32 Beers Enter, 1 Beer Leaves

Very important stuff today. The Washington Post’s Sunday Source section ran a beer “tournament.” The “expert” picks have already been decided, and they are publishing them every Sunday over the next few weeks. They ran down 32 American beers, randomly pitting them against each other. The random nature of the matchups caused extremely disparate styles to be matched up (Abita’s Purple Haze vs. Rolling Rock) and led to some surprising results. Budweiser knocked off Victory Lager 3-2, and Rolling Rock beat Purple Haze 3-2, setting up the RR-Bud showdown in the Sweet Sixteen. Yes, Rolling Rock or Bud will be one of the “Elite Eight.” I do have a soft spot in my heart for my original session beer, Rolling Rock, and I can see how it would beat a raspberry beer, but still. There is no way in hell Budweiser is better than any beer in the US. Other matchups went as expected: Saranac Pale Ale crushed Miller High Life, and Brooklyn Lager did the same to Coors.
Check out the matchups and the results. You can also cast your own votes. I cast my votes on the beers I’ve tried, but there were several matchups whose beers I have not had before. Sounds like a shopping list to me. If I’m feeling up to it, I might just have to recreate the whole thing myself. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?