Beer Basics

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:30 am

This show is just so darned funny. Yesterday's show was about German wheat beers and they had on show Hacker-Pschorr Weisse, Big Rock Grasshopper Wheat beer and Delerium Tremens. Now, as far as I could see only one of those is German! One is Belgian and the other can hardly be classed as a Wheat Beer (can it?)! They kept emphasing before mentioning every name the point that the show was about GERMAN WHEAT BEERS! How do these people keep their jobs? I though the show was there to inform and educate the viewers? And the fact that Larry Kerwin is a 'head brewer' makes it even more frustrating, or hilarious

I'm sure most people on this Forum could do 100 times better.

Anyway, rant over. If i have made any incorrect assumptions then please feel free to flame me

.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:39 am

No, I think Grasshopper is a limp American Wheat style from BC, and Delirium Tremens is a blonde Belgian Strong Ale with little if any character of wheat (not to mention they add sugar, unheard of in German beer.)

Wow, and this was a chance to mention, say Denisons or Schneider Aventinus. Dumb!

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:46 am

I suppose with having the Brewer from Big Rock as one of the permanent panelists, there was no way they were going to mention a rival Canadian brewery!

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:12 am

I have watched this show, along with its sister Wine Basics a few times. If it weren't so unintentionally funny it would be very insulting. The host is a moron, prone to asking questions like " Beer is made from balrley malt, right?" I know it is called Beer Basics, but come on! It no more than a shameless plug for the mass produced products they choose to focus.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:46 am

I've only watched one episode of Beer Basics. It was an IPA episode a few weeks ago, and while I didn't learn much from it, I was actually impressed that they gave some proper historical context about the style.

Unfortunately, a good portion of the show featured a tour of the Keith's "brewery" in downtown Halifax, but at least when the did the tasting, the most knowledgeable of the three panelists pointed out that Keith's really isn't a true IPA. I think the other beers were Wild Rose Industrial Park Ale and Big Rock IPA.

Anyway, as bad as this show might be, the Beer Buddies is exponentially worse. I watched my first (and last!) episode at the same time as Beer Basics (they are shown together on Sun TV on weekend afternoons), and not only do those idiots know nothing about beer, they also appear to be clueless about many aspects of cooking. Not to mention that the show is basically an infomercial for Labatt/InBev, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Grill King and several other products that they managed to work in to pretty much every recipe/segment.

It was also amusing to see that the hour is sponsored by Mill Street, especially considering the overt Labatt/InBev presence in Beer Buddies. Nice to see ads for good beer on TV for a change.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:05 pm

Last nights Beer Buddies was about cooking Beer-can Chicken. they mentioned it was best to use a light, but hoppy beer. Their beer of choice? Blue

. I can't actually comment on Blue being hoppy as I won't allow it to pass my lips, so can anyone tell me if it is a light and hoppy beer. I think they also called it a Pilsner-style beer in a previous episode. How many styles of beer does Blue actually cover?

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 4:48 pm

I think its a wheat beer and a stout as well.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:30 pm

PRMason wrote:I think its a wheat beer and a stout as well.

Actually, Labatt's is on its way to taking back rightful ownership of the "Original Pilsner" claim, which the Urquell brewery basically stole from Blue.

Can't trust those sneaky Czechs, I mean they actually tried to steal the Budweiser name! For this reason that fake "Bud" can't touch American soil.

Seriously, I wonder if it's possible to do a low-budget series show on beer, one actually 1) informed 2) packed with good honest content and 3) entertainingly presented.

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:28 pm

Torontoblue wrote:How many styles of beer does Blue actually cover?

The only one I can think of, and I'm not sure if it's a style, would be 'barley cooler'.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 7:45 pm

When/where is this show on?

"American Beer" was a SERIOUSLY low budget movie... and quite entertaining.

Big Rock is in Alberta.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:17 pm

Belgian wrote:Seriously, I wonder if it's possible to do a low-budget series show on beer, one actually 1) informed 2) packed with good honest content and 3) entertainingly presented.

If you could get a crew together and make a serious pitch to Rogers Cable 10, you might be on to something...

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:21 pm

Responsible Drinker wrote:When/where is this show on?

Sun TV - http://suntv.canoe.ca/

It's generally on Saturday & Sunday afternoons at 2:30 PM (with Beer Buddies preceding it at 2 PM) - although according to the schedule on the website, the next two Saturdays feature horse racing on Saturday, so it'll only be on Sunday afternoon.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:34 pm

I think I might watch this show, sipping on some Orval Weissbier.

swall · Post by **swall** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 5:17 pm

Last nights Beer Buddies was about cooking Beer-can Chicken. they mentioned it was best to use a light, but hoppy beer. Their beer of choice? Blue . I can't actually comment on Blue being hoppy as I won't allow it to pass my lips, so can anyone tell me if it is a light and hoppy beer. I think they also called it a Pilsner-style beer in a previous episode. How many styles of beer does Blue actually cover?

After reading the above responses, I’m quite certain this site is for beer snobs only. Can you really taste the different style of beer after it’s been shoved in a chicken’s ass and cooked for 45min? Can you really tell if there is Guinness in the stew, or just Lakeport?

While these shows don’t appeal the true beer “connoisseur”, they do appeal to the beer drinkers. Which, if I was in the business of sellng beer, I would appeal to the masses and not a select few.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:14 pm

I wouldn't say this forum is for Beer Snobs at all. It's for people who appreciate good, tasteful beer!

If you have ever tried cooking with beer then you will know that, YES, you can taste the difference between a Guinness Stew and a Lakeport Stew, you would even be able to tell the difference between Guinness and a better stout! I would certainly be able to tell the difference between a Blue Beer-Can chicken and a chicken cooked with, lets say, Black Oak Hop Bomb (a true hoppy ale).

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