Brew Masters – Series Premiere Recap and Thoughts
The Full Pint recaps the series premiere of Discovery Channel’s new series, Brew Masters, starring Sam Calagione. Read on for a summary and analysis.
Summary of Season 1 Episode 1
The premiere episode of Brew Masters was largely an introduction to the Dogfish Head brand. We were introduced to Sam, his brewery and a quick glance at what processes go into making his product. This episode focuses on the birth of Bitches Brew, the hybrid Imperial Stout made in honor of the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis’ album, Bitches Brew.
As the story goes, one of Sam’s artistic influences when he started Dogfish Head was Miles Davis. He reached out to Sony Music with the idea of making a commemorative beer to coincide with the re-release of Bitches Brew. We watch Sam meet up with a Sony representative, and he tries pitching a rather complex beer recipe “on the spot” during a meeting at the Sony offices. Through the magic of TV, the rep claims this is great, and we get to watch Sam and lead brewer Bryan Selders formulate a plan for Bitches Brew, watch them make a pilot batch of Tej, and a pilot batch of Bitches Brew, which is unveiled at SAVOR 2010.
As a subplot, we get to see a typical day in the packaging department. It’s explained that an error within the bottling and packaging line can back up the entire operation, and that if Bitches Brew is to make it out the door in time for the album re-release, bright beer tanks need to be emptied and bottled. We are treated to two nightmare scenarios that almost throw a wrench in this goal. During the bottling of 90 Minute IPA, a 4 inch metal filling tube detaches from the bottling machine and falls into a bottle of beer. After the crew double checks case after case and bottle after bottle, they finally find this metal tube floating in a bottle of 90 Minute. After that mess, a gentleman in the labeling department spills a metric ton of glue onto the floor. We are painted a picture of unpredictability.
Whether it be the magic of Dogfish or the magic of TV, the batch of Bitches Brew falls into place, everybody who tastes the beer loves it, and Sony Music is happy. Despite everyone being pleased, Sam tweaks the recipe further, by adding crystal malt to the recipe. During the creation of Bitches Brew, we are introduced to a new main character, head brewer Bryan Selders. He comes across as very unique, artsy, charismatic and further more, has a real playful relationship with Sam. They are very animated during the creation process, and introduce their “rap group” Pain Relievaz. While I don’t doubt this is how these two get fresh, I would imagine Discovery Channel made the videos, and took it well over the top. Think Boats and Hoes from Step Brothers.
The Vibe , Additional Thoughts and Questions
This show was completely targeted at either people who have never heard of Dogfish and Craft Beer or people who are new to craft beer and have just now heard the buzz about Dogfish Head. The show was filmed as a hybrid of a reality show and a documentary. Unfortunately, for those familiar with both Dogfish Head and craft beer, the show felt like an infomercial. If you’ve ever seen Dogfish Head featured in main stream media, you are probably familiar with the roll ins showing Sam talking about how he uses unusual ingredients, how he never sits on inventory, and has a tree house. Like most shows on Discovery and TLC, this show was certainly eye candy. Like the typical reality/documentary, this had bright colors, useful narration, and great angles. Oh, I can’t forget, the obligatory time lapsed shot of clouds rolling! For an hour show, it went by very quick.
There were a few memes thrown into the show that I anticipated. They threw in the main one from Beer Wars The Movie, explaining how craft beer is the little guy, and only 5% of the overall beer market. It almost seemed “copied and pasted” right from the movie. The other meme that stuck out was Anti-Reinheitsgebot. Basically, Sam’s stance is beer is much more than malt, hops, yeast and water. We will be looking out for further propagation of craft beer memes. I can’t think of a better person than Sam to get these messages across.
So, if you are not a craft beer NOOB, and closer to being a die hard like me, the show raised a few questions. I wanted to hit up Dogfish with these, but I couldn’t imagine getting a timely response with the anticipated feedback they must be receiving 12 hours after the airing of the premiere. I will throw them out there, and I encourage you to provide feedback in the comment section.
1. Would it be fair to draw a comparison of Sony Music to Macro Beer?
2. Despite Sam’s Miles Davis fandom, do you think Dogfish Head should be collaborating with a big corporation like Sony?
3. Episode 1 felt a little bit like an infomercial. Was this just to introduce their brand to the masses or will this be the theme of the entire series?
4. Will this show enlighten beer drinkers and brewers?
November 25, 2010 @ 6:35 pm
It wasn’t a bad show. Sam C. does indeed seem to be a real “character” and his passion and the fun he has pursuing that passion is refreshing. Sometimes, it seems that beer geeks can really come off as very opinionated and even stodgy (especially those obsessed with those artificial and increasingly annoying “style” categories).
As is evidenced below, some of the discussions in the various homebrewing forums regarding the show and it’s premise (and especially with regard to Sam’s persona) have been downright hilarious, and seem in a subtle way to reveal a bit of jealousy of Sam’s high profile and business success.
I don’t really have a problem with the fact that the show seems to be more than anything else an infomercial for Dogfish Head, and in fact I think that involving the brewery in the series is a pretty shrewed marketing move. In doing this, Sam has shown some real business savvy.
Even if I’m not even really a huge fan of the beers (though they do make a couple of decent enough ones), I do like the fact that this show doesn’t seem take itself too seriously (I mean, jeez…it’s only beer). It’s fun to see them having some fun .
In any event, I think it’s a decent effort and I’ll be curious to see if the producers can sustain the premise through multiple episodes. Personally, I think that spotlighting a different brewery every week would probably ultimately make for a more interesting series, but then again the main premise here seems to be Sam’s trademark penchant for unusual ingredients and methods. Maybe not all of his mashups hit one “out of the park” but I like that Sam manages to regognize beer rule #1: “There are no rules.”
November 24, 2010 @ 9:55 am
Wow, lots of hate here. I think you were expecting a show about the craft beer industry. That’s not it. It’s about Sam and DFH, and the day-to-day stuff they have to go through as a craft brewer.
If you saw Beer Wars, you know that Sam comes off as sort of “dorky.” But we all know that DFH brews are legit, so give the guy a chance. Seems like you’re making lots of judgment calls on the first episode.
By the way, I thought the rapping was hilarious. Nice to see they don’t take themselves too seriously.
November 23, 2010 @ 4:56 pm
I have to agree with Steve. Sam did come across as a stupid college frat jock. The show has potential but it needs to focus more on the craft beer industry and not with DFH. I think future shows should showcase other breweries and the struggles they’ve had to overcome to be successful. The white rapper crap has got to go.. that was horrible.
November 22, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
I have to agree with dabeerman, Sam did come across as a douche bag college jock. Typical of what I would expect from him and his “off-centered” point of view. I thought the first show made him look like a fool with the whole rapping thing? Why was that included in the show? There needs to be more focus on craft brewing for future episodes and less about DFH. I give it a C+.
November 22, 2010 @ 6:54 pm
yep. hour long infomercial. probably won’t be watching again.
November 22, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
1. Would it be fair to draw a comparison of Sony Music to Macro Beer?
Yes, I think it is a fair comparision, They are both large scale corporations which introduce much more then just the article they produce. This is true to the comparision of Macro-beer and Micro-beer and large produces vs. small labels, they are machines that consume smaller entities. Beyond that they tend to be much further branching then people realize, owning many subsideries that are focals for there product lines.
2. Despite Sam’s Miles Davis fandom, do you think Dogfish Head should be collaborating with a big corporation like Sony?
By all means yes, This is a very inovative approach to marketing from a micro brewery. It is probably thinking out side of the box like this that has gotten Sam and Dogfish Head where they are today. I am glad to see that it is a micro brew doing this versus one of the big name brands.
3. Episode 1 felt a little bit like an infomercial. Was this just to introduce their brand to the masses or will this be the theme of the entire series?
I to felt this about the initial episode, I hope that this was just an intoduction to the the beer scene as it were and not the going them of episodes to come. My largest concern with this show is the limited scope. With only being focused around Sam and Dogfish head, I can see it not lasting very long, even though I am a fan of Dogfish Head and their product. I would much rather seen a show based around micro-brews in general. With segments from many different breweries not just the one.
4. Will this show enlighten beer drinkers and brewers?
From what I have seen so far, I would have to say “no”. Now, with that said, it is probably too early to make that statement. As mentioned they may just have been setting the stage with the pilot and there being much more technical insight in future segments. Guess time will tell.
November 22, 2010 @ 9:48 am
It definitely seemed like a long infomercial to me, also. I’m a home brewer myself, love craft brews and was really excited about the show… but I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it if it continues to be all about DFH, the brand.
Now that I think about it, it seemed like a typical episode of American Chopper — only with beer instead of a bike (and I don’t think that’s a good thing).
November 22, 2010 @ 9:29 am
Please Gawd, no more rapping! That was awful!
November 22, 2010 @ 8:07 am
1. Yes; it’s a fair comparison, although I don’t think that the Macro brews have gotten away with quite as much as the music industry has. If a pack of Budweiser cost more than a 6 of Dogfish, the comparison would be more apt.
2. No. You take your opportunities as they come. Take a music parallel – some bands refuse to sign with a major label, others take the chance and do something amazing with it (recently I would point to Mastodon on Warner Brothers). It’s all about the beer/music and if it is good. Worrying about who sold out is a waste of time. Viewing things as “us” and “them” only retards the process.
3. I hope it gets better. Episode 1 of any series has a chance to be awkward. I still liked it, though.
4. I hope so. Good guests will go a long way.
November 22, 2010 @ 7:16 am
I enjoy DFH and am a big craft beer drinker but Sam came across as a douche bag…like an annoying frat jock at a college party who actually does know what he’s talking about, but is still an asshat!