Last night in San Francisco’s Mission district, the final Sweet Sixteen event was held at Shotwell’s between Ninkasi Brewing Company from Eugene, Oregon, and Mad River Brewing Company of Blue Lake, California. These are two of the most popular beers among Wired staffers, so it was tough to see one lose. And it was a very close match with almost 70 tasters voting.

The Location: Shotwell’s, San Francisco

The Beers: Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale vs. Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale

The Method of Dispense: Draft beer lovingly poured by Tom (above) and David into whatever size glass was available.

How They Fared: Mad River’s Steelhead Extra Pale Ale is as pale as you’d expect, but has a surprising amount of taste for such a light beer. It won a lot of votes for being smooth and balanced. One voter summed it up as “Entirely drinkable. Not pretentious.”

The XPA definitely satisfied those that were looking for an easy drinking session beer. Assaf, a software engineer, said the Steelhead was “fun, easy, and hoppy. Just the way I like my beer.” Ben, a San Francisco bike shop owner, said that “for an at-the-bar having-a-beer beer, it was much easier drinking.”

And at 5.6 percent alcohol, you can afford to drink a few. As Chris, a self-described magician, put it, “Red Ale: I could drink one. XPA: I could drink six.”

Ninkasi’s Believer Double Red appealed to those looking for a more complex, hoppy, fuller-bodied beer. It is all of those, from start to finish, while remaining very friendly and smooth. A lot of the tasters who voted for the Believer commented on its depth and called it interesting. A self-described drinker named Tom said it had a “smoky, rich character.”

Though it is a bigger beer with 6.9 percent alcohol, it is very drinkable and, like the Steelhead, won a few votes for being a session beer. It’s drinkability surprised some tasters, such as bike polo player Devin, who said, “I didn’t expect to enjoy a ‘double red’ but did. Good bite — not too much.”

And by a very narrow margin, there were more believers in the crowd, sending Ninkasi’s Double Red into the Elite Eight, and fitting right in with both tournament trends of darker and higher-alcohol beers winning.

The rest of the field includes: Devil’s Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale, Tied House Ironwood Dark, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen, Full Sail Session Black Lager, Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Wild, Anderson Valley Brewing Company Boont Amber Ale, and by reader vote, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

Check out the full October Madness bracket, with links to all the recaps.

Coming up: Stay tuned for the Elite Eight events in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned to @wiredplaybook and @beerrobot for updates on attending future October Madness events in the Bay Area. Follow us on Twitter at @erikmal and @wiredplaybook and on Facebook.

Authors: Betsy Mason

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