Washington Post Kicks Off 2011 Beer Madness Competition

Ah, life's tough decisions. Heinnieweisse or Kellerweisse? Vanilla Porter or Dogfish Head? The Post unveiled today its 2011 Beer Madness bracket to ultimately determine a reigning champion in American craft brews. This is the fifth year of Beer Madness, a few key changes have been made. Not only has the field of contenders been doubled to 64 beers, but the paper also picked five of its own readers to join in as their "Joe-Sixpack" judges. Finally, ChurchKey beer director Greg Engert helped reorganize the method of grouping beers into flavor-driven categories: malt, fruit & spice, roast and hops.

The tastings all went down on Feb. 28, but over the next six weeks the Post will unveil the results bracket-by-bracket until we finally have a tourney champion. So for those who love a good March Madness office pool — here's another chance to lose $5.

· Beer Madness 2011 [WaPo]

[Photo: Tim Dobson/Flickr]