The Final Round of 64 of the Maine Madness Beer Tournament played out on Friday, and it was a burner. The Maine IPA round saw a record number of votes; so many, in fact, we had to close voting early. This state loves their IPA’s! (Click here to view full updated bracket.)
One of the most surprising outcomes from Friday’s vote was the battle between Baxter Stowaway IPA and Sebago Frye’s Leap. The flagship Sebago IPA took an early lead, but slowly, Baxter supporters came in and pushed Stowaway considerably ahead of one of our favorite beers here at Maine Madness Beer Tournament. We weren’t ready for Baxter to surmount such a sizable victory. But they did indeed.
Sebago Full Throttle double IPA also put up a good fight against Marshall Wharf Cant Dog double IPA. This was a good match-up of similar style beers, but Marshall Wharf has a strong hold on the market these days with their hip cans and hit-you-in-the-face hops and abv, allowing them to pull out the victory.
The real titans of this round are Maine Beer Company with three beers progressing to the next round, and Rising Tide Brewing with two. We here at Maine Madness Beer Tournament have received a bit of flack for putting so many MBC beers in this tournament and giving Rising Tide so many high rankings, but we stand by our choices. Plus, MBC Lunch and Mo are going to go at it today along with MBC Another facing Rising Tide Calcutta Cutter in their respective brackets.
I hope you have all been seeking out new beer from this list to broaden your Maine Beer knowledge. As we move further into the tournament, the winning beers are world class brews. Find them. Drink them. Love them.
Today, look for Round Two Madness. We’ll be voting on all 32 beers today. By the end of the week we’ll have our two finalists in the 2014 Maine Madness Beer Tournament.
Cheers!
DAVE PATTERSON 
Great photo…my dad made those corn hole boards!
Those boards are beautiful. I’ve played a few rounds myself while imbibing in Rising Tide brews.