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The Battle of the Beers – The Finals (2022)

B. Kline — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 16:19:55 +0000

The Finals of the Battle of the Beers (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:

The Alchemist – Headdy Topper (4.54)
Tree House – Green (4.43)
Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Sip of Sunshine (4.33)
Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue (4.13)
New Holland – Dragon’s Milk (4.06)
Dewey Beer – Swishy Pants (4.05)
Omnegang – Three Philosophers (3.95)
Bell’s Brewery – Two Hearted Ale (3.95)
Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds (3.94)
Cigar City – Jai Alai (3.93)
Rubber Soul – Dropout (3.92)
Pizza Boy – Murren River (3.91)
Deschutes – Fresh Squeezed (3.91)
Rotunda Brewing – Annville IPA (3.9)
Hemauer Brewing – Lucky Lobster (3.89)
Dogfish Head – 60 Minute (3.85)
Boneshire Brew Works – Green Machine (3.8)
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing – Perpetual IPA (3.8)
RAR Brewing – Nanticoke Nectar (3.8)
Bunnyman Brewing – Pink Nightmare (3.78)
Victory – Golden Monkey (3.75)
Laguinitas – IPA (3.72)
Tattered Flag – TMI PA (3.71)
Rogue – Dead Guy Ale (3.71)
Founder’s – All Day IPA (3.7)
Zero-Day Brewing – Mango Habanero (3.69)
Snitz Creek Brewery – Blueberry Cream Ale (3.68)
Sierra Nevada – Pale Ale (3.63)
Moo – Duck Brewery – Hoppy Toad IPA (3.58)
New Belgium – Fat Tire (3.58)
Yuengling – Lager (3.49)
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:

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

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

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

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The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. Thank you!

The Battle of the Beers – The Final Four – Results (2022)

B. Kline — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 14:43:44 +0000

The Battle of the Beers – The Final Four (Results Page) (2022)

Then There Was Four… And Now There is Two

Another round of hard fought battles is over, and the dust is settling this fine Friday morning. Where once stood four gladiators now stands two, and the broken glass and cans of the other two lay at their feet (…or base of their bottle). We are now at our final two competitors, the finals, the end, the completion of this long and grueling, arduous competition – all to declare who is the toughest, the strongest, the most fittest of thirty two flagship beers practically chosen at random by myself.

Results

Let’s dive into the Final Four’s results:

(4) Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue (with 31 votes) defeated (1) The Alchemist – Heady Topper (with 12 votes)
(9) Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds (with 120 votes) defeated (18) Troegs Independent Craft Brewing – Perpetual IPA (with 21 votes)

Statistics

Toppling Goliath was the only upset victory this week – with a (4) over a (1).
Von C Brewing was the only favorite victory this week – with a (9) over a (18).
Von C Brewing’s Walking on Clouds had the most votes again this week with 120 votes.
This was 99 votes over Troegs Brewing’s Perpetual IPA.

The Finals

This makes us all set for the finals now, and what a finals its looking to be!

It will pit Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue vs. Von C Brewing’s Walking on Clouds. Its looking to be a true “David vs. Goliath” match up here (ahahahaha…. get the pun…. get it? ….Do you see it? Get it? …Sigh.)

The voting article will be posted shortly. All prior rules still apply for the Finals. You can vote daily, you can share the post to get as many people voting as possible, etc. The voting will end on August 4th at 11:59PM EST. (So next Thursday into Friday at Midnight it will end.)

Past Battle of the Beers Articles

How did we get to the Finals:

Wrap Up

Some Recent Articles of Note

Thanks For Reading

Tomorrow we will be down in Newfreedom for a memorial service for my Aunt Linda. After that, we might be going to various places, not sure. This weekend is also the Black Flag Brewing Company’s 6th Anniversary, so we might be stopping there. There is also the Schulkyll Brewfest this weekend. So might try and get there for that too. I might be going with Drew or Amy today to the Black Flag Brewery, if not today, then possibly tomorrow after the service. But as everything else, the future is fluid, so who knows. Thanks for reading!

Well, wherever we’ll end up, ya’ll will know it!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Battle of the Beers – Round of 4 (2022)

B. Kline — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 16:05:00 +0000

The Battle of the Beers (2022) Continues With the Final Four

It’s the Final (….four)…. Count Down

Its the final four…. count down. Four flagship beers remain. Four breweries who brewed those flagship beers remain. They hail from all parts of… well… the United States, and they have all entered into this gladiator pit (pretty much unwillingly, I kind of just picked them, threw them in there, and you guys voted on them like a bunch of Roman Emperors, determining who survives and who doesn’t). But anyway, these fine gladiators come here to duke it out, and see who goes on to our finals next week.

Yes, that means its the Final Four! And basically the semi finals of the tournament! The four breweries that remain are:

The Alchemist (from Stowe, Vermont)
Toppling Goliath (from Decorah, Iowa)
Von C Brewing (from Norristown, Pennsylvania)
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing (from Hershey, Pennsylvania)

The Final Four Competitors

Its interesting to note the final four that we have. The Alchemist and Toppling Goliath are giants in the feed, well known from across the country. Troegs Independent Craft Brewing is a regional staple in the eastern area with a decently large distribution footprint – especially well known in Pennsylvania (its the second largest brewery in the state), and there is the little David in this fight – Von C Brewing out of Norristown, PA. Who have been on a hot streak, as a new brewery, wracking up wins and records all over the place. The biggest – as far as we are concerned here at The Beer Thrillers – is they won this year’s Battle of the Breweries (2022). You can see their win here: And the Winner Is….. (2022).

So this is certainly a heated up final four. Two industry giants and favorites, a brewery that is a regional giant and is celebrating their 25th anniversary, and a brewery just over a year old that keeps winning awards and medals left and right. So who becomes the true winner? We shall see! You guys will decide!

Who Did We Lose?

Who did we lose and that didn’t make it from the Elite Eight to the Final Four? (Because sadly, somebody’s bottle has to be broken.) They were:

(14) Rotunda Brewing Company – Annville IPA
(23) Tattered Flag – TMI PA
(3) Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Sip of Sunshine
(11) Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Dropout

How Did They Get Here?

How did we get here with these brewed gladiators? Check out these other pages of the tournament to find out:

Voting

The remaining schedule of voting for the tournament goes as such:

Round of 4: July 22nd – July 28th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 2: July 29th – August 4th at 11:59PM (EST)

You can vote daily, so be sure to bookmark and come back and vote each day. Also be sure to share this post on all of your different social media platforms to get your friends and fans to vote as well.

So let’s vote:

[perfect_survey id=”9550″]

Things Are Certainly Heating Up

And I don’t just mean the temperature – which it is that too (it has been a scorcher of a week here in Central PA). But we are down to the Final Four of the tournament, so we have just two rounds left. This week and next week’s finals heads up matchup. Who will walk away top dog / top beer / top whatever? You guys will decide!

Wrap Up

Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots Going On

There is always lots and lots and lots and lots going on here at The Beer Thrillers. Please check out the site, look at all the different articles by numerous writers (myself – B. Kline, Josh – J. Doncevic, Default Brewing, Karl’s great homebrewing article, Amy’s articles, etc.). With us being halfway through the year, we have a new slew of content that is out, or is coming out shortly (list articles and the such), so be on the lookout for that. Also the layout should soon be getting a change, so that will hopefully make the site look nicer. (Excuse the dust while we work.)

There is always beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, and news so always be checking back to see that. Also look for upcoming podcasts, and even YouTube videos soon. And if you check out our Facebook page, you’ll see that I occasionally do live video game streaming with our friend Drew over at Knights of Nostalgia.

Thanks For Reading

Thank you all so very much for participating in the tournament! Hope your having as much of a blast in it as we are running it here! Try and stay cool and drink some good beers on this hot day!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Battle of the Beers – Round of 8 (2022)

B. Kline — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 13:00:31 +0000

The Round of 8 of The Battle of the Beers (2022)

We’re Moving On

The competition is slimming down again, getting hardened by steel and flint, and moving on. The victorious are once again trudging into battle whilst the defeated head home with their heads low – some on the backs of their shields, spears across their chest.

That’s right, we’re now onto the next round and stage of The Battle of the Beers. We’ve gone from 32 competitors to 16, and now to 8. The battle is beginning to really heat up as we start getting closer and closer to the true champion.

Might this all be hyperbole? 100%…. but either way ‘ya’ gotta love it as we forge on in this great testament of will and power and hop and barley and malt!

So let’s see who all is left!

The Final 8 Competitors

So let’s see who these tried and true, tested and vetted warriors of the Beer Gladiator Pits are:

The Alchemist (with Heady Topper)
Rotunda Brewing (with Annville IPA)
Tattered Flag (with TMI PA)
Toppling Goliath (with Pseudo Sue)
Lawson’s Finest Liquids (with Sip of Sunshine)
Von C Brewing (with Walking on Clouds)
Rubber Soul (with Dropout)
Troeg’s Brewing (with Perpetual IPA)

How Did They Get Here

How did we get here with these brewed gladiators? Check out these other pages of the tournament to find out:

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)

Remaining Weeks of Voting

The remaining voting schedule is as such:

Round of 8: July 15th – July 21st at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 4: July 22nd – July 28th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 2: July 29th – August 4th at 11:59PM (EST)

Rules

The rules are relatively simple. Each day you can vote (so make sure you come back daily to vote), just open up this article and go through the voting block clicking on the beers you want to win. You can share and post this on your various social medias to help the beers you want to win. (In fact…. I highly recommend you share this article as often and in as many places as possible. Hell, even post a screenshot of it on your library’s community board… why not?!)

Enough Yammering…. Lets Vote!

Alright, alright, I hear ya… enough yammering. Let’s get right down to it and vote:

[perfect_survey id=”9507″]

Remember – you can vote daily. So be sure to come back and keep voting!

Blog Update

There’s been quite some news here for us at The Beer Thrillers. Amy and I are expecting our first daughter (together) (I have three daughters with my ex – wife). She is due in November.

But we do have lots of stuff on the lookout. We are still working on getting the podcast set up and to go live (or recorded) with that soon. We are also looking at getting a new layout for the blog, that will hopefully look a lot nicer, be smoother, and easier to use.

We also have some great new articles I am hoping that will be all dropping in the next few days – including a few brewery reviews / visits as well as getting some beer reviews done (I know its been a little bit of a while), as well as several news articles. We also have some big articles that will be dropping as well. (Also, hope you all like ‘list’ articles, because we have several with it being the halfway point of the year. I know a lot of blogs and pages are doing similar, and we’ve decided to follow suit. So, hopefully that will rank up there with some stuff you all will enjoy.) Lots of these should be up now, or up in the near future. As well as several articles about the US Beer Open Competition. (Like Wallenpaupack Brewing’s two gold medals, Wolf Brewing’s one gold medal, and Sun King Brewery winning Grand National.)

Amy is also transitioning to her new job, so she is a bit busy, but will be getting back into the flow here at TBT – HQ (The Beer Thrillers HQ…. like I said…. name in progress.)

But thank you all for all the continued support you are showing us here at the blog and our social medias. It really means a lot. We just hit 2K followers on Facebook and we’ve been hovering right around 500 followers on Instagram. So thank you all very much for following us! We appreciate all the love and support so very very very very much!

As always, we are looking to grow, expand, and innovate here at The Beer Thrillers. These tournaments are a blast to run, and I hope everyone is enjoying them just as much as we are hosting them. We are always on the lookout for writers as well and other people who would like to become involved with The Beer Thrillers, if you are interested, you can contact us directly at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com and we will get back to you.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks For Reading

Once again – as always – thanks for reading. I hope you are enjoying the tournament, as well as the wrap up and heads up on the state of the blog. (Some of that was copy and pasted from the Round of 32 post, but it holds true all the same.) Lots of stuff going on here at the blog, both behind the scenes, and in front of your screens. So keep your eyeballs peeled… well… that just sounds nasty… whatever… just stay on the lookout!

This tournament has been a blast so far, and I hope you are all enjoying it as well. Keep voting and sharing! We are coming down to the wire, lets see who wins our first Annual Battle of the Beers!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Battle of the Beers – Round of 16 Results (2022)

B. Kline — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 12:01:47 +0000

The Battle of the Beers – Round of 16 Results (2022)

The Round of 16

Competition is slimming down again as we enter week three and move onto the final eight beers and their corresponding breweries. The round of 16 has just wrapped up and its time to announce the winners and what beers are moving on to round of 8.

First, let’s take a look at how we got here.

The Battle of the Beers

We are now onto week three of the Battle of the Beers, and its down to eight beers left. So how did we get here? Well glad you asked – because it lets me link you to the articles that have discussed that:

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 Round of 16 Results

(1) The Alchemist – Heady Topper (18 votes) defeated (17) Boneshire Brew Works – Green (15 votes)
(14) Rotunda Brewing – Annville IPA (20 votes) defeated (12) Pizza Boy – Murren River (12 votes)
(23) Tattered Flag – TMI PA (24 votes) defeated (8) Bell’s Brewery – Two Hearted Ale (14 votes)
(4) Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue (29 votes) defeated (6) Dewey Beer Co – Swishy Pants (6 votes)
(3) Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Sip of Sunshine (26 votes) defeated (28) Sierra Nevada – Pale Ale (12 votes)
(9) Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds (77 votes) defeated (7) Ommegang – Three Philosophers (16 votes)
(11) Rubber Soul – Dropout (23 votes) defeated (13) Deschutes Brewing – Fresh Squeezed (11 votes)
(18) Troegs Brewing – Perpetual IPA (22 votes) (2) Tree House – Green (16 votes)

News and Notes and Statistics

Some statistics of the Round of 16:

Von C Brewing’s Walking on Clouds had the most votes at 77
Dewey Beer Co’s Swishy Pants had the least votes with 6
The closest margin of victory was (1) The Alchemist – Heady Topper defeating (17) Boneshire Brew Works – Green by 3 votes
The largest margin of victory was (9) Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds defeating (7) Ommegang – Three Philosophers by 61 votes
Upsets:
- (14) Rotunda Brewing defeated (12) Pizza Boy
- (23) Tattered Flag defeated (8) Bell’s Brewery
- (9) Von C Brewing defeated (7) Ommegang
- (18) Troeg’s Brewing defeated (2) Tree House

Breweries Left

Who all is left? The following eight breweries are still in the battle:

(1) The Alchemist (with Heady Topper)
(14) Rotunda Brewing (with Annville IPA)
(23) Tattered Flag (with TMI PA)
(4) Toppling Goliath (with Pseudo Sue)
(3) Lawson’s Finest Liquids (with Sip of Sunshine)
(9) Von C Brewing (with Walking on Clouds)
(11) Rubber Soul (with Dropout)
(18) Troegs Brewing (with Perpetual IPA)

Voting

The Round of 8 voting article will be going live in the next 15 – 20 minutes. You can find it here:

The Battle of the Beers – The Round of 8 (Voting) (2022)

The remaining schedule of voting for the tournament goes as such:

Round of 8: July 15th – July 21st at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 4: July 22nd – July 28th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 2: July 29th – August 4th at 11:59PM (EST)

You can vote daily for your favorite beers. So be sure to check in each day to vote, and also be sure to share the voting article on all of your social medias. Make sure all your friends know they can vote daily and spread the word.

Wrap Up

Thanks For Reading

As always at the end of my articles I like to give a little shout out and say thanks to everyone for reading. I also typically give an update on where we are. Quite a few news articles have popped up here on the blog, so be sure to check them out. A few articles about the US Beer Open Competition – (Wallenpaupack Brewing winning two golds, Wolf Brewing winning a gold, and Sun King Brewery winning Grand National Champion). Also halfway through the year lists using Untappd data, and more.

We are also in the background working on revamping the site’s layout and hopefully that’ll be done by the end of the month (fingers crossed). We are also working on starting up the podcast. So be sure to check that out when it goes live.

Once again I just want to reiterate my thanks for everyone coming to the site, reading what we write, and getting involved in tournaments, polls, and other things. It really does mean a lot. Thank you all so very much!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Battle of the Beers (2022) – Round of 16

B. Kline — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 13:45:00 +0000

The Battle of the Beers

Onto the Round of 16

Week two has begun and we’re now down to 16 flagship beers and their breweries! Congratulations to the 16 breweries and their flagship beers that have moved on. We do have a results page showing who won here: The Battle of the Beers (2022) – Round of 32 Results.

For the articles on the tournament so far, you can check them out here:

Remaining Voting Schedule

The remaining voting schedule is:

Round of 16: July 8th – July 14th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 8: July 15th – July 21st at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 4: July 22nd – July 28th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 2: July 29th – August 4th at 11:59PM (EST)

Please remember – you can vote once per day.

Voting

So let’s get right down to it, and get to the voting! Here is this week’s beers to vote on (The Round of 16):

[perfect_survey id=”9481″]

You can vote once per day. The voting for this round (round of 16) will end on July 14th at 11:59PM EST. So you have just under one week to vote.

Beers and Breweries Left

Quick recap of where we’re at – the following beers and their breweries that are left are:

The Alchemist – Heady Topper
Boneshire Brew Works – Green Machine
Rotunda Brewing – Annville IPA
Pizza Boy – Murren River
Tattered Flag – TMI PA
Bell’s Brewery – Two Hearted Ale
Dewey Beer Co. – Swishy Pants
Toppling Goliath – Pseudo Sue
Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Sip of Sunshine
Sierra Nevada – Pale Ale
Ommegang – Three Philosophers
Von C Brewing – Walking on Clouds
Rubber Soul – Dropout
Deschutes Brewing – Fresh Squeezed
Troegs Brewing – Perpetual IPA
Tree House Brewing – Green

So there is still an eclectic mix left. Be sure to like and bookmark this page so you can follow along with the voting! And also be sure you to share on all of your social media pages and tag friends and breweries involved as well!

Blog Update

So, just to give everyone a bit of some news. This post is going up a little bit later than intended (got the results post done before the doctor’s appointment, but this one is going up afterwards). There’s been quite some news here for us at The Beer Thrillers. Amy and I are expecting our first daughter (together) (I have three daughters with my ex – wife). She is due in November.

Also, on Sunday my aunt passed away. So things have been in a little bit of an up and down state here at Bender Braus Brewery / The Beer Thrillers homestead / The Beer Thrillers HQ. (Working names in progress I suppose.)

Amy is also transitioning to her new job, so she is a bit busy, but will be getting back into the flow here at TBT – HQ (The Beer Thrillers HQ…. like I said…. name in progress.)

Thanks for reading!

Thanks For Reading

Like I do with every post and article, I enjoy ending with a “Thanks for Reading” section that has some upcoming projects, news, and what we’re doing behind the scenes, and then goes into my ‘end credits’ paragraphs. I did most of that in the above section, but just want to throw out a few other things here.

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for the support. Secondly, I want to thank everyone who has taken an interest in the tournaments we do here, and that we really hope everyone enjoys them.

Thirdly, we’re looking at a busy weekend. Today and tomorrow is the annual Ffej of July (if you know – you know). Drew, Amy, myself, and several other friends (maybe Jason, Andy Parys, maybe even Amy’s mom SueAnn), and of course lots of our other friends in the industry and craft beer community will be hanging out. We are also looking to get back out on the road soon and hit up some fun breweries and check out some new places, so please be sure to stay tuned for all that.

Ok, enough rambling, get out there and vote and share this for everyone to vote as well! Thank you all for reading and supporting us and have a great weekend!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Battle of the Beers (2022)

B. Kline — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 23:57:00 +0000

The Battle of the Beers

Our First Annual Battle of the Beers

Its the first annual, the inaugural “Battle of the Beers” here on The Beer Thrillers! Welcome all aboard for this fun new event. Similar to our Battle of the Breweries that we host in March every year, this will be a (march madness style) tournament involving 32 different flagship beers from 32 different breweries.

There’s only a few rules for each beer:

I have had to have had it at some point in my life
The beer has at least a 3 star rating on Untappd
Only one flagship beer per brewery
Everyone has fun

Who All is Involved?

Well I guess you will have to check in tomorrow and find out, won’t you? Hahaha. I can give a few sneak peaks though. Some hints like…. there is a lot of Central PA breweries in the list, but there is also some heavy hitters from across the nation (maybe even across the globe?), there will also be several easy to find flagship beers – ones you can easily pick up at Sheetz on your way home from work.

Ok, thats enough hints. Hopefully it got you wondering who all is involved.

Hows it Work

The start of each week will see the tournament posted in a blog article. It will have the voting block on the posted blog article, you click through the beers you like. The beer with the most votes each week will move on to the next round. Each round will consist of one week of votes. Its a straight linear 32 beer tournament, so it’ll go into rounds of “32” – “16” – “8” – “4” – “2” which will result in a winner!

The rounds will be:

Round of 32: July 1st – July 7th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 16: July 8th – July 14th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 8: July 15th – July 21st at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 4: July 22nd – July 28th at 11:59PM (EST)
Round of 2: July 29th – August 4th at 11:59PM (EST)

Voting is simple, scroll through the tournament bracket and vote for the beers you want to win. They will be listed as heads up matches. You can vote once per day.

Check In Tomorrow

Check in tomorrow around 8AM to see the tournament bracket. Make sure to share on all of your favorite social media platforms the tournament, that way people can vote for their favorite flagship beers as well! Will be great to see who wins the inaugural “Battle of the Beers” here on The Beer Thrillers!

Thanks For Reading

Just like we did with our Battle of the Breweries this should be a fun little tournament to decide popular opinion (at least for in 2022) of what the favorite flagship beer is. Please check out the tournament to help vote, and follow us on our social media platforms.

We just hit 2,000 (2K) followers on Facebook! And we’re hovering right at 499 on Instagram. Hopefully we’ll hit 500 on the first day of July!

For past Battle of Breweries articles – check out these two:

Also, be sure to check out some of our recent articles:

Thanks for reading everyone!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Beer Review: Heady Topper (The Alchemist)

Let Us Drink Beer — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 01:15:00 +0000

Heady Topper (by The Alchemist Brewing Company)

Heady Topper

Heady Topper | ABV 8%

BJCP Style: Double IPA

CraftBeer.com Style: Imperial IPA

CraftBeer.com Sensory Style: Hoppy & Bitter

Hops: Proprietary blend of six hops

Malts: Proprietary

Brewery: The Alchemist

City: Stowe, VT

Beer Review

Appearance: Clear, light amber (unfiltered) with fluffy white head, good retention

Aroma: Pine, citrus & tropical fruit and woody/musty.

Flavor & Aftertaste: Alcohol noticeable. Citrus & resinous pine prominent with spicy notes mixed in. Aggressive bitterness on a low to moderate sweet malt backbone.

Palate: Highly astringent with a lengthy dry finish. Bitterness builds and lingers well into the finish.

Do you have a Bucket List of beers you’d like to try? I technically don’t have a formal list, but there are some beers out there I’d love to try at some point. High on that list is The Alchemist’s Heady Topper. It’s definitely a hype beer, one of those coveted beers that people stand in line at the brewery to get. Considering The Alchemist is out of Vermont (I rarely travel to that area of the country) and its not distributed down in Georgia, the odds of me getting to try it were pretty slim. As my good fortune would have it, I am active on Beer Advocate and BA buddy saw a post about me hoping to try it some day and contact me about sending me a can. I was blown away and offered a trade, but he insisted that I didn’t have to send him anything, he’s just happy to send me some. Sure enough, a few days later a package arrived with it and a can of Bearded Iris Attention Please DIPA. Wow, amazingly generous. Needless to say, I still plan to return the favor with some interesting local product. Let’s take a look at Heady Topper.

Heady Topper Can (The Alchemist Heady Topper Photo: Let Us Drink Beer Blog)

John Kimmich keeps his Heady Topper recipe close to the vest, but a little digging reveals it utilizes over six different hops. With that many hop varieties involved, it’s tough for one to really stand out. That being said, you will experience layers of hops aroma and flavors. Some are quite subtle, others very prominent. I believe this is what makes it such a popular beer. There are a number of beers out in the market place today that utilize multiple hops varieties, but this was among the first. Upon opening the can, the pine aroma will be the first thing you notice, followed by tropical fruit, citrus fruit, and a woody/must note (some refer to it as dank). Dankness is not one of my personal favorite beer aromas, but a lot of people like that. Something you’ll appreciate about this DIPA is that it is not too heavy. In today’s market place, the overuse of adjuncts to boost the mouth-feel of many IPA’s causes the beer make you feel full sooner.

What’s my final take? I’m not a big drinker of DIPA. I prefer something more sessionable, less bitter and less overwhelming. That being said, if I were a big fan of DIPA, this would definitely be one of my favorites. While the malt bill is simple, the layered hops characteristics make this a delight to the senses. It’s easy to see why this is a craft beer drinker favorite.

Let Us Drink Beer

Thanks for reading, until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!

Remember, always drink responsibly!

Other Let Us Drink Beer Reviews: