Best B1G Brewery Challenge: The Foamy Four

With a few surprise guests in the "There are 8 breweries left" round, which ones survived to the Foamy Four? We're one step closer to finding out which is the best brewery in B1G country.

Results

It was a shock atop the bracket, as we now stand with no Michigan breweries left in the competition! That's right, Toppling Goliath took out Founders as Iowans mobilized for a couple reasons, not least among them to demonstrate a level of provincialism rivaled only by Nebraskans on Twitter.

Yep, you heard me. Might as well call it Nebriowa.

Second--or perhaps first--among those reasons for mobilizing, though, was to take down Zipline Brewing Co. The Lincoln-based brewery has made quite a splash in the tournament thus far, knocking out Nebraska Brewing Co. and then Surly on the way to the "There are 8 breweries left" round.

Well, the dream is dead. I'm sorry, Nebraska.* Great Lakes advanced, sending Ohio through to the Foamy Four.

On the other side of the bracket, a tight contest opened up late, as New Glarus snuck past 3 Floyds, while the surge of late votes propelled Revolution past a quietly-active Pennsylvania contingent.

Pie charts, if that's your thing:

The Foamy Four

#1-OH Great Lakes Brewing Co. vs. #1-IA Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.

MNW's Hot Taek: Look at that depth. Look at that distribution. Look at that across-the-board award-winning quality. I have to give it to Great Lakes, because there is such an impressive array of good beers shipped across such a solid footprint. In word and deed, they do appear to be a truly regional giant.

#1-WI New Glarus Brewing Co. vs. #4-IL Revolution Brewery

MNW's Hot Taek: Remember how I said regional distribution matters? Well, throw it out the window here, because the stuff you can get from New Glarus, especially in the 750-mL sizes, is well worth propelling about the only good thing from Wisconsin through to the finals.

The Voting

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As always, thanks for voting! We'll likely close the polls sometime Friday afternoon, so be sure to vote early, vote often, and get your friends to vote, too! Let us know your picks in the comments.

MNW

*I'm not, though. This is a brewery popularity contest on a college football blog. Go drink more beer :)