Mount Baldy Battle of the Brews returns Sunday

Mount Baldy’s annual Battle of the Brews returns this Sunday (June 4), and from what we hear, it almost didn’t happen.

You see, one of the original participants in the bracket-style craft beer competition was Golden Road Brewing.

The problem with that is that the brewery was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev in September 2015.

This didn’t sit well with many of the other locally-owned breweries, who threatened to withdraw from the competition.

Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, Golden Road Brewing was booted, and the battle was back on.

Here’s how it works: Two breweries bring their best brews to Top of the Notch restaurant at the top of the Mount Baldy ski lift. Participants sample and vote for their favorite beer, and the winning brewery moves on to the next round until one winner remains.

In years past, participants knew which beers they were tasting, but this year, we hear it’s going to be a blind tasting, which means it’ll be less of a popularity contest this year.

In other words, perhaps one of the other breweries has a chance to beat Rök House this year.

Here’s a look at the dates and matchups for the first round:

Tickets for Sunday’s matchup are currently $40 online, while the remaining matchups are still $30. Prices go up in the week before the event.

Prices at the door will be $50.

Tickets include the ski lift trip up and back from the Top of the Notch, a flight of three beers from each of the participating breweries and a pint of beer of your choice.

Flights are served between 2 and 6 p.m., with the last judges cards due at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, click here.