finally be done.  This year.  Next year I'll try and divide the Winter Beers into some sub sets so it will all make more sense.  This is one off the other seasonals from Brooklyn, Monster.  It pours out copper with an herb, caramel and fruit.  There's quite a bit of herbal hop here, but also a lot of alcohol, body and dried fruit that more than balances this out.  This is a classic Barleywine, nice flavors good pop, yummy alcohol.  It's good.

Jenlain Noel

      This is a French Christmas Beer so I'm sure it will surrender it's flavor to me.  And, of course the Germans.  It comes in a nice beautiful big bottle with a fancy cork.  Looks like it would make a nice gift if it tastes any good.  Jenlain pours out copper with that skunky hop, caramel, mocha and a touch of spice.  There is quite a hop presence, along with nice caramels and a touch of vague spice.  It's also quite fizzy, but with very little head. This is a straight up good beer in the Farm House Ale mode.  I'm getting a bit of mocha on the finish.  It's good, but not special, I wouldn't pay a lot for it.

Scuttlebutt 10 Below Ale

      Scuttlebutt is a new Brewery for me, and I like their nice big bottles.  This one has a fitting seasonal polar bear on it.  10 Below pours out a cloudy dark brown and has a huge mocha, citrus and caramel nose.  It's surprisingly crisp with big flavors of mocha, coffee, caramel and a bit of spice.  10 Below has few flaws, a great mix of flavors with some hop pop and a nice overall balance.  This is really good Winter Beer, I heartily recommend it.Look forward to their other offerings.

Lancaster Winter Warmer

      Again with the Winter Beers.  It's amazing how I tirelessly plow through beer after beer just to bring knowledge to the people.  I should be sainted.  Anyway, Lancaster's Winter offering pours out a dark brown with nice coffee, mocha and caramel.  Wow, this stuff has very rich mocha and coffee flavors that really linger on the finish.  The malts here are massive leaving the hops much in the background.  You do get bitterness from the coffee that makes up for it.  This is a big flavored thick beer, exactly what I like in the Winter.  I really like this and would seek this out if it's your style, a real winner.