The winter. Once the holidays are over, it is a dreary time of the year. Bone-chilling cold, snow, short days. Last year, in the midst of winter, the brains behind Backyard Road Trips put our collective heads together and came up with a wintertime event, the OG IPA taste test. This year, during this long season, we needed another event to look forward to. We combined two favorite pastimes: watching football and drinking craft beer. Thus, we launched a playoff football beer bracket.
After a few too many brews, the plan was hatched. The weekend between the Championships and the Super Bowl was our target (formerly known as Pro Bowl Weekend). Once the playoff teams were known, each person in our party would be tasked to purchase one or two beers representing a different team. On January 31st, we’d match off beer vs beer based on the real NFL playoff seeding. Sampling one versus the other would determine which teams made it out of the Wild Card round.
As the plan developed, due to the quantity of beer being consumed, we had to pivot for the Wild Card round. Instead of tasting beer vs beer in the first round, the winning team would be awarded by best story. For instance, if I have the Patriots and another person has the Chargers, the reason why we chose the beer we did would determine the winner of that round, with all subsequent rounds being determined by taste. Here was the trick–not only do you need a good beer, but a good backstory as well.
The Event
We gathered together on that fateful Saturday afternoon for our playoff football beer bracket. All fourteen teams were represented, with one extra in the four- or six-pack placed in a cooler in the middle as a pot for the winner to take home. As each person arrived, the beer selection varied: Coors, Tree House, Yuengling.
The two teams, the Broncos and the Seahawks, given their bye weeks in real life, would be exempt from the testimony-filled Wild Card round.
Are you ready for some football?
AFC
New England Patriots- represented by “The Kid,” an IPA from Tree House Brewing Company. The Kid, with a goat on the can, represents Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye, as the “young GOAT,” in reference to Tom Brady. It’s also a New England IPA from the region’s arguably greatest brewery.
Los Angeles Chargers- Kona Big Wave. The Big Wave has similar colors to the Chargers.
Winner: Patriots
Buffalo Bills – Idle Hands Brewing’s Four Seam. The best testimony of the day came to defend the Buffalo Bills. With glove and all, the first beer that was thrown down for the Bills was in honor of OJ Simpson with Lone Pine’s Oh J. It was quickly retracted for the Four Seam. Four Seam represented the four AFC Championships in a row by the Bills.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Independent Fermentations’ Prowler Red Ale. A growler of specially brewed red ale from Plymouth’s IndieFerm is used to represent the Jags. All with a custom label. Actually, it was a growler of the brewery’s red ale with a construction paper label with a Jaguar and artwork from the kids of this player.
Winner – Bills
Pittsburgh Steelers – Berkshire Brewing Company’s Steel Rail. At first, I really wanted to bring out a Steel Reserve to represent the Steelers, but my wife thought my bringing a 40 to this event was suspect. I couldn’t find any Iron City, so I chose the Steel Rail to represent not only the team but Berkshire County’s small steel industry in the town of Richmond.
Houston Texans – Lone Star Beer. Lone Star seems like an obvious choice. It is, but it was the story that the team manager had to call eight package stores to find Lone Star, which won the round.
Winner – Texans
NFC
Chicago Bears – Goose Island’s Tropical Bear Hug. Not only is this beer from Chicago, but at a measly 9.9% ABV, it rounds up to the $100 that owner George Halas spent on this team.
Green Bay Packers – Green IPA. Green is the color of the Packers’ uniforms and is also the color of the Bay in which they play.
Winner – Bears
Carolina Panthers – Catamount Double IPA – Not only was a catamount the same as a panther, a puma, and a mountain lion, but the Carolina Panther, extinct, as is the catamount, is misrepresented in the logo as a black panther. Black panthers were not indigenous to the Carolinas.
Los Angeles Rams- Kona Big Wave. It’s the second Big Wave we’ve had (no one declared their teams beforehand). Not only the colors, but also the Hawaiian reference to Polynesian Wide Receiver, Paca Nacua. And when moving from St. Louis back to Los Angeles, the Rams incorporated a wave design into their new logo.
Winner – Panthers
Philadelphia Eagles – Yuengling Lager. America’s oldest brewery is served in a green bottle, à la Eagles colors. It operated through Prohibition under the guise of an ice cream company. And the kicker, the original name was Eagle Brewing.
San Francisco 49ers – Coors Banquet. Gold can, Gold Rush, Golden, Colorado. Tons of references with the 49ers here.
Winner – Eagles
The two top seeds, the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, were represented by Shovel Town’s Fly Away IPA, with references to the Mile High City, and by Elysian Brewing’s Space Dust IPA, representing the geographic location.
Divisional Round
In the AFC, the Bills’ Four Seam IPA edged out the Shovel Town Fly Away while the Patriots’ The Kid IPA handily beat the Texans’ Lone Star Beer. In the NFC, in a hard-fought match, the Panthers’ Catamount Imperial IPA won out over the Seahawks’ Space Dust while the Bears’ Tropical Bear Hug toppled the Eagles’ Yuengling.
Championship Round
There were some close calls in this round with the AFC Champion Patriots and the NFC Champion Panthers about to set up a rematch like Tom Brady and Jake Delhomme.
The Super Bowl champion was the New England Patriots in our playoff football beer bracket. The Kid, a smooth, juicy New England IPA from Tree House, had the perfect combination of story and taste. The Panthers’ Catamount Imperial IPA was just a bit too strong when compared with the well-roundedness of The Kid. Our good friend Mike was declared the victor, but enjoying an afternoon with friends, big laughs, and lots of fun made us all feel like champions. (And we wished this victory would give the Pats momentum for the actual Super Bowl, but alas, it was not to be).
