Advertisement

The ultimate craft beer bracket: The Elite Eight

craftbrewerybracket_mar25

The Sweet Sixteen of the ultimate craft beer bracket saw two major upsets, as one seeds Lagunitas and Dogfish Head were run over by Stone and Southern Tier respectively. We move into the Elite Eight with absolutely no idea who the favorite is or what will happen next.

Stone blitzed Lagunitas early in the voting and never looked back, taking a a decisive victory in a Northern vs. Southern California battle. Now, the San Diego brewer faces perennial power house Sierra Nevada, who many thought shouldn’t be included in the bracket altogether.

In the East, overall No. 1 Dogfish Head was dropped in a squeaker against Southern Tier. When all was said and done, the New York brewery’s dedicated following (which features Sen. Chuck Schumer) flex their muscles and overpower their Delaware rival. Now, the Lakewood brewery will face the oft-Villanova compared Victory Brewing Company for a trip to the Final Four.

Cigar City received an early scare in the South at the hands of SweetWater, but was able to dodge the upset thanks to a second half rally. The Tampa brewer takes on woefully underseeded Terrapin in their Elite Eight matchup.

This brings us to our marquee showdown of this round between Bell’s and Founders. The Midwest Region respectfully abided by its seeding up to this point, voting both the No. 1 and No. 2 breweries through. Now, Michigan’s finest will do hoppy battle as the 22-year-old brewing company from Kalamazoo will take on the guys from Grand Rapids who made drinking during breakfast okay.

VOTING IS CLOSED FOR THIS ROUND

VOTE ON THE FINAL FOUR HERE

Eight teams enter, but only four can advance. Voting begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at midnight!

Untitled-2

MIDWEST

Untitled-3

SOUTH

Untitled-4

West

Untitled-1

EAST

More Pop Culture