ABV Chicago’s FoBAB Fantasy League Results 2019
To see how we set up the league and all of our draft results, go here.
If you want to see the list of medal winners from FoBAB 2019, visit the FoBAB website.
We were honored to have so many good people involved in our inaugural year of the FoBAB Fantasy League, and it definitely brought a heightened level of excitement to the awards ceremony for us. Thanks to everyone that was a part of it, or shared it out on social media, or even ran a FoBAB Fantasy Draft of their own. We will definitely be doing this again next year.
As a reminder, here’s how the scoring was broken down:
- Gold medals are worth three points; silver medals are worth two points; and bronze medals are worth one point
- The beer that wins Best of Show earns an additional three points, and the Runner-up earns an additional two points.
We also chose a tiebreaker number based on how many medals we predicted Illinois breweries would win, and teams were not allowed to pick the same number. (More on this after the results.)
Here are how the teams fared, in draft order. Each number preceding the brewery represents their overall pick number. (And all multiple location breweries have been combined, as is explained in our fantasy league draft post.)
Team: The Blowfish
Team Manager: Nik White (@nkosio)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 12
- 1 – Revolution Brewing (Chicago, IL)
- Gold – Other Strong Beer: V.S.O.R. (Very Special Old Ryeway)
- Silver – Fruit Beer: Strawberry Jacket
- 20 – Cruz Blanca Brewery (Chicago, IL)
- 21 – Spiteful Brewing (Chicago, IL)
- 40 – Crystal Lake Brewing (Crystal Lake, IL)
- Silver – Strong Porter/Stout: Boathouse Reserve Rye Whiskey Barrel-aged Imperial Stout
- 41 – Upland Brewing (Bloomington, IN)
- 60 – Wild Onion Brewery (Lake Barrington, IL)
Total points: 7
Team: The Rural Beer Writer Coalition
Team Manager: Joshua Riley (@brewdude3k)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 14
- 2 – Off Color Brewing (Chicago, IL)
- Silver – Wild Beer (Acidic) Sours: Procatisnation
- 19 – Begyle Brewing (Chicago, IL)
- 22 – Hailstorm Brewing Co. (Tinley Park, IL)
- 39 – Avery Brewing Co. (Boulder, CO)
- 42 – Surly Brewing Co. (Minneapolis, MN)
- 59 – Superstition Meadery (Prescott, AZ)
- Bronze – Cider/Perry/Mead: Grand Cru Berry
Total points: 3
Team: The Cherry Red Lipstick Delegation
Team Manager: Chalonda White (@afrobeerchick)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 13
- 3 – Half Acre Beer Co. (Chicago, IL)
- Bronze: Specialty Strong Porter/Stout: Vanilla Benthic
- 18 – ERIS Brewery and Ciderhouse (Chicago, IL)
- 23 – Maplewood Brewery & Distillery (Chicago, IL)
- 38 – Open Outcry Brewing Company (Chicago, IL)
- 43 – Odd Side Ales (Grand Haven, MI)
- 58 – Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (Denver, CO)
Total Points: 1
Team: The Old Man Lagers
Team Manager: Ryan Tracy (@wehavegreatbeer)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 10
- 4 – Fremont Brewing (Seattle, WA)
- 17 – Forager Brewery (Rochester, MN)
- Silver – Wild Beer (Acidic) Sours with Fruit: Dollar Menu Pie
- 24 – Afterthought Brewing Company (Lombard, IL)
- Gold – Wild Beer/Brett: Afterthought Ale: Wine Barrel Fermented (Yuzu and Key Lime Juice)
- 37 – Pure Project (San Diego, CA)
- 44 – Cerebral Brewing (Denver, CO)
- Gold – Specialty Strong Porter/Stout: Vanilla Rye Here Be Monsters
- 57 – Lake Effect Brewing Company (Chicago, IL)
Total Points: 8
Team: Gentlemen Imbibing Intoxicating Beverages
Team Manager: Karl Klockars (@karlklockars)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 11
- 5 – Werk Force Brewing Co. (Plainfield, IL)
- Gold – Fruit Beer: Farmhouse Vultures w/ blackberries and raspberries
- 16 – DESTIHL Brewery (Normal, IL)
- 25 – Virtue Cider (Fennville, MI)
- 36 – Hacienda Beer Co. (Baileys Harbor, WI)
- Silver – Wild Beer/Brett: L’hiver
- 45 – Middle Brow Beer Co. (Chicago, IL)
- 56 – Pretentious Barrel House (Columbus, OH)
Total Points: 5
Team: Third and Lager
Team Manager: Stephanie Byce (@girlandherbeer)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 9
- 6 – Hopewell Brewing Co. (Chicago, IL)
- 15 – Pollyanna Brewing Co. (Lemont, IL)
- Gold – Other Pale Beer: Apple-Brandy Barrel-aged Orenda Volume 03
- Silver – Other Strong Beer: Orenda Volume 02
- 26 – käretäs brewing (Itasca, IL)
- 35 – Phase Three Brewing (Lake Zurich, IL)
- 46 – 5 Rabbit Cerveceria (Bedford Park, IL)
- Gold – Specialty/Experimental: El Pirata
- 55 – Old Irving Brewing Co. (Chicago, IL)
Total Points: 8
Team: HopBoiz
Team Manager: Jack Muldowney (@TheHopReview)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 15
- 7 – WeldWerks Brewing Co. (Greeley, CO)
- 14 – Goose Island Beer Co. (Chicago, IL)
- 27 – Blackberry Farm Brewery (Maryville, TN)
- 34 – The Bruery (Placentia, CA)
- 47 – Haymarket Brewery & Taproom (Chicago, IL)
- Silver – Barleywine/Wheatwine: Barrel-aged Bollocks
- 54 – New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO)
Total Points: 2
Team: Waka Flocculation
Team Manager: Ryan I. (@ABVChicago)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 16
- 8 – The Lost Abbey (San Marcos, CA)
- Gold – Wild Beer (Acidic) Sours with Fruit & Runner-Up: Peach Afternoon
- 13 – Rowley Farmhouse Ales (Santa Fe, NM)
- 28 – Pipeworks Brewing Co. (Chicago, IL)
- 33 – Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery (multiple)
- 48 – Rhinegeist Brewery (Cincinnati, OH)
- 53 – Monday Night Brewing (Atlanta, GA)
- Bronze – Specialty/Experimental: Tie 8 On
Total Points: 6
Team: FIBless
Team Manager: Craig G. (@ABVChicago)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 8
- 9 – Listermann Brewing Company (Cincinnati, OH)
- 12 – The Rare Barrel (Berkeley, CA)
- 29 – Orpheus Brewing (Atlanta, GA)
- 32 – Sun King Brewing Company (Indianapolis, IN)
- 49 – Beachwood Blendery (Long Beach, CA)
- 52 – Garagiste Meadery (Tampa, FL)
- Silver – Cider/Perry/Mead: Cognac Barrel Aged Black Widow
Total Points: 2
Team: Slow Pour Haze
Team Manager: Mike Zoller (@mikezoller)
IL Medals Tiebreaker: 17
- 10. MORE Brewing (Villa Park, IL)
- Bronze – Strong Porter/Stout: Mehndi 2019
- 11. Bottle Logic Brewing (Anaheim, CA)
- Gold – Barleywine/Wheatwine & Best of Show: Arcane Rituals
- 30. Lil Beaver Brewery (Bloomington, IL)
- 31. Arclight Brewing Company (Watervliet, MI)
- 50. Lakefront Brewery (Milwaukee, WI)
- 51. Area Two Experimental Brewing (Stratford, CT)
Total Points: 7
It came down to the tiebreaker between Ryan Tracy and Steph Byce. And with Illinois breweries taking home 12 medals, Ryan Tracy was the closest between those teams, earning him the championship for the inaugural FoBAB Fantasy League! Here’s the final standings, based on total points and tiebreakers.
- Old Man Lagers (Ryan Tracy)
- Third and Lager (Steph Byce)
- The Blowfish (Nik White)
- Slow Pour Haze (Mike Zoller)
- Waka Flocculation (Ryan I.)
- Gentlemen Imbibing Intoxicating Beverages (Karl Klockars)
- The Rural Beer Writers Coalition (Joshua Riley)
- FIBless (Craig G.)
- HopBoiz (Jack Muldowney)
- The Cherry Red Lipstick Delegation (Chalonda White)
The top two teams will be receiving a bounty of delicious, inexpensive beers contributed by the losing teams, with 3/4 going to Ryan Tracy and 1/4 going to Steph Byce.
Congratulations to everyone, and thanks for being a part of the league in year one!
And as we head into the off season, we reflect on many things for next year’s league before November 14th, 2020 rolls around.
- Tiebreaker: This was maybe the least-thought-out aspect of the league, and it ended up deciding the winner. There has to be a more fair way to set this, as we based the choice of tiebreaker number off of draft order. And since teams were not allowed to pick the same number, the later-picking teams got a pretty undesirable number.
- Expansion: We could certainly open up two more spots to grow this to a 12-person league. For this first year, we decided not to include brewery employees or FoBAB judges. But it could be fun to have a separate All Brewers League next year. (Though some nepotism could be afoot…)
- Keepers: If we don’t expand, we could even have one keeper brewery per squad, but this will likely be a Year Three change.
- Scoring: Were the additional points for Best of Show and Runner-up enough? We contemplated setting those at 5 and 4 respectively, but thought it might be too much of a clincher. In reviewing the results under the current scoring system, neither Best of Show or Runner-up owning team came in the top two spots, and it was multiple medals from multiple breweries that pushed those two ahead of the rest. So it seems like it worked out fairly in that regard.
Other FoBAB notes:
- Don’t take Chalonda’s last-place finish too harshly with her solid draft lineup, as she really won the night by hitching a ride (with her husband Nik) up to Milwaukee for 1840 Brewing’s barrel-aged stout release after Session II of FoBAB. That’s real champion behavior, and we salute Chalonda and Nik for their bravery.
- As many 5th (3) and 6th (4) round draft picks won medals as 1st round draft picks (7). But Gold and Silver medals were much more highly concentrated with 1st and 2nd round draft picks, so that adds a little legitimacy to our Power Rankings.
- But to delegitimize our Power Rankings, eight breweries scored medals that were unranked: Kros Strain (2 medals), Derive, Great Lakes, MyGrain, Branch & Bone, MobCraft, Upstream, and Coppertail.
