Oktoberfest, Märzen, pumpkin, cool weather, college football, the glorious return to Chili, the changing of the leaves.  I love October, and October makes me want to return to beer.

It’s been a long break from the regular routine here at Brewlimination – far too long.  It turns out that running two consecutive 64-beer brackets, tasting two beers a day, day in and day out for the better part of a year is quite exhaustive, and was somewhat responsible for our hiatus.

But, the hiatus is coming to an end.  We’ve thought long and hard about the future of Brewlimination, and we have some great things in store for the future.  You’ll see some changes coming to the site in the coming weeks, as we resume our Quest for the Ultimate Beer!

So, I’ll kick things off with an impromtu review of the brew I’m currently enjoying – the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.  I’m not overly experienced with a multitude of pumpkin beers under my belt, but I’m setting out to change that.  Having had a number of Dogfish brews in the past, and almost universely enjoying them all, I figured the Punkin Ale was a great place to start.

The Punkin Ale pours an intriguing off-copper color, with a combination of tinted orange and burnt red.  In the center of the glass, a tiny stream of almost microscopic carbonation bubbles rise to the surface.  The head isn’t overly large, maybe about a quarter inch is all, with a light brown to off-white coloring.  It settles at a comfortable pace, leaving a thin layer of froth behind on the surface, almost compelling a taste.

I was almost tricked by the appearance to dive straight into tasting this brew, but was able to pause long enough to take in the aroma.  The aroma packs a punch, with malty, spicy notes – nutmeg for certain and perhaps some allspice as well – and you can’t forget the mandatory pumpkin (although it is much more subdued than the more-overpowering spices).  The taste is similarly spicy up front, yet sweet and almost savory at the same time – a combination of mostly nutmeg and brown sugar.  A stronger hint of pumpkin comes through toward the finish, which is light on the tongue with a near-perfect length.

The Punkin Ale is a wonderful beer for relaxing, kicking off the fall season, and ending this unexpectedly long hiatus.  Cheers!

John: What a fitting match to wrap up the second tournament!  I can still see reasons why both of these brews deserve to be on top of the podium. At least we can all have comfort knowing that the “loser” today still walks with silver!   I’m voting for the SweetWater IPA. One of the primary deciding factors for me was its well-rounded nature and “anytime” drinkability.  Congrats to both beers today!

Brad: To me, today’s match isn’t voting for a winner because that would be nearly impossible, it’s just putting in order the top two beers in this tournament. And for me, the number one beer is the Sweetwater IPA because of its superior drinkability and broader appeal, combined with a fantastic taste and great overall beer experience. It feels good to have tournament #2 behind us and thanks to you, the fans, we couldn’t have done it without your record fan support!

Fans: You came out in droves and you came out for SweetWater mostly. The guess is that more of you identify with the beer you can snag at the bar with the game on, as you have come out en masse for this brew all tournament. Anyway, with a near 3:1 ratio, the SweetWater IPA takes him the gold with a 74%-26% victory. Thank you for voting early, voting often, and mainly coming back! Your support keeps us going and your voices are certainly being heard by the breweries!

Like I said, we can’t get more different for two beers today. Here is a brew with an equally impressive resume, edging out our best Porter and  Bronze Medal Founder’s Porter as well as winning the European-style division and crushing the second-best beer from the same brewery, I must be talking about the Allagash Tripel. Where I wouldn’t call the SweetWater “classic” because it is too blue-collar, rich and classic are perfect words to describe the depth and fantastic flavor that the Allagash brings to the table. It’s a tough beer to call in a tournament like this because the seasoned quaffers will be able to enjoy and love the complexity of this beer, yet some newbies may be intimidated. I always hate to skew this tournament as to whom will like which beer, because I don’t know what everyone thinks, which is why this beer is here and has a shot at winning the whole thing. For newcomers, this is a great beer to step up your flavor sensing to the next level, because the flavors are very organic and easy to handle (versus some of the complex fruits of say, the Founder’s) so you get the richer flavors without the liquor or bitter notes that come with some other strong brews. Who will take home the gold? The down-to-earth and anytime deliciousness of SweetWater or the high-profile stylish Allagash Tripel? Your votes make the call and we can’t wait to see how it plays out!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

In the previous round, I said that The Allagash Tripel has a amazing taste profile and an easy-drinking nature.  Going all the way back to the first round, I remember saying how the strong nature of this beer is well-masked behind the complex and impressive flavor profile.  This beer does its style justice, and brings a wonderful 3-dimensional character to the table.  I mentioned in the early rounds how almost all of the Division 4 beers (and even styles) were somewhat new to me before this bracket started, and I have a new-found affection for these styles of beer more so now than ever.

The other beer on the table today is the SweetWater IPA, and while I didn’t vote for this beer in the Fermented Four, it’s easy to see why this beer still has a shot at the title.  This IPA packs a citrus punch and is loaded full of hops from start to finish.  A similarly amazing taste profile leads to a similar easy-drinking nature.  The kick of sweetness in the background helps to balance this brew out.  Again, this beer does its style justice, and while I’m only half-way through the glass I can tell this is shaping up to be one difficult match to call – quite fitting for a Championship bout.

Two delicious beers, two vastly different styles, to equally deserving competitors.  I can’t wait to see which one takes home the gold – stay tuned, and make sure to cast your final vote of the match!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

John:  The Founder’s Porter tells a great story from start to finish, from the aroma to the taste to the finish.  When I think of a stylistic defintion of a porter, it’s difficult not to think of the porter from Founder’s.  And that’s why it earned my vote today.  The Terrapin Rye might be one of my new “favorite” beers from the entire bracket, but in the end I couldn’t find a reason to vote against Founder’s.  Both beers are fantastic, and I highly recommend both!

Brad: Today I will be going with the Founder’s Porter as I believe that this is the best “sophisticated beer” we have run across since the tournament’s inception, and it is deserving of a medal. The Terrapin is nice and a great brew to be sure, but up against the elite of the elite it simply was lacking anything that would make it stand out, especially against the Founder’s Porter which is almost unparalleled in terms of unique flavor and flavor complexity. Congrats to both breweries for making it this far, you both deserve hardware but only one will get it!

Fans: In keeping with what seemed to be a common trend for this second bracket, the margin of victory was close to two-to-one.  The final tally was 68% in favor of the Founder’s Porter!

First, the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale was a beer noted for its consistency. But lost in that praise somehow were the remarkable flavors. After all, if a beer is consistently bad, well that doesn’t make the ultimate brew does it? The Rye Pale is a great example of both styles of beer with its malty caramel and brown sugar notes that are tempered by the pale hop spices that keep this beer grounded and give it a very natural flavor. The mouthfeel itself seemed to be dominated by the malts as it was very smooth and not so much carbonated, which I think is refreshing for a pale and much better than a lot of over carbonated laziness that is out there. That’s great, but what really sets this beer apart as a legitimate Fermented Four threat? That would have to be what I assume was a very methodical selection by the brewmasters because not only do the flavors embody their genre, they are very pronounced. That is to say you can taste all of the flavors that I have mentioned very easily. With a lot of beers the flavors just mush together and you are left searching for flavors because it is hard to tell where the malt ends and the hops begin. This beer is truly great because of the strength of the flavors. Not to mention that all of these well-selected flavors pair well with almost any food as well as by themselves to make a beer you can have anywhere, any time and you will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately for the Terp, it faces another beer with great and well-pronounced flavors for the bronze, the Founder’s Porter. The Porter may present the strength of flavor that the Terrapin has, but the Porter has a great many more strong flavors. As has come to be my usual warning, if you do not decant this beer, it will taste like root beer, so let it breathe for a minute before drinking. When you let it breathe this beer opens up to rich fruit sugars, and incredible hop flavors that I can’t place over the deep fruit flavors but it is noticeable that they are there. What got this beer to the Fermented Four were those rich flavors, and a uniqueness of both flavor and overall feel that made it the best porter/stout we had selected. It’s main problem comes in the pairing with food, although it is not as big of a hang-up as I had originally made it out to be. This is a relaxing and laid-back beer once you get over that the initial taste is going to be powerful. This may be the most complex beer in the tournament, and I’m certain my words don’t do it justice, so drink today’s matchup and let us know what you think, you’ll begin to understand the complexity.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

John:  I love both of these two beers, more than many in this – or even the previous – bracket.  I wish I could vote them both on, I honestly do (and I’m not just saying that because I feel bad voting against a fantastic beer either).  I’m voting for the Founder’s Porter today.  When I think of a quality porter, the beer from Founder’s is exactly what I’m looking for.  Congrats to both beers and breweries for certain, today featured two fantastic productions.

Brad: More flavors or richer flavors, which to vote for? To me, the deep fruit flavors of the Allagash Tripel simply overpowered the numerous flavors of the Founder’s Porter. I love the complex fruit flavors of this beer as they are so uniquely Allagash and they are among the smoothest and most flavorful of the tournament. The smoothness cuts the usual power of the strong fruit flavors and makes this excellent beer truly a classic.

Fans: What a close one! Simply put, this was back and forth until the bitter end and a handful of votes from a few very dedicated Allagash Tripel fans gave this astounding brew the last spot in the finals with a very close 51%-49% victory in today’s matchup.

The Allagash Tripel has a superior taste profile and easy-drinking nature.

The Founder’s Porter,on the other hand, is smooth and also highly drinkable, and a fantastic example of a porter.

Both beers are suprisingly comlex from top to bottom, front to back.

Yes, like I said, short and sweet.  Now to find a way to make a decision…

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

The Founder’s Porter has had a very difficult road to get here, defeating what could arguably be considered the best beer from the first tournament’s champion beer. If you can, give this beer a minute to open up because it packs a lot of flavor into a bottle, and airing it out helps the flavors separate instead of barrel into you at once. If you can’t do that, you must swirl the beer around in its glass to force some air in. Anyway, I consider this beer to be an intro to the “higher society” of beers for newbies and a very welcome experience for the seasoned tasters out there. The flavors themselves are nothing like what you get from anything outside of a porter/stout, and even then they are quite unique to the Founder’s. Somehow they managed to put incredibly rich and varied flavors in yet attain a consistency and a temperance that doesn’t make it too strong, and doesn’t make it unable to pair with food. We couldn’t have chosen a better beer to represent the “ultimate” porter/stout and it will more than hold its own today.

Where Founder’s has a good resume getting through the stout division, the Allagash Tripel has an equally impressive resume, running through the European-style division and even defeating its brother beer, the Allagash Dubbel, in the process! What I cannot stress enough is that this is the most natural beer in the tournament. Now, what the heck does that mean? You know when you have sugary cereal, the sugar tastes different than, say, the sugar in an apple? You know how you feel much different when you eat the natural food? That’s what Allagash does, and how it has captivated so many of us. While they obviously aren’t dumping raw fruit into their vats, they have painstakingly selected the most choice hops, barley, malt, and yeasts to create this natural feel that is quite impressive. To be able to create a beer with so many deep, rich flavors that doesn’t taste like it was simply made by mixing a bunch of chemicals together is truly a feat to be proud of. And one that has gotten Allagash into the Fermented Four. These beers are simply astounding, and the winner of it all could very well come from this match! Both brewers should be very proud and here’s to you all!

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Brad: In the battle of more consistent vs. more flavorful, the winner is the SweetWater IPA. This is a personal decision as both of these beers are absolutely phenomenal, but I personally enjoy the little variance in flavor that SweetWater has and I feel it can keep a beer new and exciting longer, as well as give it a unique freshness that makes you feel like this brew was just bottled for you. Congrats to both breweries for making it this far, I hope you both get to take home some hardware but I did have to pick one and it is SweetWater today.

John: Today was a close match for me, as I expected from the two competitors.  I’m voting for the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. Sure, I actually voted against the Terrapin in the last round, but the latest tasting has renewed my appreciation for this fantastic beer.  The unexpected complexity and balance put it over the top in my book today.

Fans: In what can only be explained as a shocking defeat, the SweetWater Pale Ale hauled in an impressive 85% of the overall vote, more than sealing it’s place in the Brewlimination record book, as well as in the second Championship match.

So that’s it for today folks.  The Terrapin Rye will be heading to the Bronze Medal Match, while the SweetWater IPA tries to take home the gold.  The championship round matches will take place next week, but there’s still one thing left to do – determine their competitors!  The second Fermented Four match will take place on Thursday, so you still have a couple of days to cast your vote on the Current Matches page.  Cheers!