Brew Masters on Discovery w/ Sam Calagione

[JJL]

I watched the first couple of episodes of the show, and I have to say I don't really care for it. It's not that I have an issue with Sam C or his brewery, or any of his beers for that matters. Congrats to him for being a successful businessman. I just don't like the format of the show. Brewing beer is just a poor topic to do an hour long weekly show about. That's why the show focuses mostly on Sam and very little on brewing. Sam C just happens to own a brewery, and I just don't find Sam that interesting. It's just like the American Chopper show doesn't really focus on bike building. Sure there's a bike and they tinker around with it, but the show is about the people and their "adventures."

The reason the show focuses on Sam is because brewing is a really simple process. I know it is hard to make a good beer, but the process itself isn't complicated, and doesn't vary that much from beer to beer. For an average TV viewer it's a really boring topic. Sure, they may find it interesting once, but talking about the same thing every week would get old fast. For those married folks out there, just think about how your spouse rolls their eyes every time you start talking about homebrewing.

 

[passedpawn]

I watched the first couple of episodes of the show, and I have to say I don't really care for it. It's not that I have an issue with Sam C or his brewery, or any of his beers for that matters. Congrats to him for being a successful businessman. I just don't like the format of the show. Brewing beer is just a poor topic to do an hour long weekly show about. That's why the show focuses mostly on Sam and very little on brewing. Sam C just happens to own a brewery, and I just don't find Sam that interesting. It's just like the American Chopper show doesn't really focus on bike building. Sure there's a bike and they tinker around with it, but the show is about the people and their "adventures."

The reason the show focuses on Sam is because brewing is a really simple process. I know it is hard to make a good beer, but the process itself isn't complicated, and doesn't vary that much from beer to beer. For an average TV viewer it's a really boring topic. Sure, they may find it interesting once, but talking about the same thing every week would get old fast. For those married folks out there, just think about how your spouse rolls their eyes every time you start talking about homebrewing.

I'll bet you haven't listened to every Basic Brewing Radio, Brew Strong, Jamil Show podcast either. Not that I have....

I wish I could pull my head out of this obsession... I keep thinking it will pass ...

 

[jbrookeiv]

I'll bet you haven't listened to every Basic Brewing Radio, Brew Strong, Jamil Show podcast either. Not that I have....

I wish I could pull my head out of this obsession... I keep thinking it will pass ...

Man, I've been listening to Basic Brewing for 1.5 hrs a day (my commute, round trip), 5 days a week since Labor Day weekend when I started brewing. That podcast is AMAZING. I started with Episode 1 and have worked my way through to the September 6, 2007 episode.

 

[Screw991le]

They need to go into more detail on the show, it is to fast paced for people who don't know jack about brewing. This is what the wife and all my non-brewing friends are saying.

 

[Frodo]

They need to go into more detail on the show, it is to fast paced for people who don't know jack about brewing. This is what the wife and all my non-brewing friends are saying.

I can see that. I imagine that's a fine line to walk - enough detail to explain the process but not so much as to be boring to the masses. I feel the same way when I watch Discovery shows about the solar system/comets/the big bang theory, and I realize they ARE trying to go really slow so people can understand, but I'm just not getting it.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

Regarding the deadline thing: I have to agree with RIT_Warrior that none of it seemed out of the ordinary. You had four deadlines in the past 3 shows: Bitches Brew in connection with the anniversary, Chicha which was the only arbitrary deadline, Portamarillo in connection with the NZ beer festival, and Punkin. The Punkin was the only unspecified deadline, but they did mention that every single bottle of Punkin was already sold. So, companies have already laid out the money for the shipment. You have to get those companies their shipment in a timely manner. That's just good business. The other non-arbitrary deadlines ranged from 3-5 weeks. Sam can't just put off the beer indefinitely without pissing off his distributors or collaborators. To say, "Well it's his brewery he can do what he wants," is a bit short sighted. People would stop buying his beer or breweries would stop working with him.

So 1 out of 4 deadlines was actually made up. And, if I remember correctly, there wasn't much drama associated with that particular made up deadline. I think that was basically Sam just giving a deadline to motivate his employees. I have to do that at my job - unless I put an arbitrary deadline on some things everyone just procrastinates and does nothing. It's stupid, but there it is.

Now, they might start pulling the same crap they do with American Chopper and such, but I haven't seen it yet.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought this! If this were at my job, they would be filming a miscommunication with a hardware installer that meant I had to scrap and re-write an entire module from the ground up in 1 night (the original took 3 weeks to code and polish). So even with the so-called "made up" timelines, they are skipping down cake street compared to some of the timelines I have. And I don't have any cameras at my work...

And I'm not entirely sure the one where they didn't have a definite deadline for was necessarily a "made up" deadline. This is a commercial brewery, not a bunch of guys screwing around like us. They probably sell those beers in advance and make them for a specific time. So if a 60 minute IPA takes 2 weeks to make, and they need to ship out a large number in 7 weeks, by my math that gives a 5 week timeline for spitbeer to take up a fermenter. Any longer and they are interfering with their core products.

And its not like they can keep a few fermenters open for experimentation; every day a fermenter goes empty costs them lots of money, because it isn't making them any money and they are still paying for it. Likewise, a beer that takes 10 weeks to ferment out would also cost them lots of money, because they could not use that fermenter for their core products.

If I were Sam, I would set hard deadlines even if there were not specific trade shows/anniversaries to meet, and I wouldn't consider them arbitrary at all.

 

[billvon]

Is it just me?? I soo wanted to enjoy this show but the owner of Dogfish Brewery just pisses me off.. They make everything look so easy and sexy...

Hmm. So far they've shown:

-almost losing an entire batch to a broken bottler
-having to dump a lot of beer due to having the wrong bottles at bottling time
-having a glue spill that takes hours to clean up
-minor mistakes with recipes that required later adjustment

Sounds like one of my brew days . . .

 

[BraveSirRobin]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought this! If this were at my job, they would be filming a miscommunication with a hardware installer that meant I had to scrap and re-write an entire module from the ground up in 1 night (the original took 3 weeks to code and polish). So even with the so-called "made up" timelines, they are skipping down cake street compared to some of the timelines I have. And I don't have any cameras at my work...

And I'm not entirely sure the one where they didn't have a definite deadline for was necessarily a "made up" deadline. This is a commercial brewery, not a bunch of guys screwing around like us. They probably sell those beers in advance and make them for a specific time. So if a 60 minute IPA takes 2 weeks to make, and they need to ship out a large number in 7 weeks, by my math that gives a 5 week timeline for spitbeer to take up a fermenter. Any longer and they are interfering with their core products.

And its not like they can keep a few fermenters open for experimentation; every day a fermenter goes empty costs them lots of money, because it isn't making them any money and they are still paying for it. Likewise, a beer that takes 10 weeks to ferment out would also cost them lots of money, because they could not use that fermenter for their core products.

If I were Sam, I would set hard deadlines even if there were not specific trade shows/anniversaries to meet, and I wouldn't consider them arbitrary at all.

They didn't brew the Chicha on the same equipment that they brew for the shelves. They brewed the Chicha on their test equipment at their brewpub if I remember correctly.

 

[TheYoshi]

I want to like the show more than I do, I've about memorized the canned explanation they use for every show about the mash (you know the one with the picture of 3 soup cans that are supposed to represent mash tuns).

I was really hoping for some more "normal" episodes, this sometimes feels more like a travel show than a brewing show.

An example of an episode I'd love to see would be an episode dedicated to the DFH IPA series 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute. Go through the differences in how they are made and why, etc. That would actually teach some people about brewing.

I enjoy the show, it's just not as great as I was hoping it would be.

 

[Pappers_]

An example of an episode I'd love to see would be an episode dedicated to the DFH IPA series 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute. Go through the differences in how they are made and why, etc. That would actually teach some people about brewing.

Yoshi, I'm afraid this episode would be accompanied by the sound of thousands of clickers changing the channel to the latest NCIS rerun.

 

[King MF Midas]

A pic from my trip to their tiny brewery. i was kinda let down when i saw what kind of pumpkin they where using but i guess its about consistency right? that brown sugar is far from cheap btw. As far as drama goes i want to hear about that batch of 120 they had to dump. I over heard sam tell someone it cost him half a million.

 

[TheYoshi]

Yoshi, I'm afraid this episode would be accompanied by the sound of thousands of clickers changing the channel to the latest NCIS rerun.

I think their target audience wants to actually learn some things.. Good Eats is an example of a show that's quite successful and digs into the nitty gritty at times....

 

[McKBrew]

A few months ago I mailed Dogfish. I wanted them to brew a batch of their Palo Santo Marron but add pumpkin to it. I received an e-mail back (from Sam, or someone pretending to be him) saying it sounded like a good idea, but it would jack up production.

If a "big shot" like Sam can take the time out of his day to respond to me, then he earns bonus points in my book.

 

[passedpawn]

A few months ago I mailed Dogfish. I wanted them to brew a batch of their Palo Santo Marron but add pumpkin to it. I received an e-mail back (from Sam, or someone pretending to be him) saying it sounded like a good idea, but it would jack up production.

If a "big shot" like Sam can take the time out of his day to respond to me, then he earns bonus points in my book.

I bet it was him. I just got a personal email from Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River. These guys are the pioneers of the craftbrew movement in this country. I admire the hell out of every one of them.

 

[TowsonTiger22]

I've really enjoyed the show so far. Lots of info, and lots of insight into the company itself. I wanna work somewhere where I get a case of beer every payday....

 

[bob1852]

Hmm. So far they've shown:

-almost losing an entire batch to a broken bottler
-having to dump a lot of beer due to having the wrong bottles at bottling time
-having a glue spill that takes hours to clean up
-minor mistakes with recipes that required later adjustment

Sounds like one of my brew days . . .

Nah, I haven't seem them transfer sparge water to the HLT with the valve open and have them spill 190*F water on their bare feet.

 

[King MF Midas]

A few months ago I mailed Dogfish. I wanted them to brew a batch of their Palo Santo Marron but add pumpkin to it. I received an e-mail back (from Sam, or someone pretending to be him) saying it sounded like a good idea, but it would jack up production.

If a "big shot" like Sam can take the time out of his day to respond to me, then he earns bonus points in my book.

that sounds good!

 

[jbrookeiv]

A few months ago I mailed Dogfish. I wanted them to brew a batch of their Palo Santo Marron but add pumpkin to it. I received an e-mail back (from Sam, or someone pretending to be him) saying it sounded like a good idea, but it would jack up production.

If a "big shot" like Sam can take the time out of his day to respond to me, then he earns bonus points in my book.

Along those same lines, I emailed DFH through their [email protected] email address and wanted to see if they'd be interested in trading cigars for beer, since I work for a cigar company. To my surprise, Sam emailed me back and was totally stoked on trading. He sent me 2 bottles of '05 World Wide Stout and 1 bottle of '05 120min in exhange for some of our super premium cigars and an ashtray. I was blown away, and loved the '05 WWS. That beer tastes like port with that kind of age.

 

[DakotaRules]

Go DFH! If you don't like someone for making beer he likes and making a living at it, then you can ditch your HOBBY and suck it. He does what he likes, makes his employees happy, and PAYS HIS BILLS AND EMPLOYEES.

Seriously, all these jealous "Sam bashing" remarks, "I don't like him," "He sound like Keanue," what ever, this is so annoying and has got to stop. Make a thread that says "I have sand in my DFH!"

Do you like your boss, sometimes no, but he pays you to do your job. Do you want to work at DFH or a brewery? I do and I would love to get a free case of beer with every check.

I know that my beer doesn't cost $20 per 5 gallons, but I have taste buds and dignity and I like the better things in life, that's why i brew my own beer!

So in my internet rant and after a few beers (that I made) I like my efforts and anyone else's efforts in making beer, standing up for what they believe in, and doing what they like.

I like beer and the the progress that others have made for ME/US to do what I/US like as a hobby.

 

[DakotaRules]

Along those same lines, I emailed DFH through their [email protected] email address and wanted to see if they'd be interested in trading cigars for beer, since I work for a cigar company. To my surprise, Sam emailed me back and was totally stoked on trading. He sent me 2 bottles of '05 World Wide Stout and 1 bottle of '05 120min in exhange for some of our super premium cigars and an ashtray. I was blown away, and loved the '05 WWS. That beer tastes like port with that kind of age.

I would love that trade! :rockin:

 

[Shooter]

HEY, not sure if it's out there yet, but I just found out that Sam Calagione is going to be doing this TV show about beer!!!!!

Also, has anyone heard about this beer that has been stuffed up the posterior of a dead squirrel?!?!?!?

 

[HItransplant]

Great, millions of people (eventually) will learn their first little info about craft beer on this show and that will be, it's made with lumpy, dirty looking, African honey or spit from a dozen people. Thanks Sam, way to **** on Craft beer in order to sell your show and your gimmicky beer.

I'm not bitching about the show....

really?

I think this show is going to have a wonderful effect on the "impression" of craft beer... certainly inspires me to go brew (not to mention, buy some DFH beer... last one I tried was Pangaea). For the BMC crowd, maybe nothing, but for the people actually interested in beer, this can only have a positive effect (negativity on this thread aside)...

on the other hand, maybe you are dead set that this IS bad publicity. But I think that even you can agree... bad publicity does not exist-------------------------->

As Tomme Arthur recently proved, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Damn good point.

I guess I still dont understand the animosity that continues to present itself on this thread. Certainly not what I want to read....

Im going to do my part and just quit responding to them... care to join me?

 

[Pappers_]

So has the show inspired anyone to do something different with their beers? I'm making a potion by soaking juniper berries and lemon peels in vodka and will be adding it to a pale ale. I'd also really like to try a lemongrass beer.

Shooter, let us know how the squirrel beer turns out

 

[smakudwn]

. certainly inspires me to go brew (not to mention, buy some DFH beer... l

I just watched the first one last night and I couldn't agree more with this!! It was 10pm and I wanted to go out and fire up the kettle!

 

[PirateBrewer]

So has the show inspired anyone to do something different with their beers? I'm making a potion by soaking juniper berries and lemon peels in vodka and will be adding it to a pale ale. I'd also really like to try a lemongrass beer.

Shooter, let us know how the squirrel beer turns out

I know AHS has a lemongrass beer kit. I'm in the process of trying to formulate a recipe of my own based on a Thai dish called Panang Chicken (or beef/shrimp). I plan on using lemongrass, thai basil, and maybe some red curry powder using a Belgian wit as the base. Probably won't brew it until the spring/summertime, though!

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Seriously, all these jealous "Sam bashing" remarks, "I don't like him," "He sound like Keanue," what ever, this is so annoying and has got to stop. Make a thread that says "I have sand in my DFH!"

I like the show, like/envy Sam, and am glad a brewery like DFH exists. But this is a discussion forum and people get to express their opinions, positive or negative.

IMO, the most annoying thing in this thread is the people 'bashing the bashers'. The people who seem to have more sand in their you-know-what are the ones that get so worked up because somebody else didn't like the show or doesn't like Sam. BFD. That should have been expected, not everybody likes a certain beer/person/TV show and these are just opinions.

 

[Thile]

Originally Posted by McKBrew
A few months ago I mailed Dogfish. I wanted them to brew a batch of their Palo Santo Marron but add pumpkin to it. I received an e-mail back (from Sam, or someone pretending to be him) saying it sounded like a good idea, but it would jack up production.

If a "big shot" like Sam can take the time out of his day to respond to me, then he earns bonus points in my book.
---
that sounds good!

Hmmmm. I still have some Santo Marron & Punkin at the house... was going to toss them in the fridge for the weekend... May have to try a taste of the two of those together!

 

[brew2enjoy]

I live about 20 minutes from Dogfish Heads brewery so I have access to lots of unique and rare beers that don't make it out of the state. I have watched DFH grow like crazy over the last few years. These guys are total beer nuts and take great pride in their brews. I am happy to see them get the publicity they deserve.

 

[Airborneguy]

I'd also really like to try a lemongrass beer.

Lemongrass is awesome in beer! If you use it the same way you would use a flavor/aroma hop addition, you will be very pleased. I did the AHS kit to see how I liked it and that got me thinking about a few different recipes it would be good for.


I actually knocked the show at first, but it is growing on me. I watched the latest one last night and it definitely made me want to brew right then and there. It also made us decide to drive to Rehoboth this saturday to hit the brew pub, I can't wait.

I've never been a big Dogfishead beer fan, but I'm going to really give it more of a go. The ultr-hoppiness of 60, 90, and 120 initially turned me off since I am not a hop head, but some of their other stuff is growing on me, as is the whole attitude of the brewery after watching this show.

 

[Shooter]

Shooter, let us know how the squirrel beer turns out

It tastes a little nutty!

 

[Pappers_]

I know AHS has a lemongrass beer kit. I'm in the process of trying to formulate a recipe of my own based on a Thai dish called Panang Chicken (or beef/shrimp). I plan on using lemongrass, thai basil, and maybe some red curry powder using a Belgian wit as the base. Probably won't brew it until the spring/summertime, though!

I was thinking about a basil beer, too - a guy who doesn't hang around here anymore said that he grows lots of basil and added it by the fistful to his boil in stages (like hops) and that it turned out really good. He even experimented (if I'm remembering right) with different types of basil - cinnamon basil, lemon basil, etc.

 

[mojotele]

This might be a function of the business end of the brewery too. I don't know what DFH charges for a sixer of their punkin ale, but I'm sure its on the higher end. Cutting back on the adjuncts might cost the beer some of its flavor, but its probably helping the breweries bottom line. One reason I'm glad im not in his shoes. Try to sell a 20 dollar six pack that is exactly what you wanted it to be, or try to sell a 12 dollar six pack that might be more bland than you hoped for, but is less costly to make. Glad on the small 5 gallon scale I brew, that's never really an issue ^_^

They actually sell the Punkin in 4 packs, and it is pretty expensive. You make a good point!

 

[PirateBrewer]

The Brew Masters facebook just posted this :

"Hey Brew Masters fans! We wanted to update you to let you know that the series is moving to Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning December 9, in an episode featuring Dogfish Head Beer's first "cedar-fied" beer."

Another move but this time to more of a primetime slot...I guess it's been getting a good amount of viewers and think it can get even more by being on earlier

 

[Revvy]

The Brew Masters facebook just posted this :

"Hey Brew Masters fans! We wanted to update you to let you know that the series is moving to Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning December 9, in an episode featuring Dogfish Head Beer's first "cedar-fied" beer."

Another move but this time to more of a primetime slot...I guess it's been getting a good amount of viewers and think it can get even more by being on earlier

LOL, I was just going to post this from MY facebook page...LOL

 

[mojotele]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought this!

Not at all, man!

And I'm not entirely sure the one where they didn't have a definite deadline for was necessarily a "made up" deadline. This is a commercial brewery, not a bunch of guys screwing around like us. They probably sell those beers in advance and make them for a specific time. So if a 60 minute IPA takes 2 weeks to make, and they need to ship out a large number in 7 weeks, by my math that gives a 5 week timeline for spitbeer to take up a fermenter. Any longer and they are interfering with their core products.

And its not like they can keep a few fermenters open for experimentation; every day a fermenter goes empty costs them lots of money, because it isn't making them any money and they are still paying for it. Likewise, a beer that takes 10 weeks to ferment out would also cost them lots of money, because they could not use that fermenter for their core products.

All of the things you say are absolutely true. They apparently do sell their beer in advance (they mentioned that with the Punkin). And the longer their beers sit in the fermenters the less money they have coming in the door. However, none of that really applies to the Chicha which is the deadline I said was "made up." The show, at least, presented it as a project they took on for fun. They brewed it using their test batch equipment - not their normal production equipment. And they only served it in their brew pub. Would it be disastrous if it hit the brew pub a week later? Probably not.

However, one thing I just thought of was the process of actually filming the show. I'm sure nobody wanted to spend 10 weeks filming a single 1 hour show about a single beer. They probably figured out a time line that both allowed them to brew a good beer and didn't have film crews going in and out for weeks on end. So, factoring that in, the deadline seems less arbitrary.

And I use the terms "made up" and "arbitrary" loosely. I'm in software myself and, like I said, I need to pick deadlines or people simply don't work. So, it is mainly a deadline driven by the work habits of my employees - not by a customer. That doesn't mean it is any less important.

If I were Sam, I would set hard deadlines even if there were not specific trade shows/anniversaries to meet, and I wouldn't consider them arbitrary at all.

And I'm sure that's exactly what he does, and I don't blame him one bit. A lot of things drive deadlines other than trade shows, anniversaries, or customer demand.

 

[JorgeIsKing]

... Nevermind. Already posted.

 

[jgln]

The Brew Masters facebook just posted this :

"Hey Brew Masters fans! We wanted to update you to let you know that the series is moving to Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning December 9, in an episode featuring Dogfish Head Beer's first "cedar-fied" beer."

Another move but this time to more of a primetime slot...I guess it's been getting a good amount of viewers and think it can get even more by being on earlier

They should have picked another night for that time. Both CBS and NBC have very popular lineups on that night at that time. I for one will be watching Big Bang Theory as an example. (*this is not a bash and others may disagree)

 

[Revvy]

They should have picked another night for that time. Both CBS and NBC have very popular lineups on that night at that time. I for one will be watching Big Bang Theory as an example. (*this is not a bash and others may disagree)

Yeah...generally speaking, at least where network television is concerned, shifting a show around, especially if I recall from mass com classes, to Thursday nights, has historically been the kiss of death for many a show.

I know the rules are somewhat different for Cable, but still it is hard to develop a following if you move a show around, and they've already gone from Sunday to Monday, and now to Thursdays? I don't see it as a good sign.

 

[MBasile]

They should have picked another night for that time. Both CBS and NBC have very popular lineups on that night at that time. I for one will be watching Big Bang Theory as an example. (*this is not a bash and others may disagree)

My DVR is going to get burnt out on Thursdays! Sunny in Philly, Community, Outsourced, Terriers, and now Brewmasters

 

[Eddiebosox]

Seriously. now that I know craft brewers are sending out five week old Imperial IPA's it makes me wonder if I should age them before drinking.

There was a small brewer’s caucus meeting and reception last night and I was able to ask the question to both Charlie Papazian and a number of brewers over a few beers (OK, a lot of beers) Namely:

Does it really only take them 2 weeks to get a beer to market?

The answer is, a lot of times yes. And the reason is simply because of the tools they have at their disposal that we as home brewers do not. They work with much better, healthier yeast and pitch a LOT more of it. They almost all do cell counts before and after fermentation. Charlie said he was at guinness brewery in dublin some years ago and asked how old was the beer they were drinking and they said it was brewed 8 days ago.