2010 National IPA Championship

It just occured to me today (moments ago, actually) That I should be keeping our KindaIntense readers in the loop during this prestigious competition! So here's the basic rundown:

128 IPAs (India Pale Ales) were submitted, by breweries around the country, into a single-elimation tournament. The beers are paired up, samples are tasted  (labeled "Alpha" and "Beta") by brewmaster judges, a ruling is made, and that IPA moves on to the next round. Each round of the competition takes place on a Sunday, from Feb 14th - Mar 15th (five weeks, six rounds), at a beer festival on the East Coast. To make it a more engaging activity, brackets were filled out by beer enthusiasts, submitted to the competition's website, points are awarded for correct predictions and the winner receives a case of the champion IPA. Myself and five friends have entered this competition. There are 509 competitors overall.

Today completed Round 3 of the championship and this is how the series has been going for us:

ROUND 1 - FEBRUARY 14th, 2010

NAME                         POINTS                               OVERALL RANKING                        PREDICTED CHAMPION

Jonathan Jacoby            41                                          33rd                                         West Coast IPA (Green Flash Brewing Co.)

Heather Smith                 38                                          116th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Jennifer Chase               36                                          190th                                        Inversion IPA (Deschutes Brewing Co.)

Dane Grebisz                  36                                          191st                                        Hopworks Organic IPA (Hopworks Urban Brewery)

Jon Hallquist                   35                                          236th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Luke Hooten                   31                                          348th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

ROUND 2 - FEBRUARY 21st, 2010

NAME                         POINTS                               OVERALL RANKING                         PREDICTED CHAMPION

Jonathan Jacoby            79                                          10th                                         West Coast IPA (Green Flash Brewing Co.)

Heather Smith                 58                                          125th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Dane Grebisz                  56                                          163rd                                        Hopworks Organic IPA (Hopworks Urban Brewery)

Jon Hallquist                   55                                          185th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Jennifer Chase               50                                          287th                                       Inversion IPA (Deschutes Brewing Co.)

Luke Hooten                   47                                          328th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

ROUND 3 - FEBRUARY 28th, 2010

NAME                        POINTS                             OVERALL RANKING                           PREDICTED CHAMPION

Jonathan Jacoby            85                                          15th                                         West Coast IPA (Green Flash Brewing Co.)

Dane Grebisz                  72                                          101st                                       Hopworks Organic IPA (Hopworks Urban Brewery)

Heather Smith                70                                          134th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Luke Hooten                   63                                          230th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Jon Hallquist                   59                                          279th                                       Stone IPA (Stone Brewing Co.)

Jennifer Chase               58                                          296th                                       Inversion IPA (Deschutes Brewing Co.)

As you can see, this competition is heating up!! The top 15 are all very close together, with different champions predicted, so prepare to see some major shifting of the top rankings. Mad props to Luke Hooten for coming out of his shell and really upping his rank. Also, Dane appears to be out for BLOOD and is climbing the latter with serious intention! Jon Hallquist and Jennifer Chase, though, seem to have hit some hurdles in their championship run and experienced a severe drop - can they overcome?? Heather has put in a strong performance so far, especially for only having selected her choices based on name alone.

Stay tuned for more detailed analysis and updates in this amazing competition!