Snob Bowl I – New York vs. New England

Welcome to Snob Bowl I!!!

Of course we are going to jump on the Super Bowl bandwagon. Who doesn’t remember the Bud vs Bud Light Bowls that use to happen during commercial breaks during the Super Bowl in the early 90s? I wanted to recreate that, but with better beer. Then I thought, why have them play football when I can drink them and rate them with football-style scores?! So I went to my local beer shop and bought three random New York beers and three random New England beers.

Here are the teams:

New York:
Brewery Ommegang – Three Philosophers
Ithaca Beer Co. – Flower Power IPA
Brewery Ommegang – Ommegang Abbey Ale

New England:
Smuttynose Brewing – Smuttynose IPA
Samuel Adams – Wee Heavy
Cottrell Brewing Co – Mystic Bridge IPA

So let’s play this little game. We’ll make the first three quarters based on the beers. The last quarter will be based on the labels of the beers because us snobs appreciate creative artwork.

In the first quarter we have Brewery Ommegang’s Three Philosophers and Smuttynose Brewing’s IPA going at it. After some back and forth action, Three Philosophers’ offense ran circles around Smuttynose IPA with its great fruit flavors, and its smooth yet complex structure made it worth two big scores. Smuttynose IPA had trouble getting out of the starting gate with its overly bitter flavor and a bit of a funky taste, and only was able to come up with a field goal.

The score at the end of the 1st quarter is:

New York – 14
New England – 3

Going into the second quarter trailing, New England sent Cottrell Brewing’s Mystic Bridge IPA onto the field to try to get momentum back on its side. Mystic Bridge is a decent IPA. It’s a good beer for the novice IPA drinker who is new to hoppy beers, but good for the craft beer snob too, because it’s a beer that you can continue to drink throughout the day. So Mystic Bridge IPA was able to throw a deep pass and put 7 points on the board for New England.

New York continued its dominance in the game by sending Ithaca Beer Company’s Flower Power onto the field. Flower Power has a great big bold IPA flavor with a subtle flowery taste that brings this beer to the next level. Flower Power is worth one big score plus a nice field goal.

The score at the end of the 2nd quarter is:

New York – 24
New England – 10

In the locker room at halftime, New England knew they had to go to the big guns to bring the game close again. Enter Sam Adams Wee Heavy. Wee Heavy is a fantastic Scotch Ale that stands tall at 10% ABV. Wee Heavy has a great smokey smell and an even better roasted flavor. This ale has no problem marching down the field and tying the score up at 24-24 with two big touchdowns of flavor.

Brewery Ommegang takes the field again with another Belgain beer in the form of the Abbey Ale. This beer can do no wrong. With a nice burgundy color and deep fruity flavor that hits the field of your mouth with a sweet and savory feel. This brew easily puts up 10 points before the third-quarter whistle blows.

The score at the end of the 3rd quarter is:

New York – 34
New England – 24

In the 4th quarter, all the beers come out to play and put on a show. The label may be the 2nd most important part of a beer after the taste. A lot of people, snobs included, will buy a beer just because of the artwork that it possesses. New England takes this one with the old men drinking a beer in the yard on Smuttynose IPA, while New York comes up a little short with the basic yet classy styles of Brewery Ommegang.

At the end of the 4th, the smoke has cleared, we have a winner.

New York – 40
New England – 34

Well, New York takes the first ever Snob Bowl by six points. Some great beers fought long and hard and only one team could come out on top. Now drink up and enjoy the game tonight!

Cheers!

Musical Pairing: (Not so much music) - Lewis Black – Super Bowl

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