Welcome to RVA BEER MADNESS and The Sweet 16!
A big thank you again to all the amazing beer teams that have been a part of this tournament and a huge congratulations to the teams that have made it into the sweet 16!!
Round 2 had some extremely close match ups that we real buzzer beaters going down to the final minutes. We had a few teams that crept ahead only to see their leads eaten away with a come from behind victory.
Let’s look at the close match ups –
Downtown:
Stone Brewing wins over Saison Restaurant and Market with the horned Gargoyle hitting a two pointer at the buzzer. Very huge game from Saison who ran through the tournament with a big following that kept things this close.
Champion Brewery comes in with a close one as well, as brewers lead the charge in Round 2. Pasture came in quick and showed real grit and lots of love from the fans, but the brewery came through in the final minutes.
The Fan / Scotts Addition:
In what was the biggest machtup of the Tourney so far, The Veil’s strong team took on always strong Ardent Brewing. This was the one to follow folks, and it did not disappoint. The Veil took a commanding lead from the offset, but by halftime Ardent was heating up outside the arch and raining in the three pointers. In the end ARDENT took a lead and was able to hold it till the buzzer. ARDENT with a HUGE GAME, showing they are one of the top teams to beat from here out!!
Cask Cafe has been a bit of a big story in this tournament, they have had a big crew for support and ran into a very strong Three Notch’s Collab House Brewery that is a bit newer to this area. It was a tough battle, with both teams looking like they could tern the corner for the win. Cask Cafe, in the final minutes, was able to get the lead by just a few points and pull out the win. Now they face Ardent in the next round – so they have to keep the points rolling to move forward.
Carytown / Museum District:
Games in this region were not quite as close as some of the others. Ellwood Thompson’s pulled out a close victory against the scrappy Weezie’s team this year. And Cary Street Cafe was able to rally the heads against Buddy’s in a good matchup that had lots of good vibes for all.
West End / Southside / Other:
COTU (Center of the Universe Brewery)was able to pull out a close one against Once Upon a Vine and are looking strong in their first showing in the RVA Beer Madness Tournament. Now they pull a former Champion in Mekong for the sweet 16.
The bottom of the bracket was highly contested, these were some close run and gun fights to the very end. Strangeways and Final Gravity were two top level teams that pulled each other very early on. Both came out with big followings and had a back and forth game that was fun for any fan. Final Gravity, in the end, pulled out a close victory. Can they keep the momentum going as they move on?
Lickinghole Creek pulled the ever popular spot The Answer, another matchup of two top level teams here that had a game that can only describe as a shoot out. Watching Brandon Tolbert rain down three pointers was something to behold, so light and so agile with a sweet touch. He pulled his team ahead and was able to pull ahead. Now he needs to keep it going for the Final Gravity Matchup – thats a marquee sweet 16 game.
Congrats again to the teams, the bracket below has the matchups for sweet 16, good luck all!
Current Tournament Bracket:
Please cast your votes for our Sweet 16 matchups, and feel free to share this bracket with friends and businesses in our community. Teams are placed by Region and by Seeding in each Region. We are down to 16 teams on the way to the Eliete 8!
Round Breakdown:
ROUND 3 “ THE SWEET 16” – MARCH 21st
ROUND 4 “ELITE EIGHT” – MARCH 24th
ROUND 5 – “FINAL FOUR” – MARCH 28th
ROUND 6 – CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – MARCH 31st
Thanks again and happy voting!!
