Welcome back jabronis. The past 2 weeks have seen the beginning of the NHL and NBA Playoffs, which will make for a busy summer for sports fans. With those starting, the thought popped up in my mind. What sport has the most exciting playoffs? Each sport all has their own format, which as a result leads to different styles and pace. The NBA does a 16 team format with 8 seeds each conference. The NHL also does 8 teams per conference, but they have broken each of the conferences into 2 four team brackets. MLB does 5 teams in each league that consists of 3 division winners and 2 wild card winners that face each other in a playoff to face the division winners. The NFL has 6 teams each conference consisting of 4 division winners and 2 wild card teams with the top 2 seeds getting a bye week. Even though each style is different, each has their critiques. The NBA Playoffs in my opinion is the most watered down of all the leagues. Half of the league can make the playoffs which will lead to teams being under .500 going up against a team with 60 wins. While the MLB has the toughest road to make the playoffs, they aren't particularly exciting on a grand level unless you get traditional power teams playing each other (i.e. Yankees-Red Sox or Giants-Dodgers). The NFL definitely packs excitement with single elimination games, but even then you can have a lack of buzz unless it has your power teams. The NHL to me is exciting because the intensity you see not only from the teams, but from the fans as well. I am interested to see how this new bracket system they incorporated works out as well. For me, I am equally into the the NFL and MLB playoffs. I like the Stanley Cup match-ups and just can't really get into the NBA much unless the Brooklyn Nets can make a title run. Well that's my rant. What is your favorite sport playoff?
For this week's edition of Beer of the Week. I have chosen Taste of Honey by Starr Hill in Crozet, VA (right outside Charlottesville, VA). This beer is a Belgian Dubbel style beer that is brewed with wildflower honey rather than the traditional Belgian candi sugar. The beer is medium body and the hop taste is met nicely with caramel, toffee, and malt tastes. Before tasting this beer, I was a little skeptical because I thought the beer would have too sweet of a taste. However, I believe that the honey was a welcoming addition. It really made drinking the beer easier since it has a higher abv (8.5%). This beer would be good to drink while eating a pork meal or if you are looking to get drunk faster than you would with Bud Light. At the end of the day, this is definitely worth trying if you ever take a trip to Starr Hill. On a scale of 1 to 5 kegs, I give Taste of Honey 4 kegs. If you want to learn more about this beer or any other Starr Hill brews, you can visit them at www.starrhill.com.
That is all for this week. Until next time, Drink Responsibly and Enjoy your Beer.