PORTLAND, Ore. — Several powerhouse breweries remain in the hunt for the Oregon Beer Showdown '21 title.
The roster includes past champions Ecliptic and Buoy along with such mainstays as Crux, pFriem and Pelican, each of which have fared well in previous Showdowns.
The Oregon Beer Showdown is presented by KGW and the Portland Business Journal. The bracket-style event encourages beer fans to choose their favorite alemakers from a list of Oregon's largest breweries and a handful of wild cards.
Here's a light analytical dive into what's happening as Round 3 begins.
- Three breweries punched above their weight, seeding-wise. Wayfinder, a No. 13 seed, faces off against Deschutes in what, in many brackets, is called the Sweet 16 (we prefer "Sudsy 16"). Barley Brown's and Von Ebert moved into the third round from their perch as No. 9 seeds.
- During the last round, Hood River's pFriem received the most total votes in its matchup, 921 (out of 1,386 cast: several were cast aside as repeat votes, per the Showdown's rules). Fort George received 888 votes while Crux collected 827. Each of those breweries achieved the two-thirds threshold, hitting the 66% mark in their matchups.
- While, as noted, Ecliptic and Buoy, the only other two to win Showdowns during the six previous events, remain in the race and thriving, Hop Valley, the other brewery to emerge as a past champion, is out.
Voters can only fill out one bracket each, so the percentages listed once a bracket is filled out may vary at the end of the round. More voting rules can be found here.
Below is a look at the bracket as the Sudsy 16 gets underway. Voting ends Sunday, Nov. 28 at 11:59 p.m.
