The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Conference Finals Results

Conference Finals

It’s all over and wrapped up. The conferences are done, and we are now at our Finals Fatal Four Way!

Whittled down from 160 breweries from across several states (including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington D.C., Indiana, and Kentucky), we are down to just 4 breweries left. Just four breweries left to compete in the Finals Fatal Four Way!

The Conference Finals came down to the following match – ups:

Chinook

• Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery vs. Cox Brewing Company

Nugget

• Von C Brewing Company vs. Allusion Brewing Company

Saaz

• RAR Brewing vs. AleCraft Brewing Company

Walhalla

• Boneshire Brew Works vs. Mad Chef Brewing

There was definitely lots of fireworks in this round of voting! This was one of the most heavily voted rounds we’ve had in the history of doing this tournament (our third year running it).

So let’s take a look at the results.

Conference Finals Results

Like I said, this was a crazy round of voting! What a busy and full week this has been with so many votes coming in. Its so great to see the love and support for the breweries involved. Thank you to everyone who voted.

Chinook Conference Winner

In the Chinook Conference we had number 9 seed – Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery – going up against fellow veteran owned number 10 seed – Cox Brewing Company. Both breweries have been on a tear in the voting, putting up big numbers in each of the last several rounds.

Tattered Flag Brewery put up an absolute dominant performance this round however. (Looking as dominant as Roman Reigns did last night… ….see what I did there… no? … ok….). Tattered Flag Brewery garnered 9358 votes this round. Besting Cox Brewing Company’s 2414 votes. Thats a 6944 vote difference.

They are going to be very tough to beat in the Finals Fatal Four Way.

Nugget Conference Winner

In the Nugget Conference we had 6 seed Allusion Brewing Company battling the defending champions (coming in at the 8 seed) Von C Brewing Company. This was another hotly contested battle. This time Allusion Brewing Company emerged victorious with 2255 votes to 1128 votes. Thats a 1127 voter difference.

It was a battle of East Pennsylvania vs. West Pennsylvania (Norristown vs Vandergrift), and this time West Pennsylvania emerged victorious. (Much like the Penquins beat the Flyers last night – as much as that pains me to admit.)

Allusion Brewing Company will be a strong competitor in the Finals Fatal Four Way.

Saaz Conference Winner

In our third conference, Saaz Conference, we had two strong Maryland juggernauts duke it out. RAR Brewing was a 4 seed taking on the underdog AleCraft Brewing Company (an 11 seed).

Another close battle, (it seems like each conference the voting got closer than the last), but in the end, another underdog picked up the victory with AleCraft Brewing Company getting 1692 votes to RAR Brewing’s 1328 votes. Thats a 364 vote difference.

AleCraft Brewing Company is moving on to the Finals Fatal Four Way and will be the only non – Pennsylvania brewery involved.

Walhalla Conference Winner

In the closest margin of victory, and in the least number of votes, we have the Walhalla Conference winner. In the Walhalla Conference Finals we had two Central PA greats battle it out – with number 8 seed Boneshire Brew Works taking on number 11 seed Mad Chef Brewing.

In only a margin of victory of 151 votes – Mad Chef Brewing will be advancing to the finals. They won with 791 votes to Boneshire Brew Works’ 640 votes. Out of the four conferences this was the closest margin of victory (it was also the lowest amount of total votes as well).

Mad Chef Brewing Company will be the final spot in the Finals Fatal Four Way.

Finals Fatal Four Way

This should be an action packed and fun finals! The top brewery from each of the four conferences duking it out in a finals where only one brewery can emerge victorious!

The Finals Fatal Four Way is:

• (9) Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery vs. (6) Allusion Brewing Company vs. (11) AleCraft Brewing Company vs. (11) Mad Chef Brewing.

Who will emerge victorious out of this group?! Well – you guys get to decide! You the voters will decide on which of these four great breweries get to take home the coveted “Battle of the Breweries (2023) Championship”!

This is our third year running it. Past winners included:

• (2021) – Isle of Que Brewing
• (2022) – Von C Brewing Company

So will we see hoist up the championship, and raise the banner, for 2023?

Voting

In about a half hour I will have the voting page up for everyone to vote on. Unlike previous rounds, the Finals Fatal Four Way is a two week round. So it will run until April 16th, and end at midnight. (Sunday April 16th, at 11:59:59 PM EST to be exact.)

The voting rules are simple: you can vote for just one of the four breweries every time you vote, and you are allowed to vote once per day.

I will also be posting a full article detailing the breweries that are dueling in the finals. Where we break down their tournament run, any relevant articles from the blog, and other factoids and beers we’ve had from their breweries. So please be sure to check out those articles as well once they come out.

The voting page will most likely be up around 10:30 AM (Scarlet is being a wee bit fussy this morning as per normal on Monday mornings, I think she might be related to Garfield). So please keep us bookmarked and stay tuned for that announcement.

Congratulations

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the four remaining breweries and wish them all the best of luck. I have enjoyed visiting all four of them, and they certainly all rank very highly in my opinion. (Amy has been to three of them with me, and has loved the three she visited as well.)

It is a tremendous honor to get to this point in the competition – out of 160 breweries, we are down to just 4 remaining. Thats amazing to think about, and shows the love and support these breweries have.

Even the conference runner ups put in a tremendous effort and deserve some recognition too. Cox Brewing Company, Von C Breiwng Company, RAR Brewing, and Boneshire Brew Works are all amazing breweries and have loved my (and Amy as well) visits to their breweries.

As well as I want to take the moment to thank all of the 160 breweries that shared, linked, pushed, and helped make this tournament a rousing success. You all blow me away with the love, support, and energy you pour into this – as well as what you pour into your breweries (and, by relation – what you pour into my glass). Thank you all for everything you’ve done!

Voting Page

Once I have the voting page up on the blog, I’ll circle back around and post the link here.

Thank You For Reading

This tournament has been a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of work. So thank you to everyone for your patience. WordPress has also been a bit of a bear for much of this, but it appears the tagging, categories, formatting, and other issues got resolved just the past few days (noticed it when writing up the Separatist Beer Project Closure post). So things should be going smoothly – but if you do notice anything not working, please leave a comment or message us through the CONTACT US page or by e – mail at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

It really seems like Scarlet is fussiest when she knows I want to work on this, so I do appreciate you all bearing with me on this as well. She seems to hate Monday mornings (guess I shouldn’t have read her that Garfield comic book that one time). Have no fears though, the voting page will be up shortly (aiming to have it up around 10:30 AM EST).

Hopefully you’ll take the time to check out some of our newest recent articles. We do a lot of writing here at the blog, and its not just for the tournament. So check some of these articles out:

• Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
• Separatist Beer Project Announces Closing of Both Locations
• Fermentery Form Announces Closure
• I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
• Isle of Que Brewing – The Que Brew Crew – Has Announced Their Closing
• Sponsoring with Beer Drop
• BrewDog Pittsburgh Has Closed
• Visiting Virginia Breweries in Fairfax, Sterling, and Ashburn – Or Voyaging in the Land of Animal Breweries – Saying Farewell to Rocket Frog Brewing and Hello to Chubby Squirrel Brewing, Lost Rhino Brewing, and Old Ox Brewery
• From Central PA to the Pacific: A Beer Lover’s Hawaiian Journey An Interview with Alexander B. Gates
• Central PA Pour – Season 2: Episode 8 – The Beer Thrillers
• Book Review: The Blue Zones Challenge: Your Guide to a Healthier, Happier, Longer Life (Daniel Buettner)
• Book Review: A Woman’s Place is in the Brewhouse – A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs (Tara Nurin)
• Beer Review: Bohemia Clara Pilsner (Heineken Mexico)
• Tacos & Beer Las Vegas Joins Forces with Able Baker Brewing Company
• The ARCHIVES (all of our articles in chronological order)

If you enjoyed this, or any of our other articles, please subscribe, follow, and like our posts. It really helps us keep the site ranking high for Google and other algorithms and helps us get the word out.

Thank you all for visiting.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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