Contributions by Nathan Miller, Jose Luis Cubria, Kenneth Krampota, Josh Frink and HBG Staff
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Yo that IPA Region is stacked! Mostly Harmless got screwed, though. Pumpkinator vs. Rocket Fuel in the Sweet 16 is gonna be brutal. I’ve got EZ7 as my Cinderella. Think Yellow Rose can win it all again?
Welcome to the 2017 edition of the Houston Beer Guide Bracket. Last year’s bracket was a blast, with some nail-biters, a ballot-stuffing scandal, a handful of upsets, and Lone Pint Yellow Rose ultimately cruising to the title.
We’ve made some changes compared to last year, when we used weighted Untappd rankings to fill out the field from 1 to 64. This year, we still leaned on ratings, but we also opened up the selection process to the HBG staff, our own version of the NCAA’s selection committee. We awarded “automatic bids” to breweries that wouldn’t have qualified based solely on rankings. We eliminated one-time releases (no Divine Reserves, Bishop’s Barrels, etc.). And we limited the field to independent craft breweries — you know what that means.
Enough with the pregame analysis. Let’s get to the #HBGBracket. Voting for the first round ends Monday night, March 20th. The second round will begin Tuesday, March 21st. We’ll update results on Facebook and Twitter.
Update #1 – Round of 64 recap:
The first round has wrapped up and there were quite a few surprises. 12-seed SpindleTap Hop Gusher took down 5-seed Saint Arnold Endeavour, with a respectable win of 56%. In our far north vs. far south matchup, 14-seed B-52 Double IPA beat 3-seed Galveston Island Citra Mellow. Copperhead King of Terrors managed to eke out a win against Buffalo Bayou Vanilla Mocha Sunset, in a match decided by just 13 votes. In the battle of Clear Lake, Texas Beer Refinery’s Gulf Coast Gose held its ground against BAKFISH I Tell You Wit. Unfortunately, Texas Beer Refinery Catalyst wasn’t able to repeat last year’s Cinderella run. Yellow Rose continued last year’s tradition of dominating the competition, knocking out newcomer Running Walker Texas Reserve. Check out the rest of the results at the bottom of the page.
Update #2 – Round of 32 recap:
Well that was certainly interesting. The majority of this round went to chalk, with the 1-seeds doing especially well. Dig into the middle of the field a little bit, and you’ll see some very surprising results. 12-seed SpindleTap Hop Gusher continued its Cinderella run, leading 4-seed Brash Pussy Wagon the entire round. At the 24-hour mark, Brash Vulgar Display of Power vs Brash Cortado was exactly 50/50, but lower-seeded VDoP eventually won out. 11-seed Copperhead King of Terrors managed another narrow victory, this time over 3-seed No Label Nightmare on 1st Street. There were no upsets in the Easy Drinking region, dashing the chances of a Pilsner head-to-head between Back Pew and Saint Arnold. How will old-standard Buried Hatchet fare against new-hotness Raspberry AF in the next round? Last year’s champion, Lone Pint Yellow Rose, faces Cinderella; is there a stunning upset on the horizon? Will King of Terrors be able to sneak past Brash EZ-7 and into the Elite 8? It’s all up to you.
Update #3 – Sweet 16 recap:
Let’s start with the fun parts: Almost every one of the match up in the Sweet 16 ended within 100 votes. For nearly 1,500 votes, that’s pretty impressive. Brazos Valley 7 Spanish Angels overcame Saint Arnold 5 O’Clock Pils by 107 votes, 4-seed Lone Pint The Jabberwocky upset 1-seed Brash Abide with 92 votes, Saloon Door Tasty AF beat Brash Vulgar Display of Power by 39 votes, and Pumpkinator vs Rocket Fuel was decided by just 32 votes. Every beer included in the Sweet 16 deserved it’s place this far into the tournament. SpindleTap found a post in one of the beer groups by someone bragging to have voted for Hop Gusher several hundred times in a short period Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to undo the damage that was done. After a discussion with the team at SpindleTap, they offered to forfeit the game to Yellow Rose. At the T-11 hour mark, SpindleTap had the lead, and they appeared to gain more ground in the morning. As stated earlier, we believe that every beer that made it to the sweet 16 deserved to be there. Hop Gusher beat Endeavour and Pussy Wagon without any intervention, and there is a very strong likelihood that it would have beat Yellow Rose as well. Yellow Rose faces some stiff competition in the next round with Saint Arnold Art Car, as do all of the beers in the Elite 8.
Update #4 – Elite 8 recap:
The giants have fallen. Saloon Door rounded up their supporters to knock out 1-seed Saint Arnold Pumpkinator. Brazos Valley had a late surge of support: 7 Spanish Angels rallied from being down 49/51 at the 24 hour mark to come out ahead 54/46 and take out 1-seed Southern Star Buried Hatchet. 1-seed Yellow Rose clobbered 2-seed Art Car in a round that was expected to be more of a challenge for last year’s champion. Brash’s 7-seed EZ-7 avenged 1-seed Abide’s earlier elimination and trounced Lone Pint The Jabberwocky. Lone Pint Yellow Rose is the only 1-seed that remains in the tournament – how will it fare against the Saloon Door posse, which has already overcome some quite impressive opponents? Will EZ-7 or 7 Spanish Angels be the lucky one to advance to the finals?
Update #5 – Final Four recap:
Yellow Rose, our last 1-seed and last year’s champion was bested by the chocolate & peanut butter stout from Clear Lake, Tasty AF. 7 Spanish Angels, the coffee brown ale from Brenham, rallied its supporters to eliminate Brash EZ-7. It’s all come down to this: Saloon Door Tasty AF versus Brazos Valley 7 Spanish Angels. Peanut butter & chocolate vs coffee. Both beers eliminated some very impressive challengers along the way. Which beer will be crowned the best beer in Houston by the readers of Houston Beer Guide?
Update #6 – Championship recap:
Wow, that was a surprisingly close match. Saloon Door’s Tasty AF is now the reigning ‘Best Beer in Houston’ as chosen by the readers of Houston Beer Guide. If you haven’t tried it or any of the other 63 beers included in this year’s bracket, I highly recommend that you seek them out.
The changes we made to the beer selection process this year were a direct result of the conversations we had with our readers last year. If you have suggestions for ways we can make it even better next year, shoot us an email, we’d love to hear your ideas: [email protected].
Championship Results:
Saloon Door v Brazos Valley (1,800 votes)
Tasty AF – 51.3%
7 Spanish Angels – 48.7%
The Final Four Results:
Yellow Rose – 45.9%
Tasty AF – 54.1%
EZ-7 – 47.8%
7 Spanish Angels – 52.2%
Elite 8 Results:
Yellow Rose – 65.9%
Art Car – 34.1%
Pumpkinator – 46.8%
Tasty AF – 53.2%
The Jabberwocky – 35.1%
EZ-7 – 64.9%
Buried Hatchet – 45.6%
7 Spanish Angels – 54.4%
Sweet 16 Results:
(1) Yellow Rose
(12) Hop Gusher
(6) More Cowbell – 31.1%
(2) Art Car – 68.9%
(1) Pumpkinator – 51.0%
(4) Rocket Fuel – 49.0%
(6) Tasty AF – 51.2%
(10) Vulgar Display of Power – 48.8%
(1) Abide – 46.8%
(4) The Jabberwocky – 53.2%
(11) King of Terrors – 40.8%
(7) EZ-7 -59.2%
(1) Buried Hatchet – 58.3%
(4) Raspberry AF – 41.7%
(3) 7 Spanish Angels – 53.1%
(2) 5 O’Clock Pils – 46.9%
Round of 32 Results:
(1) Yellow Rose – 80.6%
(9) Color Blind – 19.4%
(12) Hop Gusher – 52.7%
(4) Pussy Wagon – 47.3%
(6) More Cowbell – 52.2%
(14) Double IPA – 47.8%
(7) Cali Green – 40.1%
(2) Art Car – 59.9%
(1) Pumpkinator – 64.1%
(8) Knecht Ruprecht – 35.9%
(5) Moo Caliente – 43.4%
(4) Rocket Fuel – 56.6%
(6) Tasty AF – 59.0%
(3) Gingerbread Stout – 41.0%
(10) Vulgar Display of Power – 51.1%
(2) Cortado – 48.9%
(1) Abide – 64.5%
(9) Medusa – 35.5%
(5) Blood Belt – 44.1%
(4) The Jabberwocky – 55.9%
(11) King of Terrors – 51.6%
(3) Nightmare on 1st Street – 48.4%
(7) EZ-7 – 62.1%
(2) Double Citra – 37.9%
(1) Buried Hatchet – 73.9%
(8) Gulf Coast Gose – 26.1%
(5) Haterade – 39.8%
(4) Raspberry AF – 60.2%
(11) Blue Testament – 41.3%
(3) 7 Spanish Angels – 58.7%
(7) Imperial Watermelon Berliner – 39.2%
(2) 5 O’Clock Pils – 60.8%
Round of 64 Results:
(1) Yellow Rose – 86.0%
(16) Texas Reserve – 14.0%
(8) DL Double IPA – 40.2%
(9) Color Blind – 59.8%
(5) Endeavour – 44.0%
(12) Hop Gusher – 56.0%
(4) Pussy Wagon – 72.0%
(13) Space Train – 28.0%
(6) More Cowbell – 62.5%
(11) Catalyst – 37.5%
(3) Citra Mellow – 41.3%
(14) Double IPA – 58.7%
(7) Cali Green – 59.9%
(10) Half Nelson – 40.1%
(2) Art Car – 74.0%
(15) Striker – 26.0%
(1) Pumpkinator – 72.3%
(16) Bound & Determined – 27.7%
(8) Knecht Ruprecht – 64.2%
(9) Raven Hill Pumpkin – 35.8%
(5) Moo Caliente – 63.0%
(12) Bourbon Barrel Palmares – 37.0%
(4) Rocket Fuel – 75.3%
(13) Stars at Night – 24.7%
(6) Tasty AF – 56.2%
(11) Big Spoon – 43.8%
(3) Gingerbread Stout – 54.3%
(14) Peanut Butter Chocolate Time – 45.7%
(7) Negative Space – 39.3%
(10) Vulgar Display of Power – 60.7%
(2) Brash Cortado – 72.8%
(15) Looyah Tooyah – 27.2%
(1) Abide – 66.0%
(16) 9th Circle – 34.0%
(8) City Porter – 41.9%
(9) Medusa – 58.1%
(5) Blood Belt – 67.6%
(12) Murry Chrimmus – 32.4%
(4) The Jabberwocky – 54.1%
(13) Mostly Harmless – 45.9%
(6) Vanilla Mocha Sunset – 49.2%
(11) King of Terrors – 50.8%
(3) Nightmare on 1st Street – 69.9%
(14) Porter Authority – 30.1%
(7) EZ-7 – 75.0%
(10) French Oak Pale Ale – 25.0%
(2) Double Citra – 71.2%
(15) Ruck ’n Maul – 28.8%
(1) Buried Hatchet – 73.6%
(16) Mission Control – 26.4%
(8) Gulf Coast Gose – 55.6%
(9) I Tell You Wit – 44.4%
(5) 8th Wonder Haterade – 67.2%
(12) Texian Aurora – 32.8%
(4) Raspberry AF – 72.8%
(13) Orange Blossom Saison – 27.2%
(6) White Oak Wit – 37.8%
(11) Blue Testament – 62.2%
(3) 7 Spanish Angels – 59.9%
(14) Post Oak Pale Ale – 40.1%
(7) Imperial Watermelon Berliner – 67.7%
(10) Radar Love – 32.3%
(2) 5 O’Clock Pils – 76.4%
(15) Ghostship Gose – 23.6%
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