BCS update: March 19
Voting ended last night in the first conference of the Beer Championship Series. It was a close race, but we have our first pair of beers that have earned their way into the 64-beer bracket. Here are the results from the Marshall Conference:
1. Sundown Wheat: 29 percent
2. McNellie’s Pub Ale: 27 percent
3. Atlas IPA: 22 percent
4. Big Jamoke: 15 percent
5. Old Pavilion Pilsner: 8 percent
Defending BCS champion McNellie’s Pub Ale and the up-start Sundown Wheat are in the field. Visit the blog Monday for voting in our next conference: the Mexico Conference.
Mustang officially releases new beer
I broke this news last week here on the blog, but today Mustang Brewing officially unveiled the third beer in its lineup: Mustang Washita Wheat. Here’s how they describe it:
“Waving wheat sure smells sweet, and nothing says O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A better than a crisp, refreshing, wheat beer. Brewed with Oklahoma Red Wheat, American and European barley, and Cluster and Ger-man Hallertauer hops. 5.3% ABV and 14 IBU’s. Devel-oped by our good friend and award-winning home brewer of 25 years, Gary Shellman. This may very well be the perfect wheat beer. Washita Wheat will be available in six packs and on tap at select locations. This beer is a big one for us and we plan to launch it accordingly. Look for more news in the next newsletter regarding launch events, pint nights, and more.”
The beer is expected to be released in May. There’s more Mustang news in their latest newsletter.
COOP brewer featured on CraftBeer.com
COOP Ale Works and head brewer Chase Healey are featured right now at CraftBeer.com. You can read Chase’s story here. And it’s some story: In four short years, Chase went from college kid trying out his first batch of homebrew to the top brewing dog at an up-and-coming craft operation. Congrats, Chase.
St. Patrick’s Day: Dealing with the aftermath
Happy day before St. Patrick’s Day, beer fans! Just a reminder, you can vote in conference action in the Beer Championship Series right here. This week’s voting features the Marshall Conference. Vote for the Marshall beer you’d like to see advance to the 64-beer bracket.
Now, speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, the big day is indeed tomorrow, and there certainly is something to be said about enjoying a couple mid-week, mid-day beers. There’s also something to be said about trying to get up and make it to work the next morning. And I think that something would include a few choice expletives. I figure this is the perfect time to examine that tricky little son-of-a-you-know-what we call the hangover. Here’s a link to a story by The Oklahoman reporter Susan Simpson about the science behind the hangover.
Vote today in the Beer Championship Series!
I now declare the 2010 Thirsty Beagle Beer Championship Series open! We’ll start voting today with the first of our 24 beer conferences, the Marshall Conference. Select your favorite Marshall beer and determine who will earn an automatic bid to the 64-beer bracket.
Voting ends at 9 p.m. Thursday. One quick rule on voting: Please only one vote per person, per day. I can track votes by IP address and I will disqualify votes if spam voting becomes an issue. Cheers!
Introducing the third annual Beer Championship Series!
You’ve been waiting all your life for it. Or not. Either way, the Beer Championship Series is back! It’s time to unveil the conferences for the third annual competition. In the past two years, we started with a 64-beer bracket and you voted your favorite beer through the contest. We’re switching things up this year. We’ll still have a 64-beer bracket, but beers will need to earn their way onto the bracket. They can do this by winning or finishing second in their conference. After all conference action is complete, the Beer Selection Committee will fill out the rest of the bracket based on the BPI — Beer Percentage Index — and several other secret factors. So, without further delay, here are the conferences:
-COOP Conference
-Choc Conference
-Marshall Conference
-OKC/Metro Conference
-Canada Conference
-Germany Conference
-United Kingdom Conference
-Mexico Conference
-Belgium Conference
-Europe Conference
-College Refrigerator Conference
-Australia/New Zealand Conference
-Megabrew Conference
-Asia Conference
-Organic Conference
-East Coast Conference
-West Coast Conference
-Southwest Conference
-Mountain Conference
-Midwest Conference
-Great Lakes Conference
-Southeast Conference
-Northwest Conference
-Oktoberfest Conference
That’s 24 conferences; the winners and runners up will make up 48 of the beers on the bracket; the aforementioned committee will select the remaining 16. Conference voting will start Monday mornings and will conclude at 9 p.m. Thursdays. I’ll recap the winners on Fridays and set up next week’s voting. We’ll start this Monday. Which conference you ask? In honor of its win in the 2009 Beer Championship Series, we’re going to start with the Marshall Conference, home of defending champion McNellie’s Pub Ale. I’ll provide regular Beer Championship Series updates on facebook and Twitter, so be sure to become a fan or follower of The Thirsty Beagle so you can stay current. And visit the blog tomorrow to start the beer madness!
Oklahoma beer news: March 13
Good Saturday to one and all. Here’s your local beer news roundup for the day:
-I was thinking longingly this week of the COOP F5 IPA I had at their anniversary open house and 
wondered when it will be available for public consumption. So I traded a couple messages with COOP’s JD Merryweather and am informed that F5 is set for an April 1 release, although JD warned it may not hits taps until April 2. I’m not a huge IPA guy, but I will fully advocate for F5. This beer is good! Can’t wait for April.
-The guys at Choc are spreading the word about Beer Sprocket. What is Beer Sprocket, you ask? Picture Oktoberfest in April. The guys from Old Germany Restaurant will serve up a German meal and more than 80 beers will be available for sample. Tickets are $45. The event is April 17 at Choctaw Creek Park Pavilion (home of Choctaw’s Oktoberfest).
-Mustang Brewing — which I mentioned yesterday will move into their new brewery facility on Wednesday – is featured in an article on AOL Small Business. The article, which details the birth and growth of Mustang, can be found here.
Oklahoma beer news: March 12
Here news making the rounds on the Oklahoma beer scene:
-Looking for a snazzy Marshall Brewing T-shirt? Marshall will have St. Pat’s Day shirts plus regular shirts on sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the brewery.
-Mustang Brewing yesterday signed the lease for their OKC brewery location. They’re set to move in on Wednesday — St. Patrick’s Day, no less!
-McNellie’s OKC has a new Oklahoma beer flight: 1. Marshall McNellie’s Pub Ale; 2. Choc Waving Wheat; 3. Choc Miner Mishap; 4. Marshall Atlas IPA; 5. Mustang Golden Ale. Plus, all three McNellie’s locations have special events planned for St. Pat’s Day.
-In Thirsty Beagle self-promotion news, just a reminder that you can find The Thirsty Beagle on Twitter (THIRSTYBEAGLE) and on facebook (page name: The Thirsty Beagle). I’ve got 115 followers on Twitter and as of right now 109 fans on facebook. Need to get those numbers higher or else.
-In more Thirsty Beagle self-promotion news, the third annual Beer Championship Series will be unveiled Sunday, with the start of voting taking place Monday. Check the blog for all the details. Let’s get out the vote!
TTB Sports Shorts: March 11
The Thirsty Beagle tells you what you need to know about sports:
-I’ve discovered the three biggest problems Jeff Capel and the Sooners had in basketball this year:
1. Not having Blake Griffin
2. Not having Blake Griffin
3. Players running around like crazy on the court as if they have no idea what they’re doing.
Fix those things, and you’ve got a contender, baby!
-Speaking of college basketball, I hear Baylor being tossed around as a possible Final Four sleeper and what not. Quite frankly, all that talk kind of freaks me out. Am I the only person that thinks there should be a rule in place that requires Baylor to always be horrible in football and basketball?
-So Dez Bryant decided to hold his own pro day, citing a gimpy hamstring, which apparently also kept him out of drills in the NFL combine. I can perhaps accept that Dez, a probable top-10 pick dealing with an injury, might have his own pro day. But Perrish Cox having his own pro day, too? In Waco, no less? He’ll be lucky if the assistant scout of the Saskatchewan Roughriders shows up.
-There’s a report out that says Tiger Woods is expected to make his return to professional golf soon. Now the PGA can begin actually holding events again this year. What? They’ve already played several tournaments? I’m sorry, I thought the PGA had actually vanished the past few months. My bad.
-I’m pretty sure that tiny, 8-pound 12-ounce baby Jesus shed a tear when he saw Tim Tebow’s Wonderlic score.
Beer consumption might help keep women slim?
I’ve always wondered how Mrs. Beagle maintains her stunning figure. Maybe the answer is here. According to a recent study, women who consumed alcohol in moderation were more likely to stay slim than those who abstained altogether. That’s a study Mrs. Beagle and myself can raise a glass to!
