The Location/Brewery: Tied House, 954 Villa St., Mountain View, California

The Beer: Alpine Gold and Ironwood Dark

The Method of Dispense: From tap, into half-pint glasses

How They Fared: Alpine Gold clocks in at a hoppy but light 4.6-percent ABV, though it finishes clean. “Surprisingly refreshing,” was how one science writer put it, while an engineer noted the “light honey notes on the nose. Hops don’t overshadow the flavors. A good autumn evening beer.” And a preschool music teacher couldn’t help but notice the elemental choice presented before her: “I like iron, but who doesn’t like gold?”

Indeed, lots of Tied House patrons liked Ironwood Dark, an English brown ale with 4.9-percent ABV. “All the flavor of a dark beer without the usual bulk,” said one marketing associate. “It was deceptively light, kind of like Darth Vader turning back in Anakin,” said her friend, who obviously dabbles in some Star Wars fanfic on the side.

And just as the ultimately victorious Padres took a commanding lead Friday, not to be relinquished, so did Ironwood Dark, scoring a dominant, 10-vote win. And so Ironwood Dark advances one critical step to earning the title of Most Wired Beer.

Coming up: The next October Madness event will be Tuesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bullitt (2209 Polk St., San Francisco), where we’ll be sampling some of Lagunitas’ finer brews.

Image: Erik Malinowski/Wired.com

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: Erik Malinkowski

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