Last Sunday Discovery Channel aired the first episode of Brew Masters. The show follows Sam Calagione as he makes some of Dogfish Head's 31 annual brews. The first episode followed Sam as he collaborated with Sony Music on Bitches Brew. Bitches Brew is both a album and now a beer. The album Bitches Brew was Miles Davis's first Gold Record, and is considered a highly influential piece by the music community.
The beer Bitches Brew is a blend of an African beer and a Russian Imperial Stout. The African beer, Tej, was described by Calagione as coyingly sweet, and more like wine than beer. Tej is also higher in alcohol content. The Russian Imperial Stout is lower in alcohol content and has a chocolate base.
I drank a bottle of this as I watched the show. I found the show informative, but wished it would go deeper into some of the processes behind brewing. For instance a deep explanation of the benefits and reasons why someone would want to blend beer would of been excellent. A bottling line malfunction provided a useless distraction to the plot of the show. I found it annoying that they made a big deal over having to throw out $7,000 worth of beer. Which, by the way, was a false alarm. While that is a lot of money, it is a drop in the bucket for an operation like Dogfish Head.
I know this was only the first episode so I do hope and believe a lot more about craft beer will be explained in future episodes. For instance tonight Sam explores Chicha, also known as Spit Beer. So please tune in tonight and get grossed out.
Tasting Notes:
Poured from a large format bottle into a Dogfish off-centered glass creating a thick, dark tan head that stuck around, yet created little lacing. The aroma was sweet with very subtle hops, and at 9% ABV I could smell some alcohol. The body was full with a velvety feel, and notes of roasted coffee and chocolate and a trace of smoke. Wish I had some dark chocolate to pair with it.
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