Vote In The Final Round Of Chicagoist's Best Beer Bracket

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 2, 2016 3:12PM

Photo via shutterstock.

The votes are in, and from an original group of 32 great craft beers, the field is reduced to two. But thanks to some minor voting shenanigans, the winner might not be who you think it is.

To recap, the final four included beers from Forbidden Root, Temperance Brewing, Moody Tongue and Ale Syndicate. The poll was scheduled to close at midnight on Sunday night. In the end, more than 17,000 people voted in this round.

Here's the problem: we goofed. We didn't close the polls exactly at midnight, and it looks like a bunch of Temperance fans kept voting after hours. How do we know this? Because an anonymous benefactor provided us with a screenshot of the results taken shortly after midnight. So, despite the mixup, the integrity of the vote is secure, and the final result will follow the original plan: the winner at midnight last night is the winner.

So who won? By a narrow margin of approximately 52 percent to 48 percent, Forbidden Root defeated Temperance. By a wider margin of 57 percent to 43 percent, Ale Syndicate crushed Moody Tongue. In case Temperance fans want to lick their wounds, as of when we actually closed the poll, they were winning by about 180 votes, tipping it to 50.5 to 49.5 percent. But rules are rules.

That means that the final matchup will be between Ale Syndicate Brewing Richie Imperial Porter and Forbidden Root Wildflower Pale Ale. The polls close (for real this time) on Friday morning at 8 a.m. (to make sure we have the exact count). May the best beer win.