Let's all welcome the one, the only... Hitachino Espresso Stout! It's the only beer from the other side of the Pacific in this tournament, and it has as good a chance of any to make some noise in the brackets. Hitachino is a pricey little fellow (with a cool owl as its bottle cap mascot), ringing in at 458 on the PPOz scale. We'll be saying goodbye to one of the Sam Smiths; at the moment I'm looking at ditching the Imperial Stout and keeping the Oatmeal, but I'll be soliciting opinions from my fellow judges on that one. They're seeded the same, so it makes no difference for the brackets.
Unfortunately that's not the only thing that affects the brackets - somehow I managed to misread my receipts from the first batch of PPOz scores, and Southern Tier Choklat was treated as being far more expensive than it really was. In fact, Choklatt only scores a 408 with its proper price, which certainly affects its seeding. As things stand, we have the following.
- Schafly Reserve – 591
- Hoppin Frog BORIS the Crusher Oatmeal Stout - 500
- Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti - 453
- Hitachino Espresso Stout - 438
- Allagash Black - 433
- Thirsty Dog Siberian Night - 416
- Southern Tier Choklat - 408
- Oskar Blues Ten FIDY - 354
- Weyerbacher Heresy Imp Stout – 250
- Young's Double Chocolate Stout – 236
- Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout – 235
- Sam Adams Imperial Stout – 229
- Founders Breakfast Stout – 208
- North Coast Old Rasputin – 208
- Brooklyn Black Chocolate – 166
- Guinness - 125
How does that affect the brackets? Well, let's take a look:
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1 - Schafly Reserve - 591
16 - Guinness - 125
8 - Oskar Blues Ten FIDY - 354
9 - Weyerbacher Heresy Imp Stout – 250
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5 - Allagash Black - 433
12 - Sam Adams Imperial Stout - 229
4 - Hitachino Espresso Stout - 438
13 - Founders Breakfast Stout - 208
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3 - Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti - 453
14 - North Coast Old Rasputin - 208
6 - Thirsty Dog Siberian Night - 416
11 - Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout – 235
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7 - Southern Tier Choklat - 408
10 - Young's Double Chocolate Stout – 236
2 - Hoppin Frog BORIS the Crusher Oatmeal Stout - 500
15 - Brooklyn Black Chocolate - 166
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Wow, what a change. I feel like the bracket just got very top-heavy. Brooklyn Black Chocolate is still the most interesting beer in the standings. I don't think they've gotten any easier a matchup - BORIS is widely regarded as one of the best stouts around, but I have to believe that the winner of that 2 v 15 matchup is going to find themselves on the inside track to the finals, provided they can get past Southern Tier in the next round (no giveaway there). I don't think Young's DCS is going to have a chance at knocking off Souther Tier; Young's has a far lighter flavor - almost a summertime stout. Around all these heavy, powerful opponents I think it is just going to be drowned out. That's not to say it's a bad beer - it's quite good and I pick it up from time to time. I just don't think it's going to get past Southern Tier, not in a tourney of this nature. My new final four: BORIS, FIDY, Founders Breakfast, and Siberian Night. Call it a hunch. And its still missing one of my faves - I'm trying to pick what I think will end up the most popular among all of the judges, not just my own personal tastes. And I do think that Breakfast Stout could easily be upset twice - the first time by Allagash Black, and the second time by Ten FIDY. I'm picking BORIS for the runner up with these brackets, with FIDY over Siberian Night in the bronze medal match.
I'll keep you posted if there are any more changes. I have no particular impetus to do so now, though I'm interested in perhaps bringing in one more heavy hitter that I've mentioned before, De Molen Hel & Verdomenis. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I can swing it. We'll see. Not sure who the next man out would be - that might have a lot to do with availability, or failing that a quick straw poll of the judges.
Anyhow - hope this made the bracketology more interesting!
Duff out.
Update -- apparently I suck at reading numbers, and the seeding should have gone with Oak Aged Yeti at number 3 and Hitachino at 4. I don't think this alters my brackets much; I expect Yeti to go about as far as Hitachino would have in that spot, and Hitachino draws the matchup of death with Founders in round 1.
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