By Greg B. There are people who live for college basketball tournaments.  There are people who live for the weekly football game.  There are even people who anxiously await this year’s curling championships (OK, maybe I’m making an unreasonable stretch here, but you get my drift).  I am one of those people who wait for the baseball post season.  It really is the best part of the very long baseball season.  You get the chance to see the best players duke it out, using all measure of baseball talents: solid fundamentals, great pitching, focusing on the long ball or even just simple straightforward base running and well placed hits.  But really, in order to get the most out of our national past time you should be watching and cheering with the best and most appropriate beer possible.  And when the Yankees defeat the Phillies tonight, you’ll want some of these beers on hand for the momentous events!

First off, we should realize who’s pitching.  Andy Pettitte.  A southpaw from Louisiana.  What better way to start off the game than with a bottle of some of his local suds?  Head to the store and grab a bottle of Jockamo IPA from Abita and enjoy the smooth bitterness of beer from the bayou!  Enjoy the bitterness of the beer while pondering how bitter the loss was for the Yankees last monday and taste the good malt structure that (hopefully) will represent the fundamentals of both a good baseball game and a good beer!

Double plays are hallmarks of baseball.  If a pitcher is really good, he can get out of a situation involving a runner on first by causing the batter to chase some low pitches, hit grounders to the infielders, and produce a good double play.  Not to turn this into a drinking game, but when the Yankees turn that first, second third…  nth double play against the Phillies, you’ll want to have a few bottles of Weyerbacher’s Double Simcoe IPA handy.  Stick it to the Phillies and their fans by enjoying a beer brewed in Pennsylvania while the Phillies wallow in their own impotence at scoring runs against the Bronx Bombers.  The great citrus aromas and piney bitterness make this another good IPA to enjoy during a few innings of baseball!

Every batter in the New York Yankee lineup is capable of producing 1 (or many) runs with the swing of a bat.  These guys are incredibly skilled, either at hitting the long ball, finding a gap in outfielders, or just putting the ball in play to advance runners to scoring position.  Celebrate this spectacular display of skill by enjoying a crosstown brewery favorite, the Brooklyn brewery pennant ale.  Sure it may seem cliche to involve a pennant ale in this article, but seriously, how many other baseball centric beers do you know of?  Not to mention that Brooklyn brewery is a great all around brewery, and their pennant ale, while representing the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers pennant, still will make  good beer for when the Yankees score runs.  Down one of these for homeruns, or just pop open a bottle for those long, multi-run innings the Yankees are so fond of producing.

It’s close to the end of the game, and assuming the Phillies manage to somehow man up to the task and produce a nail-biter of a game, you’re on the edge of your seat, watching every pitch intently, trying to second guess managers for pitching changes and swapping players for runners.  While everyone else is ramping up their stress levels, you’ll remain calm cool and collected, able to sit and enjoy the game as you sip a great stout.  Check out another New York beer, the Southern Tier brewery’s “Oat’… their imperial oatmeal stout.  This is a bigger beer, one that you’ll need to sip and enjoy and thus, hopefully relax a bit.  With aromas of vanilla, oats and dark fruits and a flavor of delicious roasted sugars and caramelized malts alongside coffee and chocolate (and Oats!), you’re going to enjoy this one almost as much as the game.

So when the New York Yankees clinch their 27th World Series championship tonight, you’ll want something to celebrate.  This is entirely up to you with what you want.  An expensive Thomas Hardy barley wine?  A bottle of beer from Brouwerij de Molen?  What I may recommend is to go lighter than the previous stout… get one of those large 750ml bottles of Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse.  Have this beer nice and chilled, and when the Yankees get that last out against the Phillies in the top of the 9th inning, christening their new stadium with a world series victory you can be ready to pop the cork on this great beer.  Brewed as a collaboration between Brooklyn brewery and Schneider brewery in Germany, this beer brings together the deliciousness of Germany spicy hefes with the light colored, medium body and hoppiness of a good American beer.  Celebrate the mixing of the old Yankee tradition of being victorious with the new stadium by popping a cork on a beer that combines Old World beer making know-how with young American ingenuity.