Beer-acketology

The NCAA tournament got underway today and people across the country are clutching onto their brackets, hoping to get on top with their first round picks. Debatably the most fun of sports betting events, there's something about the bracket tournament system that makes things more exciting. If you're not into sports or if you're looking to fill out some different types of brackets, there are various beer brackets to fill out too...

The Washington Post had a judging panel taste beers from around the globe, grouping them into lagers, dark beers, pale ales and "freestyle." The judges made their picks and you can fill out your own bracket with a round each week. Hard to say, but I'm thinking either a freestyle or pale ale will win; I'm going with either Schneider Weisse Hefe-weizen or Chimay Red. No prizes on this one but it's all in good fun anyway.

Thomas Hooker Brewery in Hartford, CT has a small-scale bracket with all 8 of their own brews going against each other. There's no rhyme or reason to which beer will win though; the brewers will flip a coin for each match-up. However, there is a prize to the top 2 brackets: a free entry to one of the brewery's upcoming open houses. Fill out your bracket by 5:00 tomorrow, the 19th to be eligible.

Finally, DRAFT Magazine is running perhaps the most comprehensive bracket competition, choosing beers based on the actual regions of the competing NCAA schools. Because of this, I had trouble filling this bracket out because many of the beers are obscure. In fact, I've had less than 10 of the 64 competing beers. No prizes on this one either but I'm thinking Colt 45 (representing Oakland) is a lock-up.

May the best beers win.