Discovery Cancels Brewmasters

[steelersrbrun]

Rev, I know you are fired up but I never mentioned the tweets nor tweets by Anthony Bourdain which are more than irrelevant to me.

If you read what I wrote in the poll my intent was to not blame InBev. I really have no conspiracy feeling about InBev other than I hate their corporate mentality or Wal-Martniess when it comes to sucking up the smaller successful breweries. What I do respect about them is the sheer size and organization of their group compared to ours.

I agree that Discovery did not properly back the show by juggling timeslots they showed their lack of faith in it. It is not the best show or direction but it is a start. Maybe Joe 18 pack watched and saw how simple brewing looked. He bought a DFH 60 and liked it. He drinks the rest of the six pack as he reads books by Palmer and Papazian. We are one member stronger.

I have never said the craft beer movement has not grown exponentially. Here in FL I have seen an amazing difference in a matter of a few years. We are sooo far out of the distribution loop we seem to have been forgotten for a while but it get better every month. My only point is to continue to support the movement in everyway possible.

If they see a Hop"roots" effort to get the show back they may re-evaluate the show, the format and the topic. If we gather and show support as a group then we will be seen as a demographic a.k.a. wallets that need to be marketed to. With all of the other fantastic beer related programming on television I think I can stomach BrewMasters. I hope that you do vote...I have tried to social media the crap out of this poll....if we show a united front then perhaps we can expand beyond just the internet and print based mediums.

From my experience the majority of people that are passionate about beer are beyond intelligent.....I'm talking MENSA candidates or members. Unfortunately there is sometimes a huge disconnect between the passion and the positive direction of that passion. We are a very large, intelligent demographic that just needs to get a bit more organized and recognized as the force that we have become.

Love ya Revvy, I have nothing but a supreme respect for you and what you have done for homebrew. I promise to kick Bourdain in the shins for you and say tweet as I do it if I ever meet him.

I have no intention of fighting or arguing with my brewing brothers and sisters. I love hobby, the process, the community and the product. From this point on in this thread I will remain silent and respect every opinion that out community has to offer. I do ask you take a moment to vote…..If we organize I would be shocked if we didn’t have over a million people that would vote yes for beer.

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

That's the Hebrew "unleavened bread" in the Bible. More like a soft cracker,orpita bread kind of thing. What I said is what came from the archeologists findings. Including molecular biology/archeology stuff. Molecular level stuff is hard to refute. Not to mention,the truth is often the overlooked "simple" explanation. Never overlook the obvious. That beer bread does sound good. I understand it's made with spent grains too.

Don't really pay much attention to the bible.

The earliest archaeological evidence for flour, which was likely processed into an unleavened bread, dates to the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe, around 30,000 years ago.[3] During this period of human history cereals constituted just one of many food sources exploited by hunting and gathering;[4] palaeolithic European diets were based mainly on animal proteins and fats.[3] Cereals and bread became a staple food during the Neolithic, around 10,000 years ago, when wheat and barley were among the first plants to be domesticated in the Fertile Crescent.

The development of leavened bread can also probably be traced to prehistoric times. Yeast spores occur everywhere, including the surface of cereal grains, so any dough left to rest will become naturally leavened.[7] Although leavening is likely of prehistoric origin, the earliest archaeological evidence is from ancient Egypt. Scanning electron microscopy has detected yeast cells in some ancient Egyptian loaves. However, ancient Egyptian bread was made from emmer wheat and has a dense crumb. In cases where yeast cells are not visible, it is difficult, by visual examination, to determine whether the bread was leavened. As a result, the extent to which bread was leavened in ancient Egypt remains uncertain.

There were multiple sources of leavening available for early bread. Airborne yeasts could be harnessed by leaving uncooked dough exposed to air for some time before cooking. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce "a lighter kind of bread than other peoples." Parts of the ancient world that drank wine instead of beer used a paste composed of grape must and flour that was allowed to begin fermenting, or wheat bran steeped in wine, as a source for yeast. The most common source of leavening however was to retain a piece of dough from the previous day to utilize as a form of sourdough starter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_bread

 

[windbreaker123]

Don't really pay much attention to the bible.

Maybe that's what your problem is. I vote good yeah glad it's gone and I hope BMC killed it!

 

[bob1852]

Yes, it's too bad ALL of the small breweries are being gobbled up by big breweries....

Numbers, folks; numbers....

http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/2011/03/nothing_but_good_news_for_us_c.html

 

[Stefano]

Voted and had 2 new dogfish heads this morning!

 

[Airborneguy]

We are a very large, intelligent demographic that just needs to get a bit more organized and recognized as the force that we have become.

I respect how passionate you seem to be about promoting good beer awareness, but I can't get over the fact that in a few of your posts, you seem to be surprised that we won't "organize" and get behind something some of us disagree with.

I am a HUGE beer enthuasiast. I've been a serious beer "geek" for over 10 years now and have been brewing for 6 of those 10. I am on this forum, reading books, or researching beer for at least 1-2 hours every single day. I brew or bottle/keg, every week. BUT... I didn't like Brewmasters, thought it was more of a Sam Love-Fest than anything else, and am glad to see it GONE.

I won't jump on the bandwagon and vote because it is a vote for a show I didn't like and which doesn't represent my view of this industry/hobby. Asking us to just vote for it because maybe it will lead to other things is a little bit of a stretch.

Again, I respect your passion, and certainly mean no hard feelings, but this is a disagreement I for one cannot overlook. If that show returns, I think it should have an entirely different look, and I cannot get behind that which we have already seen.

Sorry.

But, still,

 

[Revvy]

Steeler I have never said there was anything wrong with the vote thing. None of this had anything to do with you...It was the immediate post below you.

Done and done. Can't believe AB reneged on their advertising for this.

People just buying the Unsubstatiantiated rumor and repeating it. I thing it's great that you and other's want to save the show, I want to too.... but people are just repeating the same BMC is evil and it was cancelled because of x over and over today....because some folks want to believe anything that confirms that BMC is evil and crushing craft beer. No matter how far fetched it may be.

And people will keep repeating anything they hear without even looking deeper, like autoysis, or HSA, or that Bud put rice in beers to cut cost....

All we know is that Bourbain tweeting something, and a blogger who has a clear I hate bmc agenda picked it up and people are repeating it.... we don't know the truth. Maybe they did but I doubt it, I am more inclind to believe that Anthony Bourdain is blowing hot air, like he does a lot.....

There's 4 threads on here where people are posting the same blog link as if it were the gospel of david.

Rather than looking for evil conspiracies under evry rock, why can't folks just hate a beer because it tastes bad. I don't like Bud or Bud light, not because I think the bushes are evil, I hate it because I don't like the taste, or rice adjuncted lagers in general, but I like Labatt's and Pbr, and maybe even a Michelob if someone hands it to me....But I don't fault folks for liking bud or whatever beer they choose.

And In my little corner of the world there are more and more craft beers available so I don't see evidence of BMC keeping beers out of my hand.

I think it's nobel to want to vote for the show, I even posted the link in another thread...It's everyone seeming to jump on the barest of rumors to confirm their "beer wars" agenda...

I believe in beer and beer culture and beer education passionately hence the hours I spend on here. And the stuff I've linked about beer history- I'm writing a book on the beer history of Michigan's thumb even, and I just got an offer asking if I'd be interested in writing a book on brewing because everytime he googles about beer, an hbt post of mine comes up in the top of the search, he runs a press and thinks I should write one...I personally think the market's saturated with how to brew books so I'm not sure about it. But I care about beer. And the truth about beer.

And I don't think the truth is that big beer crushed brewmaster's and is crushing craft beer in general.

 

[EricT]

Voted. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Dogfishhead beers, I enjoyed the show.

 

[pfooti]

Show me where the bad AB touched you.

 

[MaltMonster]

I personally was happy to see the Sam Love-fest go off the air. Maybe next time when they call a show BREWMASTERS, it will have more than one brewmaster and really show some good brewing information.

Add another + to this comment.

 

[steelersrbrun]

I respect how passionate you seem to be about promoting good beer awareness, but I can't get over the fact that in a few of your posts, you seem to be surprised that we won't "organize" and get behind something some of us disagree with.

I am a HUGE beer enthuasiast. I've been a serious beer "geek" for over 10 years now and have been brewing for 6 of those 10. I am on this forum, reading books, or researching beer for at least 1-2 hours every single day. I brew or bottle/keg, every week. BUT... I didn't like Brewmasters, thought it was more of a Sam Love-Fest than anything else, and am glad to see it GONE.

I won't jump on the bandwagon and vote because it is a vote for a show I didn't like and which doesn't represent my view of this industry/hobby. Asking us to just vote for it because maybe it will lead to other things is a little bit of a stretch.

Again, I respect your passion, and certainly mean no hard feelings, but this is a disagreement I for one cannot overlook. If that show returns, I think it should have an entirely different look, and I cannot get behind that which we have already seen.

Sorry.

But, still,

AIR - Prost!

Steeler I have never said there was anything wrong with the vote thing. None of this had anything to do with you...It was the immediate post below you.



People just buying the Unsubstatiantiated rumor and repeating it. I thing it's great that you and other's want to save the show, I want to too.... but people are just repeating the same BMC is evil and it was cancelled because of x over and over today....because some folks want to believe anything that confirms that BMC is evil and crushing craft beer. No matter how far fetched it may be.

And people will keep repeating anything they hear without even looking deeper, like autoysis, or HSA, or that Bud put rice in beers to cut cost....

All we know is that Bourbain tweeting something, and a blogger who has a clear I hate bmc agenda picked it up and people are repeating it.... we don't know the truth. Maybe they did but I doubt it, I am more inclind to believe that Anthony Bourdain is blowing hot air, like he does a lot.....

There's 4 threads on here where people are posting the same blog link as if it were the gospel of david.

Rather than looking for evil conspiracies under evry rock, why can't folks just hate a beer because it tastes bad. I don't like Bud or Bud light, not because I think the bushes are evil, I hate it because I don't like the taste, or rice adjuncted lagers in general, but I like Labatt's and Pbr, and maybe even a Michelob if someone hands it to me....But I don't fault folks for liking bud or whatever beer they choose.

And In my little corner of the world there are more and more craft beers available so I don't see evidence of BMC keeping beers out of my hand.

I think it's nobel to want to vote for the show, I even posted the link in another thread...It's everyone seeming to jump on the barest of rumors to confirm their "beer wars" agenda...

I believe in beer and beer culture and beer education passionately hence the hours I spend on here. And the stuff I've linked about beer history- I'm writing a book on the beer history of Michigan's thumb even, and I just got an offer asking if I'd be interested in writing a book on brewing because everytime he googles about beer, an hbt post of mine comes up in the top of the search, he runs a press and thinks I should write one...I personally think the market's saturated with how to brew books so I'm not sure about it. But I care about beer. And the truth about beer.

And I don't think the truth is that big beer crushed brewmaster's and is crushing craft beer in general.

Rev, I didn't realize...I thought you were coming at me hard The writer is correct, you are a very respected authority. When I started brewing just about two years ago EVERY topic I looked up had the Revvy spearheading the answer. My first beer was a 10% belgian dark that was a failure of epic proportions. But each step from brew day to bottling day you have answered previously in great depth. Your passion show and is appreciated more than you know.

Voted. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Dogfishhead beers, I enjoyed the show.

ERIC-Thanks man....In the long run its about beer.....not that beer

 

[Airborneguy]

Well give me some thumbs ups then!

 

[Malticulous]

I think it's crazy to think big breweries liked this show. The whole thing was just a big add for DFH. Advertisers getting a show canned is nothing new. BMC's marketing departments are more important than their breweries. They probably have more power than P&G.

 

[dmcoates]

http://www.beernews.org/2011/03/no-...ed-to-pull-ads-on-dogfish-headdiscovery-deal/

This one is pretty good also.

 

[stubbornman]

Signed. Any show about beer is a good thing IMO.

 

[JetSmooth]

Signed.

Regardless of the reason, it was a great show and I would love to see it stay on the air.

Agreed. I don't really care why it was taken off the air. I want more science on the friggin' Discovery channel. Beer is science!

 

[Revvy]

Pretty much nothing but hot air ala typical bourbain...no facts.

In fact-Not the fact that BLUE MOON commercials DID air during the show, like I said we pointed out the irony of that fact when episodes were airing.

The host of one of Travel Channel’s most successful shows accused “big beer” of threatening the Discovery Channel if it kept Brew Masters on air.

Update 1: Missed a key fact in the original version of this story that Brew Masters’ sixth episode is expected to air when La Birreria (a rooftop beer garden in which Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione is involved) opens (probably in June according to the Beer and Whiskey Brothers blog). No announcements have been made about a possible second season.

Update 2: When the Beer and Whiskey Brothers pointed out its story to Dogfish Head on Twitter, “@dogfishbeer Interesting stuff on @NoReservations about what might have happened to #brewmasters: http://wp.me/pBL4g-1i0,” the brewery simply replied, “Yes.” Well, they had an opportunity to deny it. Interesting stuff indeed.]

Update 3: Sidebar link…La Birreria sneak peak on Eater NY. The online mag says that the beer garden is on track for a mid-May opening.

Update 4: Statement from Sam Calagione on Bourdain’s comments…

“A number of folks have been reaching out to me today about this twitter stuff. I’d rather focus on positive stuff than negative at this point. So this is what I will say:
No comment. Other than I’m a big “No Reservations” fan.
And now more than ever – support your small, truly-indie breweries! Last night I had Two Prima Pils, and an Aprihop. Today I had cask-conditioned Thyme Pale Ale, Baladin Nora, Birra Del Borgo ReAle, and am enjoying an Indian Brown Ale as I type this.
Focused on the goodness inside the bottle instead of the weirdness outside the bottle.
Cheers.”

Update 5: Beer book author, Andy Crouch, reports on Twitter: “Discovery confirms to me cancellation of @dogfishbeer Brew Masters. Blames poor audience reception. Crazy #beer week”

Update 6: More from Crouch via Twitter: “BrewMasters was launched with a lot of marketing support and garnered widespread media coverage…but unfortunately the series did not find a large enough audience so it was not renewed.” Let the recriminations begin. #beer”


Original Post:

Word is spreading quickly today, about a couple of controversial tweets from Anthony Bourdain, star of No Reservations, on Tuesday:

twit-2

What sparked Bourdain’s ire? A report in The Atlantic about the proposed CARE Act bill, one that the Brewers Association and other groups argue “would make it much harder for brewers, vintners, distillers and importers to get their products to market.”

Oddly enough, MillerCoors supported the program with advertisements of Blue Moon.

No Reservations shares the same production team as Brewmasters, Zero Point Zero Productions, according to a press release sent out last year.

Bourdain made his statement one day after Anheuser-Busch and Goose Island put on a full court press in the media protecting their reputation after news broke here that AB was purchasing the small brewery. Though Bourdain did not specifically name Anheuser-Busch as being involved, he implicated the country’s largest beer seller and other brewing conglomerates. This will not help the image of AB with fans of small breweries across the country.

Incidentally, the loose-lipped Bourdain also found himself in hot water earlier this week over comments he made pissing on the James Beard awards despite being a past winner himself. Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione is among the finalists for an award this year.

Dogfish Head, Zero Zero Point Productions and Discovery Channel were all contacted but unavailable for comment.

Looks like a whole lot of hot air to me......

It got cancelled because not enough people were interested to support the show...and because Discovery wasn't committed enough to let an audience develop a loyalty to it, because they kept moving it around AND didn't hold the show til they even finished the 6th episode....They could have aired the first show 5 weeks before the skybar opening (in the next 2 weeks or so, when all the OTHER new Discovery shows, like the 2nd season of swamp people are beginning to air) and edit the scenes from the openning of the bar into the episode and had the episode air the very same week, and probably have beer geeks making a pilgrimage to the place the same week. OR they could have just held airing the show til this summer or next fall. It wouldn't have been the first tv series to languish on a shelf for a few months.

 

[bob1852]

You all didn't read my take on the subject.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f45/historical-scholars-have-confirmed-236493/

 

[Revvy]

You all didn't read my take on the subject.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f45/historical-scholars-have-confirmed-236493/

I think I love you in a non gay way now.

 

[Homercidal]

I agree, Revvy. But I also think the show was flawed from the beginning. It's a lot like all of the other shows about restoring/hot rodding cars, fixing houses, etc. They always try to force some drama into the show.

I just want to know more about the beermaking! More about the company! If something happens, great. But that's not why I'd watch the show. I want to see how others fix cars. I want to see how DFH makes and sells their beer.

They *could* do a show about beer that's a bit like How it's Made, but while getting to know the people a bit more. I think the reason it won't work the way they've been doing it, is that people get tired of the BS each week. Oh, have to brew up a barleywine in 3 weeks?? Big deal. Did that last week. And show us a few clips of people enjoying it at the tasting, and leave out the 50 that were barely polite about how bad it tasted (Not saying that happened in the show, but it is something that they would do to make the show have a happy ending).

I still think they could do like 5 eps on a brewery then move to a nother one. Honestly, even I could get tired of it eventually even then.

 

[Revvy]

I still think they could do like 5 eps on a brewery then move to a nother one. Honestly, even I could get tired of it eventually even then.

I was thinking about this yesterday. I know some folks hated him, but I liked sam as a host. I think a show with him hosting would be interesting.But like you said, at first him visiting different brewers might be interesting, hell after seeing a pic that someone posted of AHB's St Louis brewery from his tour last week, even seeing a piece on them might be interesting. But just how exciting would it be for the average joe? I mean "This week Sam meets the brewer of New Glarus for a rousing exploration of oak aged beers."

But at the same time, he is sort of the indiana jones of brewing, he likes to explore beer from around the world, old and new. Could a show like "No-reservations" with him as a host about beer culture, not just about brewing/homebrewing but beer/alcohol culture in general fly in a way that is interesting BOTH for folks like us AND "joe sixpack?"

Maybe beer culture is too nichelike. Maybe one hour specials are all that can hold folks interest.

We had several of those airing in the last few months. I caught a couple/three of them...I can't find the link to the third show...It might not have been my thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/follow-beer-belgian-cooking-channel-right-now-230353/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/history-tap-homebrewing-contest-tv-show-history-channel-wtf-213750/

The thing is, having worked in TV, I know how they think...Even though there was a short run, and Discovery didn't renew, the minute the first episode aired, you had folks at other channels and independent production companies jumping on the bandwagon, we've even seen posts on here from some video production people talking about developing show-heck even Mbowenz shot airable video of his Artic Alchemy bike trip and has some interest by channels (I think History is interested.)

I predict that just like it's the golden era for craft beer available in America right now, that this year we're going to see a lot of "beer tv."

And of course knowing the internetz and this place, we're gonna hate it all.

 

[BWN]

Although it would be interesting to see the same type of show for other breweries, you have to realize Sam Calgione has the personality to be on TV. Whether you like him or not you can't just take any brewery owner and put them on TV. I'm sure there are people who do this everyday and realized that he had some kind of marketability. I do think they could have taken the show in a different direction though.

 

[Revvy]

Although it would be interesting to see the same type of show for other breweries, you have to realize Sam Calgione has the personality to be on TV. Whether you like him or not you can't just take any brewery owner and put them on TV. I'm sure there are people who do this everyday and realized that he had some kind of marketability. I do think they could have taken the show in a different direction though.

Exactly I think he'd make a great tourguide into the world of brewing.

 

[CTownBrewer]

True. Sam has great personality & passion for what he does. The only other brewery I can think of that might work is Stone with Greg Koch & Mitch Steele.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[bluidshay]

I'm sad to see this show not get renewed. I for one loved this show, even though I only discovered it in time to see two eps. Sam's courageous style of making beer, and the fact that a brewed bottle of Dogfish Head is not only a delicious drink but often a history lesson, a geography lesson, and a primer on brewing technique fascinated me and made me start seeking out his more off-the-wall beers to sample.

 

[Chad]

Although it would be interesting to see the same type of show for other breweries, you have to realize Sam Calgione has the personality to be on TV.

By "personality to be on TV" do you mean, "Like Billy Mays or the ShamWow guy," because I find him that grating. Of course, Billy Mays and the ShamWow guy sold a lot of freaking product, so maybe there's something to that, but I'd much rather see somebody like Jim Koch, Dick Yuengling, Jeff Lebesch, John Lyda, or any of a half dozen other well spoken, thoughtful brewers who are good on camera and don't have the raging egomania that makes Sam Calagione such a chore to watch.

 

[gclay]

When I first watched Brew Masters I thought it would be about different breweries like the name suggests. They should have called it DFH - A journey into craft brewing. I liked the show and learning the history of brewing like in the Egypt episode. I hope someone comes out with a show that goes from brewery to brewery and shows what it's like to operate a craft brewery and the challenges they faced while starting out. That's a show I would watch religously. To me whether "Big Beer" had anything to do with BM ending or not is irrelevant, just that the show really didn't have a chance to take off.

 

[jturie]

I respect how passionate you seem to be about promoting good beer awareness, but I can't get over the fact that in a few of your posts, you seem to be surprised that we won't "organize" and get behind something some of us disagree with.

I am a HUGE beer enthuasiast. I've been a serious beer "geek" for over 10 years now and have been brewing for 6 of those 10. I am on this forum, reading books, or researching beer for at least 1-2 hours every single day. I brew or bottle/keg, every week. BUT... I didn't like Brewmasters, thought it was more of a Sam Love-Fest than anything else, and am glad to see it GONE.

I won't jump on the bandwagon and vote because it is a vote for a show I didn't like and which doesn't represent my view of this industry/hobby. Asking us to just vote for it because maybe it will lead to other things is a little bit of a stretch.

Again, I respect your passion, and certainly mean no hard feelings, but this is a disagreement I for one cannot overlook. If that show returns, I think it should have an entirely different look, and I cannot get behind that which we have already seen.

Sorry.

But, still,

+1 I really wanted to like the show, but frankly it was kind of boring. Watching them build that goofy lawn sculpture just didn't do it for me. Even though I love homebrewing, it doesn't mean that I will automatically fight to retain a beer show on TV.

Despite various nefarious scenarios, I think the show was killed due to lack of interest/small demographic/no advertisers.