The Muskoxen

The idea for a beer tournament was spawned when Muskoxen Keith discovered that The Washington Post does an annual Beer Madness. They put beers in a bracket, March Madness style and have at it.

The article was sent to the Muskoxen and it was suggested by Muskoxen Geoff that the Muskoxen recreate the tournament to test its legitimacy. The Quest for the Best 1: Muskoxtoberfest In Spring: Feats of Beer '09, The Brew-tastic Challenge was born.

For a seemingly simple idea, there are a LOT of decisions to be made: the categories of beer, the total beers to include, what to call it, when to do it, how much of each beer should we taste/drink, and how to settle tiebreakers (having only four Founding Fathers caused a conundrum and posed the inevitable question/subject of the addition of new members which was deferred until a later date when we can all focus strictly on that issue. Obviously the beer tournament took precedence. Potential future members take notice.)

In a flurry of e-mails over several days and weeks, the tournament slowly took shape. It was decided that we would do it during a trip to western Maryland in early April (the next time the Founding Fathers would converge), to use a total of 32 beers, in four categories, and that we would stay away from mainstream beers and stick to microbew/craft beers. The categories were made as broad as possible and were set: Ales, Porters/Stouts, Lagers and an Oddball category in which we hope to find unusual/zany brews.

We determined that each member would need to bring two beers from each category to get the best overall selection of beers to taste. In doing so, we also determined that three of each beer selected would need to be purchased to make sure there was enough beer for any single beer to make it through to the final. Therefore, each member is to bring a case of beer to the tourney. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Beers will be placed in their appropriate brackets and matchups will be randomly selected. In order to advance, a beer must get three out of four votes. Possibly the most difficult decision to make was the solution of a fair, unbiased, tie-breaking method. After much debate, we decided on even or odd. The two beers will be designated either even or odd, and then each member will hold up either one or two fingers. The fingers will be added up, and the winner is determined by whether the number of fingers is even or odd.

Another thing that took some time coming up with was the name. Lots of ideas were thrown around, back and forth and ultimately out, until Muskoxen Brendan decided to add several of the well liked ideas together into one beautifully crafted title. It has long been Muskoxen tradition to take a simple idea and muddy it by over-thinking (or more likely under-thinking) and convoluting the idea as much as possible. It was in this tradition that we wholly embraced the title. A logo was conceived by Muskoxen Vince and designed by Muskoxen Geoff , and t-shirts placed on order (another Muskoxen tradition).

As the weeks have passed the Muskoxen Founding Fathers have learned a lot. Not the least of which, how much work putting together a beer tournament can be. For example, we learned that it is apparently illegal to sell mixed six-packs in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (stupid Quakers!). As such, Muskoxen Geoff and Muskoxen Vince need to trek to Delaware to purchase their entries to the tournament. Muskoxen Keith found his new favorite store thanks to the tournament, a little place called The Perfect Pour - it's a beer drinker's paradise.

The Muskoxen are drooling at the possibilities of this tournament. Not just the chance to taste new beers and crown a winner (though that is awesome!) - the possibility that the winner will need to defend its crown in Quest for the Best 2: Muskoxtoberfest In Spring: Feats of Beer '10, The Brew-tastic Challenge 2. The Muskoxen are exploring the idea of extending Muskoxen Quest for the Best into an exclusive series of events for our brotherhood and followers alike.