Super Bowl Beer Battle: New England vs. Atlanta

On Sunday the New England Patriots are battling it out on the field with the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to create a different kind of battle between the two teams: a beer battle.
Below is a rundown of what I believe to be the ultimate taster from each team’s home state. In order to keep things fair, I picked the beers based on the current Beer Advocate rankings for each state (Georgia, Massachusetts) , with one beer per style making the cut. For styles, I was limited in part by what types of beers had made it into the top 100. If both states didn’t have a brew in the top 100 in that style, I didn’t include it. That means I left out some amazing stuff from both sides but kept this a relatively fair fight.
When researching beers for this list I learned one big thing about beer in Massachusetts: Tree House is killing it. The brewery owned nine of the top 10 spots, and a good number of the top 100 (as did Trillium, and Georgia’s Creature Comforts). For that reason, this list would have been pretty heavy with just a few breweries if I didn’t limit the number of times they could appear, so I restricted the list to just two beers each. Also, I clearly need to plan a trip to Tree House and Creature Comforts soon because these guys are clearly making some amazing stuff.
I made a point to describe the beers using the brewery’s own words whenever possible. I haven’t had the opportunity to try a lot of these, and I didn’t want to influence anyone’s decision one way or the other. For the one beer I couldn’t find an official brewery description for, I went with one of the most descriptive reviews found on Beer Advocate.
Sooo, without further ado, here’s a rundown of the best beers from the Falcons and Patriots’ home turf. Take a look, and let us know which beers you prefer.
Pale Ale
Trillium Brewing Company Galaxy Dry Hopped Fort Point Ale
This version of our signature American pale ale is dry hopped with the pungent Galaxy variety. Enticingly hazy and blonde in appearance with frothy carb, the nose erupts with strong citrus, passion fruit, and pineapple aromatics. Upfront and resinous hop-derived flavors of grapefruit pith, peach, and mango are balanced with a subtle, bready malt character and mild, subdued bitterness.
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Red Hare Brewing Company Cotton Tail Pale Ale
Zythos hops scent this ale with a refreshing citrusy aroma which translates into floral, orange notes on the tongue. A sweet malty backbone balances the slight bitterness of the hop profile making this a refreshing brew with a clean finish- the perfect companion for any activity!
IPA
Trillium Brewing Company Headroom
Simply put, Headroom is the hoppiest beer we’ve ever brewed with more than seven lbs. per barrel featuring heavy doses of Galaxy & Mosaic. This is a truly special Double IPA brewed only once a year, released during the last two summers to celebrate Hop Jam; Vermont’s annual lupulin-centric beer fest. Headroom embodies our hoppy coup de grâce (for now)- we hope you enjoy!
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Creature Comforts Tropicalia
A balanced, soft, and juicy IPA. Ripe Passion fruit and citrus hop aroma lead to a full, fruit-forward hop flavor that washes over the palate, ending with subtle bitterness. Some folks say they don’t like hoppy beers, and to that we say that hops do not equal bitterness. To us, hops offer a plethora of flavors, not just bitterness; and in Tropicalia it’s a beautiful, luscious, fruit journey for your palate to enjoy without fatigue.