The Battle of the Beers – The Finals (2022)

The Finals

Ok here it is! We’ve finally reached the finals…. and are you ready for it? It’s a true David vs. Goliath match up here! (Ahahaha…. you’ll get the pun in just a bit.) The competition has been dwindled down from 32 beers (and their respective breweries) down to just 2 remaining competitors.

The gladiator pit is filled with the broken glass, crumpled cans, kicked kegs, dented half kegs, and smashed crowlers. Thirty “losers” lay littered about the grounds, of this beer soaked gladiatorial pit, with just two standing high – currently. For there can only be one in this beer – twisted Highlander.

The Competitors

Who all was involved in this tournament (if you are just tuning in – or want a recap):

Below is a straight list of the 32 breweries with their flagship beers, with their Untappd rating, and the order they are ranked in the tournament:

1. The Alchemist – Headdy Topper (4.54)
2. Tree House – Green (4.43)
3. Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Sip of Sunshine (4.33)
4. Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue (4.13)
5. New Holland – Dragon’s Milk (4.06)
6. Dewey Beer – Swishy Pants (4.05)
7. Omnegang – Three Philosophers (3.95)
8. Bell’s Brewery – Two Hearted Ale (3.95)
9. Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds (3.94)
10. Cigar City – Jai Alai (3.93)
11. Rubber Soul – Dropout (3.92)
12. Pizza Boy – Murren River (3.91)
13. Deschutes – Fresh Squeezed (3.91)
14. Rotunda Brewing – Annville IPA (3.9)
15. Hemauer Brewing – Lucky Lobster (3.89)
16. Dogfish Head – 60 Minute (3.85)
17. Boneshire Brew Works – Green Machine (3.8)
18. Troegs Independent Craft Brewing – Perpetual IPA (3.8)
19. RAR Brewing – Nanticoke Nectar (3.8)
20. Bunnyman Brewing – Pink Nightmare (3.78)
21. Victory – Golden Monkey (3.75)
22. Laguinitas – IPA (3.72)
23. Tattered Flag – TMI PA (3.71)
24. Rogue – Dead Guy Ale (3.71)
25. Founder’s – All Day IPA (3.7)
26. Zero-Day Brewing – Mango Habanero (3.69)
27. Snitz Creek Brewery – Blueberry Cream Ale (3.68)
28. Sierra Nevada – Pale Ale (3.63)
29. Moo – Duck Brewery – Hoppy Toad IPA (3.58)
30. New Belgium – Fat Tire (3.58)
31. Yuengling – Lager (3.49)
32. Newcastle – Brown Ale (3.39)

The Selection Process

The selection process was mostly arbitrary (welcome to the world of The Beer Thrillers). Generally, there were a few simple rules I followed:

• It had to be a beer I’ve had before
• It had to have at least a 3 star rating on Untappd
• I tried to pick some well known – nation wide distributed beers, some local breweries (local to us here at The Beer Thrillers), and a few “high end” / “high quality” / “top of the line” brewery flagships.

This is clearly not a list of beers based on any kind of science. This is purely meant for fun and just to have a good time. Please leave all feelings and egos at the door.

Last Week of Voting

This is the finals, and thus the final week of voting. Voting will end on August 4th at 11:59PM (EST). (Thursday into Friday at Midnight.)

Let’s Vote!

Voting is simple! You can vote once per day for your favorite beer. Bookmark the page and come back daily to make your vote. Share the page on your social media platforms to let all of your friends, family, frenemies, hidden Russian bots, and others vote as well.

[perfect_survey id=”9581″]

The Final Two

Who are the final two beasts in this battle? Who is the David and the Goliath I referenced earlier? Well… one is literally a Goliath…. its Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue. The other is newcomer, and still baby (the brewery just had their one year anniversary after all) beer – Von C Brewing’s Walking on Clouds.

Let’s take a closer look at both:

Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue

Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue entered the tournament ranked #4 out of 32 with an overall (at the day of the tournament’s start) Untappd rating of 4.13.

Pseudo Sue:
Style: Pale Ale – American
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 45
Untappd Description: This Citra hop pale ale is delicate in body with a mild bitterness in the finish. Ferocious hop aromas of citrus and mango give a refreshing taste that is bright with just enough bite!
Current Untappd Ranking (7.29.22): 4.13
Total Ratings: 206,890

Toppling Goliath:

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company is a regional brewery from Decorah Iowa. They have 109 unique beers (according to Untappd) with a global average rating of 4.15 (as of 7.29.22). They have over 1 million ratings. Their Untappd description reads: Named 2021 US Beer Open Grand National Champions. Founded in 2009 in beautiful Decorah, Iowa. World-renown for IPAs and barrel-aged stouts, distributing to over 30 states and brewing more than 35 beers. TG prides it’s-self in crafting truly top-shelf beer and is honored to be growing with the support of its many customers worldwide.

Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds

Von C Brewing’s Walking on Clouds entered the tournament ranked #9 out of 32 with an overall (at the day of the tournament’s start) Untappd rating of 3.94.

Walking on Clouds:

Style: IPA – New England / Hazy
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: A juicy Hazy NEIPA bursting with a mosaic of flavors including peach, passionfruit and citrus, with a wonderful mango finish.
Current Untappd Rating (as of 7.29.22): 3.94
Total Ratings: 1,708

Von C Brewing

Von C Brewing is a micro brewery from Norristown, Pennsylvania. They have 44 unique beers (according to Untappd) and have a global average rating of 3.79 (as of 7.29.22). Their Untappd description reads: Von C Brewing Co. is a 20 barrel 16,000 sq’ microbrewery with a 2,500 sq’ tasting room including a spacious outside beer garden in beautiful Norristown, PA, the heart of Montgomery County.

Good Luck to Both Competitors

Just want to say good luck to both competitors and hope them the very best in the Finals! Congrats for making it this far!

Past Battle of the Beers Articles

How did we get to the Finals:

• The Battle of the Beers (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 32 (Voting) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 32 (Results – Recap) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 16 (Voting) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 16 (Results – Recap) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 8 (Voting) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 8 (Results) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 4 (Voting) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – Round of 4 (Results) (2022)
• The Battle of the Beers – The Finals (Voting) (2022)

Wrap Up

Thank you all for checking out the results and participating in the tournament. This is our first Battle of the Beers tournament, but our third tournament overall (after having done a Battle of the Breweries (2021) and a Battle of the Breweries (2022)). These are a lot of fun to run and manage, and its great to see the participation of the fans and community. So I just want to thank everyone for coming to The Beer Thrillers blog and participating in the tournament. You guys make all this happen and without you there would be no tournaments or The Beer Thrillers in general. So we greatly appreciate all your support and everything.

Some Recent Articles of Note

• Weyerbacher Tap Room Indefinitely Closing
• Shy Bear Brewing Expanding into Altoona and Hershey Pennsylvania

Thanks For Reading

Today kicks off the three day weekend of Black Flag Brewing Company’s 6th Anniversary. We are hoping / looking to get to go to it. Tomorrow we might go if we don’t get to go today. Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day, where if we don’t go to Black Flag might see us coming up Schuylkill County direction and maybe hit the brewfest there, as well as other events and breweries. Who knows what the day has in store for us yet.

Just be on the lookout here on the blog, and our social media pages – Facebook and Instagram in particular. Lots of fun things popping up, as well as lots of events, and lots of new articles. So be sure to subscribe and follow and check them all out.

Cheers as always!

-B. Kline

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