President of Beers: #11

#11 Dubhe Imperial Black IPA, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, Utah

State: Utah is home to the NBA's Jazz, but there's little actual jazz in a state with less than 1 percent African American population—half that of Oregon. Over 60 percent are affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Among those who wear the "magic underwear" is Mitt Romney, who no longer resides here but did run their 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Brewery: Uinta Brewing, founded in 1993, isn't the biggest or oldest brewing company in Utah (that'd be Utah Brewers Collective, comprised of Wasatch and Squatters), but they were our candidate in this election anyway. Their Crooked Line of more extreme beers are tasty. As such, they cannot be sold in supermarkets or taverns (but "bars" are OK) which limit alcohol content to 4 percent or under by law.

Beer: Dubhe, pronounced doo-bee, actually contains hemp seeds. While boasting no actual pot narcotic, adding to this beer's 9.4 percent ABV it can be viewed as an added poke in the eye to those 60-percent of Utahans in the LDS faith who abstain from all stimulants. More importantly, it's exceptionally bitter from tons of hops and roasted malts making this "Imperial Black IPA" one of the best Cascadian Dark Ales out there.

Difficulty of obtaining in Oregon: Easier than riding a luge track since it's available in local bottle shops and Fred Meyers.

Average score: 72.16

 
Salt Lake City may have been the main focus when the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, but the exciting events were actually out in Park City. There's still an Olympic Park there, you can't try the long jump, but for $200 you can ride slide down the bobsled track for the wildest 70 mph one-minute joy ride of your life.

That makes the $102 lift ticket at Deer Valley seem reasonable. Deer Valley is, by many accounts, the swankiest ski resort in the country. Whether its larger appeal to skiers is the champagne powder or the fact that it doesn't allow snowboarders is up for debate. They even offer a covered chairlift with seat warmers taking riders to the summit elevation of over 9,500 feet and employ something/someone called a ski valet to carry your sticks up to the lift.

The lesson? Utah likes to keep things classy. And Dubhe's impressive finish shows they've got the right beer for it.

In fact, Unita's beer carried what's arguably the least-alcohol tolerant state right up to—but not quite into—our top 10.

Tomorrow, we'll be announcing the top 10, including our President of Beers. If you go through the other 40 posts you can figure this out, but to save you time, here are the top 10 states in alphabetical order:

Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Oregon
South Dakota
Virginia

The winner will be announced in tomorrow's Willamette Week.

WWeek 2015