Vote today in the BCS Great Lakes Conference
Today we start the 23rd of 24 beer conferences in the Beer Championship Series — the Great Lakes Conference. The top two beers in this conference by end of day Thursday will earn automatic entry into the exclusive 64-beer bracket, and a chance to compete for the title of Oklahoma’s favorite beer. Let the voting begin!
Message to Friday night: Bring. It.
Beer Championship Series results update
Voting finished last night in the Metro-OKC Conference of the Beer Championship Series. Your winner in a landslide is Mustang Washita Wheat. Here are the final standings:
1. Mustang Washita Wheat: 58 percent
2. Battered Boar Company Man Pale Ale: 14 percent
3. Bricktown Copperhead Amber Ale: 8 percent
4. Bricktown Bison American Wheat: 6 percent
5. Mustang Amber Lager: 4 percent
5. Battered Boar Company Man Pale Ale: 4 percent
5. Belle Isle Flanagan’s Amber Ale: 4 percent
8. Belle Isle Belle’s Blond: 2 percent
So Washita Wheat and Company Man Pale Ale advance to the BCS 64-beer bracket and a chance to compete for the title of Oklahoma’s favorite beer. Come back Monday for voting in our second-last conference, the Great Lakes Conference.
Beer of the Night: Aug. 19
Tonight’s Thirsty Beagle Beer of the Night is Choctoberfest.
Sweet malty goodness! Good job this year Mr. Lalli.
Hooray beer! Red Stripe Guy to visit OKC
Are you a big fan of this guy:
If so, get yourself down to McNellie’s OKC on Sept. 2, because they Red Stripe Guy will be in the house! 7 to 9 p.m. Be there.
Beer news report: Aug. 18
Plenty going on in the beer world today. Here’s a rundown:
-Today is the second-last day to vote in the Beer Championship Series Metro-OKC Conference. You can cast your vote right here. Right now Mustang Washita Wheat is out to a huge lead, with Battered Boar Company Man Pale Ale and Bricktown Brewery’s Copperhead Amber Ale battling for second place and the second automatic berth in the 64-beer bracket.
-Speaking of Mustang Washita Wheat, just a reminder of an earlier Thirsty Beagle report that Washita Wheat is now available at the Ford Center. You can find it at Old No. 7 and at sections 119, 309 and 323. The people at Mustang kindly request you pick one up if you’re headed to the Brooks and Dunn concert on Friday.
-In other Mustang Brewing Co. news, Mustang is the official beer sponsor of the American Cancer Society’s Oklahoma City Cattle Baron’s Ball. The fundraiser is scheduled for Friday night at 7 at the Oklahoma City Farmers Public Market. More information is available right here.
-Choc reports that they are putting together the rule sheet for next year’s Brew at Choc’s Home competition. This year’s winner, Smoked Porter, is going fast, Choc says.
-In West Coast beer news, Beernews.org reports today that Sierra Nevada recently earned its first USDA organic certification for its new Estate Homegrown Ale. Here’s an excerpt from the report:
At the heart of the Sierra Nevada story is sustainability. The details are well-documentedon the website but the gist: one of the largest privately-held solar arrays in the country (over 10,000 panels), water conservation measures that are above brewery standards and its own rail spur that reduces its carbon footprint. When Sierra Nevada bought land for that rail spur, it also acquired extra acreage to play with so the brewery decided to grow its own barley and hops. Today, Sierra Nevada grows barley on 35-40 acres and grows Cascade, Chinook and Citra hops on another nine acres.
So it’s fitting that some of these sustainability initiatives will soon culminate in a way that a beer drinker can recognize right on the bottle: USDA Organic Certification.
The Thirsty Beagle can get behind that story!
-VZD’s now has COOP Oktoberfest on tap.
-A new beer hall is coming to downtown Tulsa. It’ll be called Fassler Hall and will be constructed on Elgin between 3rd and 4th.
-Mark your calendar for Wednesday, Aug. 25. That’s the night for Drunk Monk, a celebration of Belgian beer, brought to you by the 51st Street Speakeasy and Byron’s. Invitations are available at Byron’s at 23rd and Broadway.
-And lastly, if you happen to be in the Little Rock, Ark., area next Wednesday, make your way over to Khalil’s Pub and Grill for a Choc beer dinner. It’s G-R-E-A-T to see one of our local breweries expanding its reach into neighboring states. Go Choc! More info is available by calling (501) 224-0224.
Dueling beer events: What to do?
There’s a storm brewing on the Oklahoma City beer horizon. The date of the storm: Oct. 8. That’s the date of the seventh annual ARTonTAP, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s annual beer tasting event. That’s also the date of the second annual Zoo Brew, the beer tasting event put on by the Oklahoma City Zoo.
We have a serious problem here, folks. Two great beer events on the same date, at the same time, in the same city. What is a beer fan to do? My solution: One of the events has to be moved. I know a lot goes into planning these things, and tearing up the schedule now would be a giant pain. But having both tastings on the same night helps nobody. Each event will rob potential donors from each other. People who may go to both if they were on separate days (read: me), likely will only go to one now.
These events both support great causes and need to have their own nights to flourish. Maybe one of them can be moved to the next night, Sat. Oct. 9. Neither OU nor OSU has a football game that day — OU is on a bye, OSU plays Oct. 8 (another issue I have with the timing of this, but that’s for another blog post).
So, beer fans, reach out to the people at the zoo and the art museum and let’s see if we can get this resolved. We shouldn’t have to miss a great beer event because we’re at a different great beer event. We should be able to go to all the great beer events! Let’s do this!
Vote now in the BCS Metro-OKC Conference
Civic pride is on the line today, folks! It’s time to cast your vote in the Metro-OKC Conference of the Beer Championship Series. Quick reminder: Only one vote per person, per day. I can track votes by IP address and I will disqualify votes if a huge amount from the same IP address show up at the same time. No funny stuff here, people! Now, in terms of what is at stake this week, the top two beers in the conference by end of day Thursday will earn automatic entry in The Thirsty Beagle’s 64-beer bracket. Beers in the bracket will compete head-t0-head for the title of Oklahoma’s favorite beer. This is the 22nd of 24 conferences, so have your say and help pick the state’s favorite beer.
Beer of the Night: Aug. 13
Tonight’s Thirsty Beagle Beer of the Night is Coopers Lager.
There’s nothing quite like a nice, refreshing drink to ease into the weekend. Cheers!
BCS Southeast Conference results
Final votes have been tallied in the Beer Championship Series Southeast Conference, and here are your winners:
1. Abita Turbodog: 38 percent
2. Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager: 25 percent
3. Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale: 21 percent
4. Abita Amber: 8 percent
5. Sweetwater Blue: 4 percent
5. Sweetwater Georgia Brown: 4 percent
So Abita Turbodog and Strawberry Harvest Lager move in to the 64-beer bracket. Be sure to visit the blog Monday to cast your vote in the OKC-Metro Conference, featuring Mustang, Battered Boar, Bricktown and Belle Isle.
