We've got ourselves some March drama, folks, so drink it up. (Get it? Sorry.)
Surly goes down! Vote in the Ultimate Minnesota Beer Bracket Foamy Four
Hours before NCAA tournament darling South Carolina crushed Baylor by 20 points, there was another major upset in the making.
And this Cinderella's name, beer friends, is Schell's.
Yep, say hello to the Surly Slayer. After voting in The Ultimate Beer Bracket's Ale-ite Eight round wrapped up just before midnight on Friday, the storm that had been brewing all night (sorry again) struck land, and our No. 1 overall seed fell to lowly 9-seed Schell's – a brewery that was established only about 146 years earlier.
Schell's, it appears, is feeling the magic.
After constituting the only upset in the Sudsy Sixteen round – toppling 8-seed Steel Toe Brewing – Schell's is keeping the dream alive, nabbing one of four spots in the upcoming Foamy Four round of voting, which begins now (more about that in a moment).
I've got to say – I didn't see this coming – but this is March! You can't stop the crazy! You can't contain the beast! You can't stop drinking beer!
Now, on to the full results and a few other thoughts from the Ale-ite Eight round. Winners are denoted in dark orange.
* Schell's didn't just oust Surly, it did so with some force – and 911 additional votes.
* And there were other upsets! Indeed, the No. 3 seed, was walloped by 6-seed Castle Danger. And Summit, a sneakily sturdy 5-seed took down 4-seed Dangerous Man Brewing. In fact, just one high seed moved on – 2-seed Bent Paddle, which dispatched its foe, 7-seed Fulton, by the greatest margin of any matchup.
* 8,940 votes were cast in the Ale-ite Eight round – about 5,000 less than in the Sudsy Sixteen. But, with far fewer breweries encouraging their fans to vote, that might not be too surprising.
Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: it's time to vote in the Foamy Four round.
To recap: here's how the field was chosen. For those playing along at home, you can download an updated version of our bracket here.
You have until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, March 27, to enter your picks using the form below. We'll post the results at our Ultimate Minnesota Beer Bracket hub Tuesday evening, when voting begins in the championship round.
Now cast those votes!
[CORRECTION: Due to an unfortunate production error, the wrong matchups were included in the original form in this post. The correct matchups are below. We deeply regret this error and apologize to the breweries and their fans.]
Lefse-wrapped Swedish wontons, a soothing bowl of rice porridge and a gravy-laden commercial filled our week with comfort and warmth.