Brew Masters is a television series that was run weekly on Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 starting on Sunday, November 21, 2010. The show focused on Sam Calagione, the founder and head of Dogfish Head Brewery

Dogfish Head Brewery

Dogfish Head Brewery is a brewing company based in Milton, Delaware founded by Sam Calagione. It opened in 1995 and produces 75,000 barrels of beer annually. Dogfish Head has been a rapidly growing brewery - it grew nearly 400% in between 2003 and 2006...

, and his staff as they scoured the world for new, ancient, and imaginative inspirations for beers.

Background

The original idea for the series came after Discovery Channel discovered the videos of the Dogfish Head Brewery in the company's website. As Calagione explained, “They could see we take beer very seriously but we don’t take ourselves too seriously." This led to the development of the series focusing on the beer creation and production process at a specific brewery (in this case, Calagione's own Dogfish Head Brewery).

Big Beer Controversy

Chef Anthony Bourdain who shares a production company with Brew Masters reported via Twitter that Brew Masters would be cancelled due to pressure by a large beer company who threatened to pull advertising. Beer book author Andy Crouch later confirmed that the show was cancelled, but it was due to a poor audience, not any external pressure from advertisers. These remarks were later clarified to reflect the show was not renewed rather than cancelled, the difference being that the final episode will still planning to be aired.

Episodes

The main plot line of each episode revolves around the creation and production of a specific beer. This is done by outlining the inspiration for creating the brew, then taking the viewer through the process of developing the recipe, testing it, and preparing it for production. Interspersed throughout each episode are various anecdotes about beer making, both in general and at the Dogfish Head Brewery.

A total of six episodes were ordered for the first season. To date, five of the six have aired. The first two episodes aired on Sunday nights at 10:00 PM EST/PST. After premiering Episode 3 on a Monday night (November 29) at 10:00 PM EST/PST, episodes 4 & 5 aired on Thursday nights at 8:00 PM EST/PST. The sixth episode was originally delayed due to its subject matter: the episode was originally to have featured the opening of Dogfish Head's new brewpub at Eataly

Eataly

Eataly is a high-end Italian food market/mall chain which first opened in Turin, Italy, in January 2007. A New York City Eataly opened in August 2010.-Turin:...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Delays in the brewpub's opening resulted in the episode remaining incomplete. While the brewpub has since opened, the accompanying episode has never aired in the U.S. (though it has reportedly aired in several other countries.)

The Season 1 DVD of the series was released in June 2011, and includes the previously unaired "3 Beers For Batali" episode. Amazon Instant Video also offers the first season for download, but this version does not include the unaired sixth episode.

Season 1

Episode Title	Ep. #	Original Air Date
"Bitches Brew"	01	November 21, 2010
In the series premiere, Sam heads to Sony Records in New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...  to create a special beer commemorating the 40th anniversary release of Miles Davis Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,... 's Bitches Brew Bitches Brew Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...  album.
"Chicha"	02	November 28, 2010
Sam heads to Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....  to learn about Chicha Chicha For the musical genre, see Peruvian cumbiaChicha is a term used in some regions of Latin America for several varieties of fermented and non-fermented beverages, rather often to those derived from maize and similar non-alcoholic beverages... , an ancient corn-based beer. Using the recipes and brewing techniques he learns on this trip, the entire Dogfish Head staff is called on to create an authentic recipe for the Dogfish Head Brewpub, including chewing the corn themselves to assist with the fermentation.
"Punkin & Portamarillo"	03	November 29, 2010
Sam travels to New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...  and collaborates with Epic Brewing Company Epic Brewing Company Epic Brewing Company is contract brewed at Steam Brewing Company a microbrewery located in Otahuhu, Auckland.In October 2007, Steam Brewing Company sold the Epic Brewing Company and Epic brand to Head Brewer / General Manager, Luke Nicholas...  to brew a special indigenous tamarillo Tamarillo Solanum betaceum is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit...  and pohutakawa brew for Beervana, an annual craft beer competition. Meanwhile, a crisis arises at Dogfish Head Brewery when several cases of Punkin Ale are found to be bottled in the wrong type of bottles.
"Grain To Glass"	04	December 9, 2010
Dogfish Head Brewery is enlisted to create a beer made from cedar scraps provided by the hand-made surfboard builders Grain Surfboards Grain (surfboard company) Grain Surfboards is an American company that manufactures custom and originally designed hollow wooden surfboards. The surfboards are made primarily from Northern White Cedar, with some Western Red Cedar added for color accent.-History:...  . When a panel of brewery taste testers rejects the latest batch of 120-Minute IPA, the brew masters rush to figure out if the beer can be salvaged.
"Ancient Ale"	05	December 16, 2010
Dogfish Head is about to brew a batch of "Chateau Jiahu Jiahu Jiahu was the site of a Neolithic Yellow River settlement based in the central plains of ancient China, modern Wuyang, Henan Province. Archaeologists consider the site to be one of the earliest examples of the Peiligang culture. Settled from 7000 to 5800 BC, the site was later flooded and abandoned... " a 9000 year-old recipe based on pottery jars recovered from a village in Central China. Sam heads to Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... in order to bring back to life beer from one of man's earliest civilizations.
"3 Beers For Batali"	06	[2011]
Italian craft breweries are examined. Dogfish Head Brewery opens its newest restaurant: La Birreria, a rooftop brewpub in New York City's Eataly, and creates a series of specialty beers for the pub.