Did you fill out your beer bracket yet? Round 1 matchups end Tuesday night, vote here 🍻
It's March. We're in Cincinnati. You know what that means. It's beer madness!
After a full week of reader/drinker nominations, the field of 32 beers is set for our 2023 Cincinnati's Favorite Beer championship. The top brews have been seeded and placed on the bracket for round-by-round, head-to-head matchups.
✔️ VOTE HERE March 13-14 on Round 1 matchups.
🖨️ View or print out a high-res version of the bracket HERE.
There's a new rule this year: Only one beer per brewery! So we have more local breweries represented than ever before. And what makes this championship different from the other, bouncy/shooty tournament that kicks off in March is that the power to win is solely in the hands of the fans, so ANYONE can win. Got a favorite little engine that could? Spread the word. Tell your family. Force your friends. Then, boom. Upset city, baby! (Don't we all love a Cinderella story?)
Voting on the first round of matchups begins Monday, March 13, at bit.ly/voteforbeer1, so get out there and do your research. Or, pick the name you like best (just like you do for March Madness). No judgment here.
🍻:The best beers at every local brewery in 2023, according to you
Matchups to watch
3. Little Kings (CinBev) vs. 6. Kallima (Esoteric): What are the odds that these two would fall right in line for a beer bracket faceoff? It's Cincinnati's favorite 7-ounce cream ale vs. Walnut Hills' favorite coffee-infused cream ale. Which cream will rise to the top in round one?
4. Helles Real (Grainworks) vs. 5. Kenny's Dey Drinkin' Lager (16 Lots): An FC Cincinnati-themed beer vs. a Bengals-themed beer. A West Chester brewery vs. a Mason brewery. A 4 seed vs. a 5 seed. This could easily be the closest (and most contentious) match of the first round.
3. Franz (Rhinegeist) vs. 6. Nutcase (Listermann): Z German beers are heavily represented in the bracket this year. And in a BIG surprise from the nomination round, Rhinegeist's Franz Oktoberfest beer beat out the brewery's yearly contender, Truth IPA, by only 2 votes. Franz takes on the love-it-or-hate-it Nutcase Peanut Butter Porter from Listermann. A round-one upset is not out of the question when considering the dark beer/peanut butter cult following.
2. Gavel Banger (Taft's) vs. 7. Amber Lager (Hudepohl): Gavel Banger, the inaugural Cincinnati's Favorite Beer in 2019, takes on another crowd favorite in the tried-and-true Amber Lager from Hudepohl. Fresh off Amber's nomination over Hudy Delight by only 4 votes, can the 7 seed keep up the momentum for another big upset?
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Shoutout to our No. 1 seeds
Bohemian Special Brew (Wiedemann): Was there any doubt that we'd see the 2021/2022 repeat winner back in the top spot? This easy drinker is back for a try at a Cincinnati's Favorite Beer three-peat. Which beer fanbase can take down the heavy favorite this year? The Urban Artifact purists get the first swing in round one with the Gadget raspberry/blackberry Midwest fruit tart. These beers couldn't be any more different, but could we see the sour cult band together for a huge upset? We shall see.
Boston Lager (Sam Adams): We're normally talking about Sam Adams' Octoberfest at this point of the competition, but this national favorite from right here in Cincinnati is looking to make a run this year with its new 'Remastered' brewing formula. Girl Next Door from Wooden Cask is the first test.
Symphony Vienna Lager (Big Ash): We have a new front-runner from the 2020 title-winning brewery. Symphony beat out the brewery's old champ, Backbeat Coffee Blonde, by nearly 100 votes in the nomination round. Do we have a new winner in the running? Third Eye P.A. is in the way in the first round.
Garage Beer (Braxton): This perfectly named beer has been having a huge year. Fresh off the announcement that Garage Beer will spin off into its own brand, it's still representing Braxton (and Northern Kentucky) loud and proud with our final No. 1 seed. It faces 8-seed Isar Weiss from HighGrain.
Round of 32 voting guide
Voting begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday, March 13, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 14.
You can vote once per matchup, per round.
Sweet 16 voting will begin on Thursday, March 16, featuring winners from the previous round.
Dates to know for Cincinnati's Favorite Beer 2023
Nominations: Feb. 27-March 3.Bracket unveiled: March 12.Round of 32: March 13-14.
Sweet 16: March 16-17.
Elite Eight: March 20-21.
Final Four: March 23-24.
THE FINALS: March 27-28.
Winner announced: Sunday, April 2.
Previous beer bracket winners
2022: Wiedemann’s Bohemian Special Brew (repeat)
2019: Taft’s Gavel Banger
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati's Favorite Beer bracket revealed for 2023 championship
