This Haight Street establishment submitted its Proving Ground IPA and Blue Bell Bitter brews for inclusion into our humble competition.

The Location: Wired HQ

The Brewery: Magnolia Pub and Brewery, 1398 Haight St., San Francisco

The Beer: Proving Ground IPA and Blue Bell Bitter

The Method of Dispense: 5-gallon kegs inserted into Beer Robot (Proving Ground IPA) and a standard kegerator (Blue Bell Bitter)

How They Fared: IPAs have not been doing well throughout October Madness, but Proving Ground IPA, with its hoppy nose and 7.2 percent ABV, proved to be a hit from the get-go. One fan loved how it “had bite, but finished balanced.” Another discerning taster found it to be “smooth as glass” and “super-hoppy.” Wired.com photographer Jon Snyder concluded, much to the agreement of the room, that “nothing tastes better than a smooth-drinking IPA.”

Blue Bell Bitter, though, was a worthy counterpart, boasting a light 5.4 percent ABV that was definitely more adventurous than your standard supermarket ESB. “Much more interesting than a pedestrian IPA,” said Wired.com culture editor Lewis Wallace. Missy Schwartz of Wired magazine found it “smooth and caramel-y,” and though Wired.com senior editor Dylan Tweney found it “unusual” that the Blue Bell Bitter combined “bitter foretaste with a sweet aftertaste,” he said the taste definitely “grows on you.”

However, after having tabulated the votes, the Blue Bell Bitter didn’t catch on with enough voters, and Proving Ground IPA pulled out a three-vote victory to buck the prevailing trend against lighter beers and move on to the Sweet 16 of our cavalcade of brewskis.

Image: Dave Mosher/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 @betsymason and @wiredplaybook and on Facebook.

Authors: Erik Malinowski

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