Discovery Cancels Brewmasters

[steelersrbrun]

Revvy,

I'm not saying this is a huge InBev Conspiracy. I think the cancellation says a hell of alot more about the apathy in our beer community. There was finally a main stream media outlet to further the beer education of the AB drinking masses. Joe eighteen pack may have found a gateway beer with DFH and if the series evolved to promote other great breweries like Bells, Souther Tier, Victory etc, he may try that as well.
If the rating were so low that it warranted cancelling the show even with some in the can it says alot about our disfunctional little community. It failed because we beer enthuiasts didn't show enough support and neither did the hundreds of brewers that have a hard enough time competing with the MACROS.
Why should InBev help to keep the competition on the air by buying up all the advertisement?

If you think Sam is a shameless self promoting ****** that's fine. But you cannot debate that DFH has taken up alot of tap handles in some really non-craft bars/restaurants and isnt that the point? We want choices, and the larger the variety becomes and the more competitve the industry is and the better change of changing the three tier system to really open up the market.
All I ask is for a vote to show the Discovery Channel that this community is united and has a large voice. It's not a vote for Sam, it's a vote to keep growing the craft beer movement. (phew...sorry about the soap box)

PROST!!

 

[Revvy]

And besides does anyone not see the ludicriousness of ahb "pulling ads" from this show? Hell if I were big beer and there was this show about beer on EVEN if it were craft beer and had nothing to do with my product line, I would have wrapped my adds around every second of that show. In fact I would have grabbed all my pseudo craft and imported beer lines like Stella and Bud American Ale and whatever else I had and I would have ridden the coattails of all the eyeballs glued to the show- all the beer geeks and people who are interested in beer (who may only drink BMC- but think beer is cool to watch on tv) and made sure my products were first and foremost in the minds of the viewers whenever Sam was off screen and a break was on.....I would have been like a horsefly on the latest Derby Winner, or a crab on the pube of a beauty queen....Just hanging on and enjoying the ride, and getting all the extra eyes on me.

In fact I still maintain that they did that, and we saw beer commercials for BMC while the show was airing, and folks commented about it on here.

You know, the idea of "pulling ads" has very little weight these days...It's not like the days of 3 networks and proctor and gamble practically shooting the shows themselves. You think if someone pulls their adds, there's not going to be 100 other companies jumping on for the empty ad times? Especially if the ad broker is desperate and decides to discount the block to fill it. Think about the suprebowl, are their any ad blockes ever empty? Even if the NFL pulls a "questionable" ad? There's always going to be another company, some lowly dotcom that at the last minute will scrape together a few bucks to put one of their adds in a slot as a gamble. Someone decides these days to withhold sponsorship the ad guys for the channel shrug their shoulder's and pull out their blackberries and call the next tier advertisers, and say "have I got a deal for you?"

 

[motobrewer]

i have a theory that Revvy is really Adolphus Busch reincarnated on the internet

tee hee!

 

[Airborneguy]

...and the better change of changing the three tier system to really open up the market.

This is BS perpetuated by the Beer Wars is Gospel crowd. The propoganda viedoe shows this "Three Tier System" as if it is a federal mandate, when in fact very few states have a strict three-tier system legally. IF there is a system like this in place, it is more driven by simple economics than legal mandates.

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

If the rating were so low that it warranted cancelling the show even with some in the can it says alot about our disfunctional little community. It failed because we beer enthuiasts didn't show enough support and neither did the hundreds of brewers that have a hard enough time competing with the MACROS.

I disagree. If a TV show (ANY TV show) needs "support from the enthusiasts" to stay afloat, it doesn't deserve to be.
I couldn't care less about the whole AB conspiracy thing. I agree with Revvy that there's not a single shred of real evidence that that conspiracy is real.
I can tell you I didn't like brewmasters. I watched it a couple of times, and found it incredibly boring. Sam Calagione may be a very nice guy, but he doesn't have the charisma to carry on a show like that, at least not for long.
Maybe it's true about AB threatening Discovery to pull the advertising. I doubt it. Discovery doesn't lack potential advertisers. Either way, I doubt a few thousand signatures are gonna be enough to make them change their mind.

 

[beerloaf]

I voted and did like the show a lot and do hope it comes back on air. Unfortunately even with the target number of the poll being 500,000 the number is fairly low for TV standards. I just don't see Discovery putting this back on even though they should because I thought it was an interesting show. Everything on TV is about ratings. Ratings = ad revenue and we all know that everything is about money. It's simple business math.

beerloaf

 

[azscoob]

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.

Well said!

 

[Revvy]

This is BS perpetuated by the Beer Wars is Gospel crowd. The propoganda viedoe shows this "Three Tier System" as if it is a federal mandate, when in fact very few states have a strict three-tier system legally. IF there is a system like this in place, it is more driven by simple economics than legal mandates.

EXACTLY....and the minute some tiny allegation they come out like roaches in the woodwork, because they just want to believe...

But can someone actually point to a REAL news story instead of a bunch of tweats...I clicked on the antlantic life's big store...and there's nothing about advertising, big beer or anything...'

http://ny.eater.com/archives/2011/0..._food_and_beer_from_eatalys_la_ birreria.php#

There's nothing but tweets reffering to other tweets and one blog that was based on Bourdain's initial tweet.

I don't get if you know that Tweets are not news.....

Until we see an actually story wrtitten in complete sentences all anyone is doing is perpetuating a meme....spreading rumors based on the thinnest of unsubstantiated information.

Any actual search to see if there's really NEWs about reffers back to the blog and the twits....that's hardly enough to make such a big deal out of. Bourdain was probably just spouting off an OPINION, like he's known to do...WITH NO BASIS IN FACT....

And besides does anyone not see the ludicriousness of ahb "pulling ads" from this show? Hell if I were big beer and there was this show about beer on EVEN if it were craft beer and had nothing to do with my product line, I would have wrapped my adds around every second of that show. In fact I would have grabbed all my pseudo craft and imported beer lines like Stella and Bud American Ale and whatever else I had and I would have ridden the coattails of all the eyeballs glued to the show- all the beer geeks and people who are interested in beer (who may only drink BMC- but think beer is cool to watch on tv) and made sure my products were first and foremost in the minds of the viewers whenever Sam was off screen and a break was on.....I would have been like a horsefly on the latest Derby Winner, or a crab on the pube of a beauty queen....Just hanging on and enjoying the ride, and getting all the extra eyes on me.

In fact I still maintain that they did that, and we saw beer commercials for BMC while the show was airing, and folks commented about it on here.

You know, the idea of "pulling ads" has very little weight these days...It's not like the days of 3 networks and proctor and gamble practically shooting the shows themselves (like "Soap Operas" being put on by the P&G.) You think if someone pulls their adds, there's not going to be 100 other companies jumping on for the empty ad times? Especially if the ad broker is desperate and decides to discount the block to fill it. Think about the suprebowl, are their any ad blockes ever empty? Even if the NFL pulls a "questionable" ad? There's always going to be another company, some lowly dotcom that at the last minute will scrape together a few bucks to put one of their adds in a slot as a gamble. Someone decides these days to withhold sponsorship the ad guys for the channel shrug their shoulder's and pull out their blackberries and call the next tier advertisers, and say "have I got a deal for you?"


And some of you guys are like a bunch of old ladies with your knickers in a twist because you just want another reason to hate "big beer." Which more than likely had nothing to do with it.

And as to the evil 3 tier system, have you guys actually gone to a store lately??? THERE'S MORE CRAFT BEER ON THE SHELVES OF STORES THAN EVER BEFORE!!! Hell including big box stores like Kroger's Meijer's and even Wallyworld.

I've bought craft/micro/imported beers in Detroit since I turned 21 in 1986, whether it was micro brews at Traffic Jam or imported beers at Ye olde tap room, or Union street, or even Double Diamond or or Guiness back in the day in Detroit, and it's gotten better.

I see more and more craft beers in stores everyday. New ones, and regional ones that I've never seen before, so I just don't see these "hurdles" of the 3 tier system, by the Evil BMC empire that folks claim are out there being so insurmountable.

I use Port Huron as an example, it's still relatively a small town (30,000) , but I've got two party stores in walking distance from downtown where I live, (including a buschemi's) that have amazing craft beer selections and they add more shelf space for micros nearly weekly. Then if I get in my car I have 2 more places in a 3 mile radius that have craft beers, one of them has 3 times the brands that buscemi's has. Plus I can walk to 1 brew pub, two "normal" bars and one coffeehouse that has craft beers on tap. And those are just the ones I know about. I pass by a ton of beerstores in PH everyday that I've never been it...they could have craft beers as well, that I just don't know. And like I said, that's just in Port Huron..not to mention all the places in the detroit/metro area, as well as Krogers and Meijer's.

It's like the golden age of beer in America...we keep complaining about how bad BMC is and how they are keeping us from having craft beer...But I've got more available to me than ever before. BMC keeps losing sales, but the craft beer keeps filling shelf space. I mean there are more craft beer breweries represented these days in most of the stores that I frequent than bmc's offerings. Typically the first 3 fridge thingy's might be all of BMC, but the next 5 or 6 are all craft beers.

 

[Malticulous]

http://beerandwhiskeybros.com/2011/03/30/was-brewmasters-killed-by-big-beer/

I'm sure it's true. The only question is if #6 will ever air.

 

[Revvy]

http://beerandwhiskeybros.com/2011/03/30/was-brewmasters-killed-by-big-beer/

I'm sure it's true. The only question is if #6 will ever air.

Uh, that's the original blog that started this whole thing, it's hardly something substantative....it's reffering to bourdain, and bourdian back to it, that's HARDLY a credible source...no different than the 50 threads that are popping up on here perpetuating this...And when you do a news search THE ONLY things that pop up are the tweets and that blog, it's a circle, they're referencing each other. There's nothing else out there that refrences anything other than those things.

It ain't journalism....it's memes in action.

And the 6th episode have supposedly aired already on scandanavian television and their are screen caps on here to prove it...also some websites including Discovery are saying the tentative airdate for the 6th episode is already set.

This was on discovery.com two days ago before this nonsense even broke.

Episode 6 description-"3 Beers For Batali" 06 [2011]

Italian craft breweries are examined. Dogfish Head Brewery opens its newest restaurant: a rooftop brewpub in New York City's Eataly, and creates a series of specialty beers for the pub. [NOTE: delays in the opening of the brewpub resulted in the episode remaining incomplete. A 2011 brewpub opening date has been set, and the accompanying episode is estimated to air in June of 2011.] [3]

And this is the post from the other day where some of us doubted that it aired anywhere and Seamus posted these....

You can watch it online if you live where it wasn't aired. Pretty easy to find, for some people I guess.

Not sure if they will change the ending for the US airing, to show the opening but I'm sure content won't be much different as the episode follows the same format as previous episodes.

Here are the screen caps but I'm sure there will be some new reason not to think it aired. You can keep trying to make me look like a troll though.

This is from a totally unrelated discussion to this, that occured BEFORE this rumor inducing nonsense began.

 

[Malticulous]

I haven't been following this thread but this is what I was pointing too (not the tweets.)

Sam confirmed that no new footage was going to taped for Brewmasters, and that he hopes the Eataly episode (which has been filmed but not aired) will still air in June when the brewpub is open for business. I hope so too, because I enjoyed the show and want Dogfish’s venture to be a success. At any rate, the show is gone and not coming back after that.

 

[Revvy]

Sam confirmed that no new footage was going to taped for Brewmasters, and that he hopes the Eataly episode (which has been filmed but not aired) will still air in June when the brewpub is open for business. I hope so too, because I enjoyed the show and want Dogfish’s venture to be a success. At any rate, the show is gone and not coming back after that.

But what has NEVER been determined, even back when THIS thread was started back in January was whether or not this show was EVER going to go beyond the 6 episodes that were commissioned. That's why I argued back then, that you can't say something was cancelled when the contract was completed. 6 episodes was the initial run, and had there not been delays the 6th episode would probably have run, and will possibly STILL run. But that would complete the contract.

Not getting renewed is not the same as getting cancelled. And in the world of TV not getting picked up again happens all the time. That's television, not a conspiracy by big beer.

 

[Airborneguy]

As much as I can't stand most of what DFH produces, and I didn't like the show, I will hit Eataly once it finally opens, and we are also planning to drive down to Rehoboth Beach to try out the DFH brewpub this summer. My wife loves their beers, so I guess I'll give them a shot.

 

[Revvy]

I think all three of these threads need to be merged...this one,

And

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/ab-forcing-discovery-cancel-brewmasters-236305/

and

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/vote-236382/

It's all basically the same thing, just with different audiences except those of us who are cross posting in them, like AZ, airborne and me.....

 

[steelersrbrun]

Sweet little 8lb 6oz baby jesus. We are doomed as a race. Lets get negative and attack by spending 10 minutes on a tirade instead of indicating That you love and support your brewing brothers and sisters by taking 5 seconds to vote. I recind my request. Cheers....relax....have a home brew.

 

[cricky101]

Sweet little 8lb 6oz baby jesus. We are doomed as a race. Lets get negative and attack by spending 10 minutes on a tirade instead of indicating That you love and support your brewing brothers and sisters by taking 5 seconds to vote. I recind my request. Cheers....relax....have a home brew.

I didn't care for the show but signed the petition because I enjoy beer. Don't let the bitchiness/bickering of some of the members get to you. Unless a MOD tells you to stop, post away.

 

[Revvy]

You know who the culprit really is? It's the Discovery channel. They did the "kiss of death" on that show by juggling timeslots. When they do that, AND use ratings to judge a show, you know the show is not important to them, and not going to be back. Or when they air 2-3 new episodes, then put it on hiatus or show repeats for a couple weeks, then sticks the new episodes in, ABC did that Detroit 187 this year, which means it probably won't get picked up for a second season.

When a channel does that, that's the true thing to blame. Not some outside forces. Discovery wasn't committed enough to the show to keep it in a slot even for those 6 weeks.

 

[Airborneguy]

I didn't care for the show but signed the petition because I enjoy beer. Don't let the bitchiness/bickering of some of the members get to you. Unless a MOD tells you to stop, post away.

He can post this all he wants, as can you. BUT, I have the right to think that show was stupid and deserved its fate.

 

[Revvy]

If you think Sam is a shameless self promoting ****** that's fine. But you cannot debate that DFH has taken up alot of tap handles in some really non-craft bars/restaurants and isnt that the point? We want choices, and the larger the variety becomes and the more competitve the industry is and the better change of changing the three tier system to really open up the market.

Actually I don't think those things about him, I like Sam, respect him, and like his beers. And I loved the show. I just don't believe in the black and white ahb is evil conspiracy theory that the Beer Wars crowd so naively believes in. Nor do I look down on folks who like Bud Light or macro beers, nor do I buy any of the old "BMC cut cost by adding rice and corn to their beers to save money" historical innacuracy that folks like to rub on themselves like butter to feel so superior to every one else. I used to beleive that crap and then I started to read and do research, and especially read ambituous brew and it made a lot more sense historically than the conspiracy stuff.....

I don't have any problem with the voting, I think it's a great Idea, and I want to see more shows...It's just that you guys are buying a handful or tweets by the trickster of the food world and ONE blog as gospel truth, and looking for one more nail in the Big beer is evil coffin.

You know who the culprit really is? It's the Discovery channel. They did the "kiss of death" on that show by juggling timeslots. When they do that, AND use ratings to judge a show, you know the show is not important to them, and not going to be back. Or when they air 2-3 new episodes, then put it on hiatus or show repeats for a couple weeks, then sticks the new episodes in, ABC did that Detroit 187 this year, which means it probably won't get picked up for a second season.

When a channel does that, that's the true thing to blame. Not some outside forces. Discovery wasn't committed enough to the show to keep it in a slot even for those 6 weeks.

 

[steelersrbrun]

I didn't care for the show but signed the petition because I enjoy beer. Don't let the bitchiness/bickering of some of the members get to you. Unless a MOD tells you to stop, post away.

I didn't love it either but I do love beer and beer education for the masses.

 

[Revvy]

I didn't love it either but I do love beer and beer education for the masses.

Most of us on here are...only we want to make sure that the "education for the masses" is based on truth, and not a bunch of rumors and allegations....and tweets by Anthony Bourdain....

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

I didn't love it either but I do love beer and beer education for the masses.

Agree. But the beer shows on the Modern Marvels series were far more educational about beer that brewmasters could ever be. Mostly because you didn't fall asleep while watching it.

 

[Revvy]

Agree. But the beer shows on the Modern Marvels series were far more educational about beer that brewmasters could ever be. Mostly because you didn't fall asleep while watching it.

Yeah, as opposed to the horrid "How beer saved the world" show that aired no too long ago. The modern marvels 2 episodes on distillation were awesome too. I learned a ton on there.

 

[unionrdr]

I kinda like what little was left of how beer saved the world on youtube. I also read more about the molecular archeologist who worked with the DFH guy to make those ancient brews. Archeologists are coming to the conclusion that beer came before bread. They ground some more grain,added it to beer to make a dough,then baked it. Finding that white loaves of raised bread resulted.
I think ther implications are rather amusing. First fire roasted meat,then beer,then bread. Hmmmm,beer & bbq samiches! yummy...:rockin::cross:

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

Yeah, as opposed to the horrid "How beer saved the world" show that aired no too long ago. The modern marvels 2 episodes on distillation were awesome too. I learned a ton on there.

Yep. So did I. Actually, the distillation episodes prompted me to do a little experiment I can't discuss here...
However, I have to admit it's the "How beer save the World" show that made me decide to start brewing. I didn't have (and still don't) the money to buy grain, hops etc. Learning beer was made with acorns in colonial times is what gave me the idea to start brewing with chick peas.

 

[Revvy]

I kinda like what little was left of how beer saved the world on youtube. I also read more about the molecular archeologist who worked with the DFH guy to make those ancient brews. Archeologists are coming to the conclusion that beer came before bread. They ground some more grain,added it to beer to make a dough,then baked it. Finding that white loaves of raised bread resulted.
I think ther implications are rather amusing. First fire roasted meat,then beer,then bread. Hmmmm,beer & bbq samiches! yummy...:rockin::cross:

I have links to his work and the ancient brewing techniques in This thread.

Look at the links I mention of the Maltose falcons...they did the bappir bread beer several years ago.

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

Archeologists are coming to the conclusion that beer came before bread. They ground some more grain,added it to beer to make a dough,then baked it. Finding that white loaves of raised bread resulted.

Hmmm... sounds difficult to believe, especially since there's proof that in ancient times bread was made without yeast...

 

[Revvy]

Hmmm... sounds difficult to believe, especially since there's proof that in ancient times bread was made without yeast...

The yeast came from the skins of the fruit that was often baked into the bread, plus many cultures used yeast sticks. They didn't quite undetstand what they were doing but they often would rub a stick into the trub and let it dry on the stick, then use that to stir their next beer, thus innoculating the wort with yeast.

But look at the stuff in my beer thread. it's fascinating.

 

[unionrdr]

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.

 

[android]

Maybe next time when they call a show BREWMASTERS, it will have more than one brewmaster and really show some good brewing information.

not gonna happen.