I just had a chat with Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione for a Today.com piece I’m working on. While the topic wasn’t on the agenda, I just had to ask for his thoughts on Brew Dogs, the new craft beer television show featuring the brew-fueled antics James Watt and Martin Dickie from Scotland’s BrewDog craft brewery. It starts on The Esquire Network next month.
Many beer geeks will recall that Sam had his own show on The Discovery Channel a couple of years back called Brew Masters, which only lasted five episodes before being unceremoniously pulled off the air. The reason for this (if you’re apt to believe Anthony Bourdain who was working with the same TV production company as Calagione at the time) was because “Big Beer” threatened to pull all advertising from Discovery, and that was enough to get the whole party shut down.
I asked Sam his thoughts about the new show, and here’s what he said:
James and Martin have done a good job making a name for themselves. I wish them the best of luck. Any time I see a show about beer or beer in a mainstream outlet, I get excited. If done positively, it’s good for the whole industry.
When I asked if he had any advice for the boys from BrewDog as they start down a road that’s potentially full of bullies and bandits, Sam laughed, paused, and then said, “no.”
I didn’t ask any follow up questions because he was being a good sport about my off topic query, plus he was already doing me a favor by carving out a bit of time from his vacation to speak with me.
Anyway, Sam is smart for playing it safe with his answers, but I bet he has a wealth of insights to share about the perils and pitfalls of evangelizing for the little guys in the land of giants.
Maybe a few 120’s and a coupla shots of Jin would loosen his tongue…
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
I like Sam. He continues to be the quintessential nice guy, no wonder he didn’t make it in television.
He’s also very smart. That probably didn’t help either!
I’ll be looking forward to the show. I think. Can’t say I’m much of a fan of the brewery or most of their antics. BrewDog’s extreme over the top gimmickry will probably play well with a certain segment of he viewing public but I guess I fear it could end up looking something like Brew Masters meets Wipeout.
Cheers!
Or Jackass with Sean Connery accents. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The BrewDogs are great marketers and do care about beer. However, whatever the ‘real reason’ for pulling Brew Masters was, it just wasn’t a very good show despite Sam’s smarts and good looks. It was boring and felt like a long commercial for Dogfish Head. Look forward to Brew Dogs!
I definitely don’t think James and MArtin will be boring, and hopefully they have the good sense to make the show about beer and not their brewery. I think the infomercial angle is what angered Big Beer the most, plus it was very limiting plot-wise.
Reblogged this on Proper_Pour.