Now that we've successfully defended our city's reputation on the baseball diamond, it's time to wage a similar campaign for our hometown beer. Wired magazine has been conducting a beer bracket pitting the nation's best brews against each other, and the sweet sixteen standings have SF-brewed Anchor Steam beer getting pummeled by Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA, made in Delaware. At last viewing, Dogfish had 71 percent of the votes; Anchor received only 29.

While the Dogfish 60-Minute is certainly a tasty beer (though inexplicably not distributed in SF, unlike most of the rest of their line), we all know Anchor is the winner here. It's got history: Anchor is generally considered to be the nation's first post-Prohibition microbrewery. It's influential: Fritz Maytag has mentored many fellow brewers over the years, including Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman. And yet, it's unique: almost no other brewery offers a beer in the California Common style that Anchor has perfected.

Fired up? Hop onto Wired's website and vote, and we'll show those East Coast upstarts what local pride looks like.