Well this just sucks. I have it on good authority that Sam Calagione’s Brew Masters has been pulled from the air after just a handful of episodes. It was good to see craft beer on TV while it lasted I guess.

While the show was well-received by beer geeks, the general public was lukewarm about it. I’m sure the fact that Brew Masters was moved from Sunday to Monday to Thursday didn’t help.

I’ve shared my thoughts about the things the show had working against it, but Don and I still hoped that it would be a hit, so it would pave the way for copycat shows, perhaps ones starring feuding brothers (one of whom is quite witty and handsome).

At any rate, we raise our glasses to Sam and the folks at Dogfish Head for giving it their best shot. We hope that Dogfish Head will continue to prosper because of the attention the show brought them – they are a wonderful gateway into the universe of good beer.

I know that the craft beer world is better off for having Brew Masters on TV, I only wish the ride were much, much longer.

CLARIFICATION: There’s some conflicting info out there, so I want to clarify what we’re saying here. There will be no new episodes shot, but Discovery may air the sixth and final episode this spring (it’s the “additional content” they say they’re working on) and possible rerun the series. But there will be no new shows and for all intents and purposes the show is done. Which again is a huge bummer. 😦

NON-UPDATE UPDATE: The blog AtlantaBeerMaster.com (which an info-rich beer geek heaven BTW) has posted this quote from a real live Discovery spokesperson :

[Discovery Channel] is working on completing the final episode #6 of Brew Masters. It will be airing by early spring. They have NOT cancelled the show. Brew Masters was slated for an initial 6 episode run. Once the 6 are completed, Discovery Channel & Dogfish Head will evaluate the response and future direction.

That’s exactly what I’d say if I was a Discovery spokesperson in order to keep hope alive and the audience intact. If they say it’s canceled, all the air goes out of the balloon. It’s in their best interest to string everyone along and it’s a smart move. regardless, my info jibes with this quote, it just not spun by a PR person. The “future direction” is nowhere.

Ominous Observation Update (1/13/11): I made a remark last week that Discovery hadn’t updated the Brew Masters Facebook page since Christmas, while the pages for Dirty Jobs, Myth Busters, American Choppers, etc. all had been updated at least once a day. The next day Brew Masters updated their Facebook page to show that we were wrong, but it has not been updated since. This shows Discovery has decided not to invest in building / maintaining the Brew Masters audience past the holiday break, which is an outward sign that our insider info is correct. Which, as we’ve said before, is a bummer.

Horse’s Mouth Update (3/30/11): I spoke with Sam Calagione about the show this morning (ran into him in the beer aisle of Eataly in NYC – very cool!) and he confirmed that no new footage will be shot but is hoping the final Eataly episode (which has been shot but not aired) will still air sometime in June. So the show is definitely kaput. Also, Anthony Bourdain is saying Big Beer forced Discovery to pull the show. It was MURDER!

Happy Ending Update (9/26/11): Sam tells us that he’s cooking something up with production company Zero-Point-Zero (the producers of Brew Masters) for the iPad.







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