You’re sitting. It’s hot, real hot. The summer has broken all heat records and those chunks of Antarctica that have broken away has pushed water levels so high that you’re surrounded by water. But no chunks of ice.

At first you like the heat; it’s like having your own hot tub. But soon you become uncomfortable. You need to cool down. You need a beer. A beer will help you through this crisis. But which beer goes best with global catastrophe and hot weather? “Steward!” you call. “Assemble the players and let the matches begin!”

Great Lakes Brewing News is proud to present the 2008 Global Warming Open, a contest pitting refreshing summer beers against one another to determine the most refreshing beer in America. Like the springtime National IPA Championships, participating summer beers from across the nation will be randomly chosen for a 1:1 single elimination bracket tournament. Winners of the first round will advance to the next. At the same time, beer lovers will choose their winners for each round on-line.

The complete summer beer tournament bracket will be published in the June/July issue of Great Lakes Brewing News and posted on-line. The kick-off event (Round 1) will be held at the Summer Northern Virginia Brew Fest, June 21. The judges will all be brewers. And they will be sampling your brew in summer conditions.

As mentioned above, the Global Warming tournament will be interactive. Readers will be able to make their own choices as to who they think will win each round. The readers will be able to log onto the web and read a brief description of each individual beer as well as view an image. They will then fill out their brackets and choose a winner. A grand prize will be awarded to the reader who predicts the most correct GWO brackets. The top prize will be a free case of the 2008 Global Warming Open Champion beer and a $100 gift certificate for Brewing News Beerware! Results of each round will be posted on-line within twenty-four hours. Final results and winners will be published in our August/September 2008 issue.

Join us for what will be one of the most fun events this summer!

Note: The Summer Sippers challengers are selected at random and placed on the chart in order.


View Beer Brackets
Round 2 - June 28
Round 3 - July 11
Championship Round - July 19

Printable PDF Bracket Sheets
One Page PDF (11 x 17)
Two Page PDF (8.5 x 11)




Copyright 2008, Great Lakes Brewing News