historic Shotwell’s Bar for a face off between New Belgium Brewing’s big IPA and an unexpected dark horse contender. The odd match-up was wonderfully representative of the the Colorado brewery’s craft which includes their Explore series that aims to entice people to try new types of beer, and their Lips of Faith program which introduces seasonal and experimental beers.

And Shotwell’s was the ideal location for this off-beat pairing. Known for its interesting collection of rarely seen bottled beers, paired with popular local brews on tap, it was established in 1891 and is a favorite among Wired staffers.

The Location: Shotwell’s, 3349 20th Street, San Francisco

The Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado

The Beer: Ranger IPA and La Folie

The Method of Dispense: A generous portion of Ranger IPA in a pint glass, and a modest serving of La Folie in a small Mason jar for sipping served by Tom Madonna and his wonderful beertenders.

How They Fared: This is the first of our first round events where the obvious favorite won by a large margin. Ranger IPA earned twice as many votes as La Folie, and seemed to appeal to both hard core IPA drinkers and people who might never have tried one if it hadn’t been a freebie.

But even though the La Folie will not advance to the second round, it may have been the bigger winner here. This beer is a wood-aged sour brown ale. And I’m not kidding about the sour. The first sip can be rough if you’re not ready, but I wasn’t the only one who grew to like it by the bottom of the glass. A beer like this wouldn’t normally get a lot of attention from all but serious craft beer fans, but I’m willing to bet that more than one of our tasters might be more willing to give something adventurous a try in the future.

Coming up: The next October Madness event will be at Wired HQ Oct. 7, as staffers are joined by Mother Jones magazine to taste Full Sail’s Wassail Ale and Session Black. Join us Oct. 8 at 6 pm at Devil’s Canyon in Belmont, Oct 13 at 5 pm at The Hotel Utah for Ninkasi Brewing beers and Oct. 14 at the California Academy of Sciences to kick off the second round and celebrate Sharktoberfest.

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.

See Also:

• October Madness Kicks Off at Modern-Day Speakeasy
• Eye of the Hawk Ale Swoops In for Early Win
• Beer Battle at Twitter HQ Goes Black Butte’s Way
• Hopeful Giants Fans Score One For Ironwood Dark

Authors: Betsy Mason

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