Brew Masters Season 1 Episode 1
Brew Masters
Season 1

Ep 1. Bitches Brew

  • TV-14
  • November 21, 2010
  • 41 min
  • 7.7  (9)

Brew Masters is a TV show that follows Sam Calagione as he travels around the world attempting to brew beers with unique and challenging ingredients. In the show’s first episode, titled “Bitches Brew,” Sam embarks on an unusual project to celebrate the forty-year anniversary of Miles Davis’ groundbreaking album of the same name. Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” was released in 1970 and pushed the boundaries of jazz music - Sam was tasked with creating a beer that lived up to the same level of creativity and complexity.

Along with the help of his co-workers at Dogfish Head Brewery, Sam begins to experiment with different ingredients and processes. The challenge of creating this brew starts with the selection of the perfect yeast. Sam believes that the yeast must have character that represents the aesthetic and sounds of Miles’s music. Initially, they attempted to make a sour mash beer, but the results didn’t taste as they had intended. They brought in a musicologist to help get a better feel for the composition of “Bitches Brew” and what it represents. The musicologist explained that the album’s use of multiple time signatures, polyrhythms, and powerful crescendos embodies Miles’ jazz style and artistic, daring nature. With this knowledge, Sam and his team started playing around with other beer styles that might better capture that same kind of complexity.

After many rounds of trial and error, Sam and his team discovered that the perfect beer to represent “Bitches Brew” was a dark, potent, and complex beer that combines the best qualities of a stout, an imperial stout, and a Belgian Dubbel. This recipe was inspired by ancient Ethiopian beers and included plenty of exotic ingredients including honey, myrrh, and Ethiopian coffee. Sam created eight separate brews to test, with each one carefully tweaked to capture the distinct characters of the various aromatics and flavor ingredients used. This process took a significant amount of time - in fact, Sam estimated that he spent more than 12 hours a day, every day, in the brewing process.

Throughout the episode, we see Sam and his team working hard to create a beer that not only captures the spirit of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” album but also has the potential to be a tasty and popular beer in its own right. There are plenty of ups and downs along the way, including problems building up the brand of the beer and a significant delay before the release of the beer.

Overall, “Bitches Brew” is a fascinating and entertaining episode of Brew Masters that showcases the creativity, passion, and sheer hard work that goes into producing a unique and complex beer. The episode does an excellent job of documenting the trial-and-error journey Sam and his team undertake to create the perfect brew and highlights how passion and perseverance can lead to amazing results. It’s a must-watch for craft beer enthusiasts, music lovers, and anyone who wants to see what goes into creating a beer that is like no other.

Description
Watch Brew Masters - Bitches Brew (s1 e1) Online - Watch online anytime: Buy, Rent
Brew Masters, Season 1 Episode 1, is available to watch and stream on Discovery Channel. You can also buy, rent Brew Masters on demand at Amazon Prime, Amazon, Discovery, FuboTV, Apple TV online.
  • First Aired
    November 21, 2010
  • Content Rating
    TV-14
  • Runtime
    41 min
  • Language
    English
  • IMDB Rating
    7.7  (9)