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.