The Beer Dance: Round 2 Of Our Craft Beer March Madness Bracket

NEW ORLEANS -- (MainStreet) -- The Beer Dance is through its first round, and while some powerhouse craft beers stayed alive, March Madness was too much to bear for sentimental favorites shown the door early.

What did we learn after our field of beers based in NCAA host cities (and brewed with less than 7% alcohol by volume) dwindled from 14 to eight? Mostly that this bracket bears almost no resemblance to its NCAA cousin other than the cities involved. The University of Kentucky's No. 1 ranking and opening-round drubbing of Western Kentucky didn't help Bluegrass Brewing's Dark Star Porter at all when Schlafly's dry-hopped IPA proved too much. Ohio State's nearly 20-point dismantling of Loyola did little to boost Columbus Brewing's IPA, which had some tough luck drawing Boston Beer's(SAM) flagship Samuel Adams Boston Lager in the first round.