Ninkasi Heads to Wired’s Beer Tournament Final Four

Last night’s match between Ninkasi Brewing Company and Lagunitas Brewing Company was a little like when Duke meets Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It felt more like a championship game because both beers are favorites with Wired staff and readers, and we really didn’t want to see either one knocked out of the tournament just yet.

Many of the tasters were struggling to decide between these two, and the vote was the closest one yet. The only consolation for losing one of these beers from the tournament is the fact that they are both sure to be served by Beer Robot again soon.

The Location: Wired HQ

The Beers: Ninkasi Brewing Company’s Believer Double Red Ale and Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale.

The Method of Dispense: Sumpin’ Wild was served on draught by Beer Robot and Believer was poured from 22-ounce bombers (above).

How They Fared: Lagunitas surprised us from the start with Little Sumpin’ Wild. It started the tournament by defeating the popular Lagunitas IPA, and then went on to take out New Belgium’s Ranger IPA. It has a very different, unexpected taste that can be confusing at first, but really grows on you by the end of a pint. This leaves you wanting another pint, and another, which can be dangerous considering the 7.8-percent alcohol content.

The beer is strongly, strangely malty and wheaty at the same time with a good, but not overwhelming, kick from Belgian yeast. It’s Lagunitas’ September seasonal, but if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can still find it on tap here and there, as well as at some stores.

Sumpin’ Wild scored points with the Wired tasters for being different, complex and, well, strange. Laura Erickson of swissnex said the beer “has a totally unique flavor. Complex, too!” Phil McKenna of New Scientist said it blew his mind, and Wired.com copy editor Randy Alfred gave his vote to Sumpin’ Wild “by a nose — literally its nose.”

The Believer Double Red knocked out Ninkasi’s Total Domination IPA (the beer that brought this brewery to our attention in the first place because it aligns neatly with Beer Robot’s goal of World Domination) in the first round. It went on to win a tough match against Mad River’s Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, another Wired favorite. Along the way it has made believers out of many of us, and continued to win over new tasters last night.

The Believer is unexpectedly smooth and drinkable for a beer with such a deep red color, and yet has a full, rich flavor all the way through. This is due to the strong malt that backs up a healthy dose of hops, which appealed to the Wired tasters and won the beer many of its votes. Jacqueline Daly of Dynadot said the beer had “full flavor with a smooth finish.” Peter Aldhous of New Scientist summed it up with “very nice balance between malt and hops.”

We knew this would be a close battle, and it could have gone either way. With very few exceptions, darker beers and beers with higher ABV have been winning most of the challenges, so this one was hard to predict. But in the end, the darker Believer overpowered the Little Sumpin’ Wild by a scant two votes.

Check out the full October Madness bracket, with links to all the recaps.

Coming up: The remaining two quarterfinals and the semifinals will take place after the Thanksgiving break, and the championship will follow shortly after. Stay tuned to Twitter @wiredplaybook and @beerrobot for details.

Image: Erik Malinowski/Wired.com

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For Multisport Madness, Cycleball Takes the Crown

Quick: Envision a sport where two teammates ride around on bicycles on a miniature basketball court, trying feverishly to “kick” a ball into a net with their wheel as they try not fly off their seat from a full-contact hit.

Well, the good news is that cycleball is real and it’s spectacular. It’s been a favored sport in parts of Europe for more than a century, but the sport has never been able to make many inroads in America. It’s especially baffling when you break down how fast and easy the sport is to play.

A cycleball match consists of two seven-minute halves. Players must keep their feet off the floor at times, or else the other team will get a free kick, not unlike in soccer when you foul an opposing player. There are two players on each side, with one usually hanging in the defensive zone to act as a de facto goalkeeper, who can use his hands to prevent the ball from entering a square net measuring 6.5 feet on each side.

The playing area measures 36 by 46 feet, with a 1-foot-high wall usually surrounding the perimeter. The bikes are optimized for cycleball, with the seats positioned directly over the back tire, and the handlebars in front point straight up. The bikes are also fixed-gear, so there’s no braking and it’s easy for players to ride backward quickly.

Czechoslovakia and West Germany dominated cycleball in the ’70s and ’80s, and it was these two countries that came to Colorado in 1984 during the now-defunct Coors Classic. (Although, Lance Armstrong’s years-long effort to bring prestigious bike racing back to Colorado paid off this summer with the birth of the Quiznos Pro Challenge.)

Here’s some footage of that event, which ultimately failed to get cycleball much traction in the United States. Still, the crowd seemed plenty into the exhibition, which kicked off with a ceremonial coin toss by legendary Tour de France-winning cyclist Eddy Merckx.

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Video: Scottish Street Biker Conquers Hometown’s Hidden Places

Watching street biker Danny MacAskill completely own urban settings on just two wheels and a titanium pair of cojones must be what it was like to watch Babe Ruth take batting practice. That is, you’re witnessing an athlete who was born to do a certain thing and do it better than anyone else. For Babe Ruth, that was smashing baseballs to smithereens.

For Danny MacAskill, it’s using a bike to perform aerial tricks and palm-sweating stunts in areas that no one would think to do them.

In his latest offering, a 7-minute microdoc called “Way Back Home,” MacAskill ventures from his familiar home base of Edinburgh and travels to the Isle of Skye and his picturesque hometown of Dunvegan, home to historic Dunvegan Castle and the Clan MacLoed. (Highlander, anyone?)

As with any of MacAskill’s videos, set this one to fullscreen mode and keep reminding yourself that he made it through these moves sans paralysis.

It’s hard to believe how MacAskill continuously pulls off such dangerous maneuvers without serious injury, but it’s as if the bicycle wheels are an extension of his feet. In an online Q&A, MacAskill admitted that he is scared at times while doing his stunts, but that “stupidity and stubbornness” often carry the day.

Whatever works.

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Full Boar Goes Full-On Into Final 4

October Madness has been a long, strange, booze-filled journey. But the end is nigh, as we’re ready to start filling out the Final Four and wrap up our first-ever beer-judging extravaganza. On deck Thursday night were a rich, deep Scotch ale from the heart of the Bay Area and a sweet and hoppy amber ale from more-northern California.

The Location: Wired Headquarters

The Beers: Full Boar Scotch Ale from Devil’s Canyon Brewery (Belmont, California) and Boont Amber Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Boonville, California)

The Method of Dispense: Each dispensed from 5-gallon cornelius kegs

How They Fared: AVBC’s Boont Amber Ale, with its mild 5.8 percent alcohol content, has been something of a giant-killer so far, having knocked off Speakeasy’s Big Daddy IPA at the California Academy of Sciences’ Sharktoberfest event. And Boont continued its strong run during last night’s proceedings. “Drinkable, friendly, approachable without being insipid,” said Wired.com senior editor Dylan Tweney. “Love the fruit aftertaste,” said Jeff of the Public Library of Science.

However, Full Boar Scotch Ale, which took down the mighty Eye of the Hawk from Mendocino Brewing, had all the momentum, it seemed. “No sharp edges,” said Wired copy editor Lee Simmons. “Nicely sweet, good body,” raved Wired production associate Myrna Chiu. Yours truly found it “smoky and delicious,” and the room was in near-unanimous agreement.

And so with a 6-vote edge, Full Boar Scotch Ale saunters into the Final Four, where it will face either Full Sail’s Session Black or Tied House’s Ironwood Dark for a spot in the championship.

Coming Up: Public October Madness events will resume after the Thanksgiving holidays. (We hear turkey and beer go very well together.)

And check out the full October Madness bracket for all the recaps!

Image: Courtesy Devil’s Canyon

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Video: Time-Lapse Shows Yankee Stadium Switcheroo

After 41 years, Notre Dame and Army will once again resume their annual rivalry on the grounds of Yankee Stadium. And turning the baseball-only field into a one-time-only, football-ready playing surface was no easy task.

Shot over the course of a week, this video shows how arduous it was to clear off the infield dirt and lay down the sod, so that the grid could then painted in and the goalposts erected.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Even though it’s not the same Yankee Stadium from decades past, it’s bound to be emotional for anyone who grew up in the Northeast with all the bombast and grandeur that came with Army and Notre Dame battling in the Bronx. One former Army player likened it to the biggest event in modern football:

“Those games were the Super Bowl of today,” said Joe Steffy, an Army team captain and lineman in the 1940s. “There was no more famous place to perform any sport than Yankee Stadium, and there was no rivalry bigger than Army and Notre Dame. Many years, it was the national championship game.”

Of course, as odd as it might be to see these college football stalwarts competing in a $1.5 billion upgrade of the old confines, at least they’ll have two functioning end zones, unlike Saturday’s Northwestern-Illinois matchup at Wrigley Field, which will only feature one, due to Wrigley’s constraining nature.

Image: Flickr/yourdon, CC

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EA Brings NFL Training Camp Into Your Home

Eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback Deion Sanders takes his turn at EA's Active NFL Training Camp.

NFL fans finally have a videogame they can use to replicate the movements their favorite NFL players make every Sunday. If used consistently enough, they can sweat just like them, too.

EA Sports’ Active NFL Training Camp, released this week, gives gamers more than 70 strength, agility and reaction drills commonly found in NFL training camps for them to recreate on their Wii. With the consultation of NFL strength and conditioning coaches and EA Sports’ in-house fitness instructor, Active Training Camp’s game producers incorporated football drills to create a fitness-based game.

“What we did was try to instill different team’s philosophies into how they put their training together,” Justin Sheffield, a producer for Active Training Camp, told Wired.com. He said it was critical to balance the input of suggested drills from the coaches. Whereas San Diego Chargers strength and conditioning coach Jeff Hurd advised leg-based and strength-driven drills, Chris Carlisle of the Seattle Seahawks valued ones that emphasize speed and agility.

Gamers can compete head-to-head in multiplayer mode in drills such as QB Window Challenge, which tests throwing accuracy, and Field Goal Challenge. A more organized program exists with the NFL Combine 60-Day Challenge. Per the NFL’s PLAY 60 commitment to youth health and fitness, the in-game challenge lets users work out four days a week for 60 days by participating in drills held at the NFL Combine every February.

Many of the Combine’s drills, including the 40-yard dash, are renowned for their ability to demonstrate NFL players’ athleticism. A prime example is, well, Deion “Prime Time” Sanders. The six-time All-Pro cornerback reportedly clocked in at a blazing-fast 4.21 seconds in his 40-yard time at the 1989 Combine.

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Basketball Prodigy Brings Hoop Dreams to India

With the NBA looking to make inroads in untapped markets around the world, Satnam Singh could hold the key to bringing full-blown basketball fever to the 1.3 billion people of the Indian subcontinent. Singh possesses decent agility for a hulking 7-footer, and his 250-pound frame (though on the light side) gives him a decent foundation for which to dominate down low in the post. However, Singh has plenty of time to fill out his frame with extra muscle.

That’s because Satnam Singh is 14 years old.

Singh was India’s best-kept hoops secret until he recently spent six weeks training at the IMG Basketball Academy in Bradenton, Florida, working with former college coaches to hone a raw skill set that already has some people calling him India’s answer to Yao Ming.

Of course, Singh is still at least several years away from making a discernible impact (if any) in the NBA, and there’s a long track record of untested players from other countries who flame out once they face NBA competition (Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Yinka Dare, and so on).

But if Singh keeps working on his development and practices against legitimate, near-NBA competition, it’s hard to overstate how good this kid can be.

Realizing the economic potential for such a partnership, the NBA has been proactive in hosting publicized events in India, such as the Mahindra NBA Challenge, which organizes multicity leagues for age groups as young as 12.

Hoops officials in India have also thrown their full weight behind Singh’s rising star, featuring him prominently on the front page of the Basketball Federation of India’s website. In fact, his official bio kicks off by describing him as “one of the country’s brightest basketball hopes.”

And assuming India’s annual 1.3-percent population growth continues for the next, say, five years, that would mean another 100 million people that’ll be pulling for Singh as he takes his talents to the NBA.

Image: Basketball Federation of India

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Periodic Table Gets a Hall of Fame Makeover

When it comes to central repositories of awesomeness, science has its Periodic Table of Elements. Baseball has its Hall of Fame. And now, an unlikely marriage between the two has been fashioned.

Larry Granillo, who runs the über-awesome Wezen Ball, took it upon himself to essentially mash up the Periodic Table (which currently boasts 118 known elements) with those who’ve been formally voted into baseball’s most elite circle (109 members, to date). With a little categorizing and a whole lot of inventiveness, Granillo came up with the definitive classification system of baseball legends.

Of course, Granillo didn’t just throw everyone in all willy-nilly. A lot of thought was put into this project.

• The game’s most noble players make up the right-most column, with the most radioactive players making up the left-most column. The radioactive players go from most benign to most dangerous from top-to-bottom.

• Every effort was made to keep the top-tier Hall of Famers in the first three rows of the chart, or as close to it as possible.

• The second-to-right-most column on the periodic table of elements is the second-most reactive group of elements. On the Periodic Table of Hall of Famers, this comes out as the highly temperamental Hall of Famers, those who were known for being jerks on the field but who aren’t looked at as bad guys today.

• The 500-Home Run Club is represented together on the chart, as well as the group of 300-Game Winners. The 3,000-Hit Club is also grouped together, down below.

• Other smaller groups are the Hall of Fame relief pitchers, the players known mainly for their defense, and those who made the Hall despite a short career (which usually means a very high peak).

• The rest of the Hall of Famers are shown together in the bulk of the table. For these — and for all of the different groups, really — I made an effort to keep the best to the top and right. Other factors, such as their personality, were also included, as described above.

• Three players not voted in by the regular BBWAA process are included on the chart as well. They are mostly there because I liked how well they fit in with the concept of the chart. Hey, it’s my chart — I get to be as subjective as I want.

This incredible chart was the final product. (Click to embiggen.)

Not bad at all, but there are some potential revisions. “The Nobles,” the classier gents of baseball’s past, replacing noble gases is fine, but Babe Ruth was surely a “noble gas” in his day. (Still, we can’t argue with his “radioactivity.”)

Also, the section that includes players whose careers were cut short is plunked down in the area represented by synthetic actinoids, some of which boasts isotopes with half-lives lasting thousands of years. A better place would’ve been with the transition elements, like Seaborgium, whose most stable isotope has a half-life of less than two minutes.

Still, these are but minor quibbles, as we’re quietly scheming to blow up this image file and posterize it for friends and family come the holidays. And if you compare Granillo’s masterstroke with an actual PToE, you’re bound to uncover more hidden gems. (Giving Old Hoss Radbourn the “K” slot? Brilliant.)

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Surfer’s Sudden Death Shines Spotlight on Dengue Fever

In early November, the harrowing loss of surfing champion Andy Irons crushed fans and fellow wave-riders more forcibly than any plunging breaker ever could. While it may be several weeks before the medical examiner determines the exact cause of death, Irons’ family speculates the young athlete succumbed to dengue fever, which he may have contracted during the Rip Curl Pro Search competition in Puerto Rico, an area riddled with disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Now, this tragic series of events has once again turned the sporting community’s attention to the grave risks conferred by Aedes aegypti, the tiny flying parasite transporting a disease with no current treatment or suitable prevention.

Also known as “bonebreak fever,” dengue incapacitates its victims with elevated body temperatures, rashes, and severe joint and muscle pains. In extreme cases, it can even lead to death.

Although traditionally confined to hot, tropical climates, dengue outbreaks are beginning to impact the global community as more people travel to infested areas, and local conditions are increasingly primed to allow the insects to breed in more diverse climates.

October’s Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi, India, saw 8,000 athletes from 71 countries pour into the capital city. Foreign governments criticized Indian officials for building the athletes village too close to the Yamuna River, a known hotbed for dengue-infected mosquitoes.

Leading up to the Games, roughly 50 people per day were reporting symptoms of the viral disease, and seven deaths had occurred.

Days after the games began, Delhi was hit with another wave of dengue cases, though the athletes themselves were relatively unscathed. But the damage was already done, as top-rated athletes, like Britain’s Elena Baltacha, decided the chance for glory wasn’t worth the looming health risk, and withdrew from the competition.

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Quidditch World Cup Seeks Out Wizardry’s Best

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Throw in the basics of soccer and water polo, add a dash of rugby and flag football, and top off with a whole lot of love for wizardry.

Those, in case you Muggles didn't know, are the basics of Quidditch, the fictional sport played by any wizard worth their salt in the Harry Potter franchise. In the magical world of Hogwarts, Quidditch is played on brooms as competitors fly around a designated playing field trying to throw a Quaffle (essentially a ball) through a series of three hoops, while each team's Seeker flies around trying to grab the Golden Snitch.

Still with me? Well, the sport has become tremendously popular over the last few years, and dozens of clubs have popped up at colleges and universities all around the world. Enough so, in fact, that the International Quidditch Association (yes, this exists) recently wrapped up its fourth annual Quidditch World Cup. This year, more than 750 athletes from 46 teams converged on New York's DeWitt Clinton Park for big-time Quidditch bragging rights.

Above:

Putting the "Fun" in Fundamentals

Quidditch, in its real-world form, is pretty simple to play. Two sides converge on the Quaffles at the beginning of the match — much like the start to any dodgeball contest — and proceed to start scoring as quickly as possible. The Quaffles usually consist of a slightly deflated soccer ball or kickball, and players run around with brooms between their legs, trying to rack up points as their designated Seeker waits to grab the Golden Snitch, which is worth 30 points. (In the books, the Golden Snitch is essentially a flying golden ball with wings. Read on for how real-world Quidditch accounts for that bit of mythology.)

Photo: AP/Mary Altaffer

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