Many of the tasters were struggling to decide between these two, and the vote was the closest one yet. The only consolation for losing one of these beers from the tournament is the fact that they are both sure to be served by Beer Robot again soon.

The Location: Wired HQ

The Beers: Ninkasi Brewing Company’s Believer Double Red Ale and Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale.

The Method of Dispense: Sumpin’ Wild was served on draught by Beer Robot and Believer was poured from 22-ounce bombers (above).

How They Fared: Lagunitas surprised us from the start with Little Sumpin’ Wild. It started the tournament by defeating the popular Lagunitas IPA, and then went on to take out New Belgium’s Ranger IPA. It has a very different, unexpected taste that can be confusing at first, but really grows on you by the end of a pint. This leaves you wanting another pint, and another, which can be dangerous considering the 7.8-percent alcohol content.

The beer is strongly, strangely malty and wheaty at the same time with a good, but not overwhelming, kick from Belgian yeast. It’s Lagunitas’ September seasonal, but if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can still find it on tap here and there, as well as at some stores.

Sumpin’ Wild scored points with the Wired tasters for being different, complex and, well, strange. Laura Erickson of swissnex said the beer “has a totally unique flavor. Complex, too!” Phil McKenna of New Scientist said it blew his mind, and Wired.com copy editor Randy Alfred gave his vote to Sumpin’ Wild “by a nose — literally its nose.”

The Believer Double Red knocked out Ninkasi’s Total Domination IPA (the beer that brought this brewery to our attention in the first place because it aligns neatly with Beer Robot’s goal of World Domination) in the first round. It went on to win a tough match against Mad River’s Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, another Wired favorite. Along the way it has made believers out of many of us, and continued to win over new tasters last night.

The Believer is unexpectedly smooth and drinkable for a beer with such a deep red color, and yet has a full, rich flavor all the way through. This is due to the strong malt that backs up a healthy dose of hops, which appealed to the Wired tasters and won the beer many of its votes. Jacqueline Daly of Dynadot said the beer had “full flavor with a smooth finish.” Peter Aldhous of New Scientist summed it up with “very nice balance between malt and hops.”

We knew this would be a close battle, and it could have gone either way. With very few exceptions, darker beers and beers with higher ABV have been winning most of the challenges, so this one was hard to predict. But in the end, the darker Believer overpowered the Little Sumpin’ Wild by a scant two votes.

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

Coming up: The remaining two quarterfinals and the semifinals will take place after the Thanksgiving break, and the championship will follow shortly after. Stay tuned to Twitter @wiredplaybook and @beerrobot for details.

Image: Erik Malinowski/Wired.com

See Also:

• October Madness Meets Sharktoberfest – Video – Wired
• Session Black Beats Brown Bear Ale, Slides Into Elite Eight
• Yelp Crew Gives 5 Stars to Lagunitas Little Sumpin'
• Ninkasi Brewing Brings Belief and Domination to Wired Beer …
• Sierra Nevada Pulls Off Stunning Win at Swissnex SF

Authors: Betsy Mason

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