This is the poll for the HEELs Conference – Ric Flair – Round One. You can vote once per day, and you can vote once per poll (there is a poll for each division in round one). Be sure to share and send to your friends and breweries to let everyone vote!

Voting runs until March 7th, 11:59PM (EST).

To read more about The Battle of the Breweries (2021) you can read the initial post here: The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – March Madness – The Beer Thrillers way.

Any questions, concerns, or comments about the brackets, or tournament, or breweries in question, you can leave in the comment section or message us directly through our Contact Page.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – VOTING LINKS

Since this is the landing page post – survey, I will keep all of the voting links here for quick reference and jumping point, and so they don’t get lost in all the muddle.

• HEELs Conference:
  * Triple H Division: Round One
  * Ric Flair Division: Round One
• FACEs Conference:
  * Stone Cold Steve Austin Division: Round One
  * The Rock Division: Round One

(Updated: 10AM – March 1st, 2021. Continue on for the original introduction to The Battle of the Breweries [2021] – March Madness tournament – article.)

Who’s ready for some March Madness? Like everyone else, in March, that means we need to fill out some brackets! And we here at The Beer Thrillers are no different!

BUT….

Instead of filling out NCAA or college basketball brackets, we are doing our own take on it – The Battle of the Breweries (2021)!

The Battle of the Breweries (2021)

So how’s this going to work? Who all is invited? What all breweries are going to be in it? How many breweries? How’s voting going to work? Who decides whose in and whose out? Whats the seeding? Why is Rick such a jerk to Morty? Why is Jurassic Bark the saddest episode of Futurama ever? Why is it also B. Kline’s favorite episode? What does that say about him? Why is the sky blue?

Ok…. enough with the questions!

The procedure for this ‘tournament’ will be similar to most other March Madness style tournaments. Similar to the ones you’ve seen Untappd and Breweries in PA have done, but with a bit of a twist. Because we here at The Beer Thrillers have a terrible time making full fledged decisions, the list of competitors will be 48 instead of the normal 32.

How did I decide what breweries will be involved? Simple. Only breweries that I have physically visited in person. The voting is based on the brewery and their beers; but to be included on this list, I personally had to have been to one of their locations.

How is seeding decided? Thats also pretty simple, the seeding is based on global average Untappd ratings. So the decision of the seeding is out of my hands. Also, bonus, you can’t get mad at me for the seeding. “Why is X above Y? Why is Z below D?” Its all decided by Untappd.

So whats the tournament structure? One total grouping of 48 breweries (in lieu of teams), divided by two conferences of 24 each, which is divided further into a total of four divisions of 12 each. So break down is simple: 4 divisions of 12 each, with two divisions per conference, of 24 teams in each, for a total of 48 competitors / teams / breweries.

How did we decide on who is in what division? Simple – random number generator. I rolled the dice (a D4 to be exact, thank you to my old nerdy DnD days, I just ‘happened’ to have one of these lying about). Rolled the dice for each brewery to locate them into a division. If one division was understaffed and another overstaffed, I re-rolled until they were evened out.

Let’s Meet Our Competitors

So who all do we have facing off in this crazy free for all of brewing expertise? Quite an assembly of breweries actually. There are a heavy abundance of local (Central PA local) breweries but there is an assortment of breweries from my various travels and across a few states. We have a few breweries from the Rochester area of New York; some breweries from Maryland, a Delaware brewery, some from Ohio, one from Indiana, and one from Kentucky as well.

Surprisingly; it actually took a while to curate the list. At even 48 entries, I still had many more to include, and even removed a few to make it a bit more diverse. I wanted to try and make this as diverse as possible (so removed a local brewery for one out of state, etc.). Possibly in the future, maybe the 2022 iteration of this, or the 2023, who knows, it’ll expand to even more breweries.

This has taken up pretty much my entire night to create the list, and to roll the dice for their divisions, and then checking their Untappd scores to get them into the correct seedings. In the case of matching Untappd scores, I did make my own decision, and that was primarily based on my thoughts of their size, notoriety, branding; so there is a few judgment calls due to a few ties, but there isn’t too many of them.

Conferences and division names…. I had to decide on what to pick. I was going to go by hop names, but I saw at last second, that the Breweries in PA have done that this year, instead of their normal divisions based on geography, it appears they decided to use hop names for their divisions, so thats out. I debated doing Jedi and Sith for the conferences and then doing different Jedi or Sith Masters for the division names…. but… instead decided to go with WWF/E names due to WrestleMania 37 approaching.

So I present you two conferences. One is based on HEELs and one is based on FACEs. The names of the breweries are listed in the order of their seedings, and will have their location and their Untappd (global average) rating behind their names.

The Heels Conference

First up, is divisions one and two of the HEELS conference. Triple H and Ric Flair.

Division One: Triple H

• Fourscore Beer Company (Gettysburg, PA) (4.09)
• Urban Artifact (Cincinnati, OH) (3.90)
• Mad Chef (East Petersburg, PA) (3.79)
• Levity Brewing (Indiana, PA) (3.77)
• Swiftwater Brewing Company (Rochester, NY) (3.77)
• Braxton Brewing Company (Covington, KY) (3.75)
• Sun King Brewery (Indianapolis, IN) (3.71)
• Highway Manor (Camp Hill, PA) (3.70)
• Gearhouse Brewing (Chambersburg, PA) (3.68)
• ZeroDay Brewing (Harrisburg, PA) (3.69)
• The Ministry of Brewing (Baltimore, MD) (3.64)
• Black Forest Brewing (Ephrata, PA) (3.62)

Division Two: Ric Flair

• Dewey Beer Company (Dewey Beach, DE) (4.08)
• Rotunda Brewing Company (Annville, PA) (3.96)
• Yellow Bridge Brewing (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.88)
• Troegs Independent Brewing (Hershey, PA) (3.79)
• Twisted Bine Brewing Company (Mount Joy, PA) (3.79)
• Cox Brewing Company (Elizabethtown, PA) (3.71)
• Chatty Monks (Reading, PA) (3.71)
• Land-Grant Brewing Company (Columbus, OH) (3.70)
• Saucony Creek Brewing Company (Kutztown, PA) (3.70)
• Desperate Times Brewing (Carlisle, PA) (3.69)
• Couch Brewery (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.60)

The Faces Conference

The faces conference is made up of two divisions led by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. First up, is Division Three, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Division Three: Stone Cold Steve Austin

• Ever Grain Brewing (Mechanicsburg, PA) (3.93)
• Idiom Brewery (Frederick, MD) (3.90)
• Breaker Brewing (Wilkes-Barre, PA) (3.85)
• ShuBrew (Zelionople, PA) (3.85)
• Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company (Columbus, OH) (3.84)
• Liquid Noise (Marysville, PA) (3.84)
• Boneshire Brew Works (Harrisburg, PA) (3.83)
• Rough Edges (Waynesboro, PA) (3.82)
• Tattered Flag (Middletown, PA) (3.79)
• Rubber Soul Brewing Company (Hummelstown, PA) (3.74)
• Three Heads Brewing (Rochester, NY) (3.71)
• Mount Gretna Craft Brewery (Palmyra, PA) (3.58)

Division Four: The Rock

• Cushwa Brewing (Williamsport, MD) (4.11)
• Jackie O’s Brewery (Athens, OH) (4.02)
• Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (Enola, PA) (3.88)
• Mellow Mink (Mechanicsburg, PA) (3.84)
• Moo-Duck Brewing (Elizabethtown, PA) (3.83)
• Logyard Brewing Company (Kane, PA) (3.78)
• Molly Pitcher Brewing (Carlisle, PA) (3.75)
• Olde Bedford Brewing Company (Bedford, PA) (3.75)
• Taft’s Brewing Company (Taft’s Ale House) (Cincinnati, OH) (3.72)
• Isle of Que Brewing (Selinsgrove, PA) (3.69)
• The Church Brew Works (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.56)

Alright, that’s all 48 competitors. Tomorrow the brackets will be published and you will be allowed to vote on the first round matchups. Here’s where things get a bit screwy…. mainly because I don’t do math so good (sigh, sad subject, really, since I work at a job where I do math all day). Well, what really happened, is that I didn’t think through the breakdown. 32 breaks down easily for each round…. 48…. not so much. So…..

Week one will be divisions with 6 matches in each divisions. After that, the divisions will break for week two, and it will be by conference, with 6 matches in each conference. After this, we break apart the conferences, and do another 6 matches. This leaves us with 3 final competitors, for a triple threat for the ending.

So…. I kinda sorta walked myself into a corner…. and kinda… sorta…. walked my way out of it. Glad I chose to use wrestler themed people, so that the finale “Triple Threat” makes more sense.

*Smacks head* D’oh!

But anyway, there will be 7 days of voting for each round. With the final round taking the remainder of the month and ending on the 31st.

Voting

Each day you will be able to come to the site to make your votes in the polls. It will be set-up by IPS, so it limits you to voting just once per day per vote. You can vote as many times as you want per round, but only once per day.

Following each round, I will update the brackets and post them and make up the new polls for voting. Round one begins on March 1st, 2021 and will last until March 7th at Midnight, when it will then become the next round.

I suggest helping your breweries out and sharing the poll pages so that as many of your friends and brewery lovers can vote as well. Good luck to all of the competitors… err… breweries!

As always, please like us and follow us here and on our social media pages to stay up to date on The Beer Thrillers. We have plenty of content to check out, so be sure to stop by often to see what we have coming out. Beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, events, news, and more!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

So this is a perfect place for a museum dedicated to the history of beer. (Just wish it was opened when I traveled through!) And this will definitely be a stopping point in a future visit to Pittsburgh.

The main presser reads: (dated December 3rd, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania): “Brew: The Museum of Beer’s plans to launch an exhibit on the Story of Beer in Pennsylvania in a downtown storefront were temporarily stymied by Covid-19 but, inspired by the creativity and perseverance of the region’s breweries and restaurants, Brew is forging ahead with an online exhibit of the Story of Beer in Pennsylvania. Supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the exhibit showcases the legacy and significance of Pennsylvania beer, from the origins of Penn’s Colony through the significant craft beer scene today.”

The event looks extremely interesting, as a person very interested in the history of beer (and history in general), as well as craft beer, and specifically Pennsylvania and the role beer has played in the Keystone State, this event looks very very very interesting to me, personally, as well as I’m sure it is to many of our readers out there.

The exhibit will include:

• Video interviews with many of Pennsylvania’s brewing pioneers, brewers, historians, and collectors
• An updated and expanded interactive map of all of Pennsylvania’s breweries as presented by BREW Museum (including pending breweries)
• A searchable list of the breweries and brewers who have won awards at Great American Beer Festival in the 21st Century
• A beer quiz to test your knowledge of Pennsylvania craft beer – the first 25 participants to finish (and score) will receive a prize

SEE – Pennsylvania’s 2020 GABF Award Winners.
SEE – Pennsylvania’s 2019 GABF Award Winners.

The presser continues: “To kick off the exhibit, Brew will have live presentations via Zoom by Brew founder Joe McAllister, brewer Paul Young, and special guest, Lauren M. Churilla, Curator, McCarl Coverlet Gallery and Lecturer of History at Saint Vincent College, who will be speaking about the first Benedictine brewery in the U.S. and the controversy it engendered in Latrobe, PA and around the world. The presentations will commence at 7:00 on Tuesday, December 15 and the exhibit will debut immediately thereafter. Once the site is live, the QR code below will take you directly to the exhibit site.”

So be sure to mark your calendars for December 15th (Tuesday) at 7:00PM (EST Time) to be able to visit the exhibit and attend the live zoom. Once its live, the QR code will be usable and will get you access.

The museum for BREW – The Museum of Beer has tons of information and links and ways you can help and support the museum, by donating or by buying merchandise. You can visit their site here: BREW – The Museum of Beer.

You can also follow them on their social media pages:

• Facebook – The Museum of Beer
• Instagram – Pittsburgh Museum of Beer
• Twitter – @BrewMuseum

Check them out, and be sure to like and follow them on their social pages to stay abreast of when their museum opens, when there will be new virtual tours or exhibits or interviews with brewers and brewery workers and brewery news. Check out their available merchandise and see if there’s anything to your liking, and help donate to get this great project up off the ground.

About Brew: The Museum of Beer – Brew: The Museum of Beer is a widely-anticipated Pittsburgh-based museum dedicated to the fascinating, 10,000-year-old story of beer, spanning beer’s role in the origins of civilization to the diversity and aspirations represented in the contemporary craft beer movement. Brew will be a must-see 50,000-square-foot complex capable of accommodating 400,000+ visitors per year. Aside from unique beer artifacts and exhibits, the multi million-dollar museum will also include a 300-seat brewpub, state-of-the art interactive technology, a large event space, gift store, and Beer Hall of Fame. The size and scope of Brew will be comparable to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I would like to thank Deborah Stueber for reaching out to me and sending the press release for the exhibit and their online opening.

As always everyone – thanks for reading, and visiting the blog. Please be careful and stay safe. Support your local craft breweries, as this week or the next, there might be new mandates, restrictions, and hardships pressed upon breweries (and bars, and businesses, and restaurants in general). So do what you can to help support each other. Give to food banks, give your time at shelters, do whatever you feel comfortable and able to help support your fellow man right now. We are all in this together – as much as that is a cliche, it is the truth. This week or the next might end up being very difficult for many of your favorite small breweries and businesses, be sure to support and show your support, so that they can stay open once this is all over.

-B. Kline

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Be sure to check out our other articles on brewery openings:

• A Sneak Preview of Rubber Soul Brewing (Hummelstown)
• Midwest Coast Brewing Opens (Chicago)
• Rally Point – Cox Brewing Taproom Opens (Elizabethtown)
• Boneshire Brew Works to Open Second Taproom in Harrisburg (Harrisburg)
• Irv’s Pub Rebranded as Rotunda Brewing Pub (Hershey)
• Official BBQ (Pizza Boy Secondary Location) (Rutherford)
• The Grand Opening of Hemauer Brewing
• Pilger Ruh Brewing Needs Your Help (Pottsville)
• Highway Manor Brewing Co. (Camp Hill)
• Grand Opening: Rubber Soul Brewing Company (Hummelstown)
• Tap Room Opening: Howling Henry’s Brewery (Hummelstown)
• Little Fish Brewing Extending into Dayton
• Levity Brewing Expanding Taproom and Opening Second Location in Altoona
• BREW – The Museum of Beer

You can read about more brewery closures here:

• Stoudt’s Brewing Closing
• Crystal Ball Brewing Closes
• Voodoo Brewery Lancaster Closes
• Spigot Brewing Closes
• Full Pint Brewing Closes
• Night Shift Brewing Cancels Expansion
• Mikkeller Brewing NYC Closes Permanently

Up bright early to leave Clarion as intrepid explorers on a mission. Started the morning hiking the McConnell’s Mill Creek paths as well as checking out the Grist Mill and Covered Bridge there, as well as the Kiddoo Falls. From there, the first stop as far as breweries go, occurred in a small borough outside of Pittsburgh called Zelionople. Here we stopped at ShuBrew, enjoyed a large ice cream sandwhich and a flight. Then we moved on.

We next traversed Fort Pitt and used the Duquesne Icline to go up to Mount Washington and back down, getting caught in a brief thunderstorm before checking out two breweries in quick succession.

First, was Cinderlands Beer Co.

Beautiful place, and absolutely packed (5:30 on a Friday afterall). Sadly, I am neither millenial/hipster enough nor beautiful enough myself to stay in a place like this with so many gorgeous people for too long.

So from there, we went to The Church Brew Works, which is a stunning brewery, notable because it is a former church that has been turned into a brewery.

After discovering these two great breweries we traversed Pittsburgh, checking out St. Anthony’s Chapel, Forbes Field (Outfield Wall still standing) and the Mary Schenley Plaza and the Memorial Fountain.

Our last stop, was right down the road from our motel, in Delmont.

Standing room only when we first got there (930 at night), Yellow Bridge Brewing was packed. Live music draws them in Delmont right off the highway… that… and the absolutely fantastic beers. After enjoying a pizza and a few beers, we traveled two minutes down the road to our motel and promptly crashed.

Now for day 3 to start, which will bring us to Bushy Run Battlefield, Johnstown Dam Memorial, Allegheny Portage, and Flight 93 Memorial, as well as the breweries Stone Bridge Brewing and Olde Bedford Brewery.

-B. Kline

August Road Trip Series:

• Going on the Road
• The Trip: Day 1 Recap
• The Trip: Day 2 Recap
• The Trip: Day 3 Recap

Yellow Bridge Brewing is a small, family-owned brewery located in Delmont, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh, near White Valley. If you are unfamiliar with the name, it is probably due to their distribution being centralized around Western Pennsylvania. If you know the right people (thanks Tyler!) or make the trek westward — from Central PA –, Yellow Bridge is most certainly a worthy stopping point.

The Brew

Beer: Northmont
Brewery: Yellow Bridge Brewing
Style: Double India Pale Ale/Imperial/Double New England
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 64
Untappd Description: ” Copiously dry hopped with four of our favorite hops – Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, and Simcoe! The hop profile is nicely balanced with notes of ripe nectarines, orange peel, subtle pine, and a touch of earthiness. This heavy hitter drinks nice and smooth, finishing with a soft bitterness.”
Enjoy In: IPA Glass or Teku
Drink At: 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit

The Review

It was love at first pour. The closer to the top of the glass the liquid rose, the more excited I became to drink in this glorious nectar. A stark white, airy, and pillowy head sat atop the golden brew practically begging me to drink it. However, I let it sit for a while, to let the beer warm to life outside the cooler. Allowing a beer to warm allows the aromas and flavors to come forward so that they might be properly experienced.

At 8.5%, Northmont leans towards the higher end of the Double IPA ABV scale, but still manages to drink like an IPA weighing in at 6%. How Yellow Bridge manages to do this is beyond me, but they do and I am extremely grateful. My nose was tickled by floral and candied hop notes and sweetness and my tongue revelled in the deep and dry fruit flavors purveyed by the Citra and Mosaic. There is a certain thickness to the flavor, but not overly so as Northmont never felt heavy or overbearing.

With temperatures soaring into the 90’s, one might think it odd for me to knock back an 8.5% Double IPA. While I do understand this trepidation, I also must point out that Northmont, at no point, came across as anything but a drinkable, playful, gluggable beer. There is something to be said for breweries that can make high ABV beers accessible.

My Untappd Rating: ****-1/4
Global Rating: 4.05 (as of 6/26/19)

PROST!

-J.Doncevic