“50 States, 20 Contestants, One Great Brewer”

After perusing Beernews.org I came across this article about a potential new reality TV show called “The Next Great American Brewer”.

The show involves the partnership between Goose Island Brewing Co. and the Siebel Institute of Technology. Both are based in craft beer-rich Chicago and will be the main environment of the show’s production. Goose Island is probably one of the city’s most established craft brewers and Siebel is one of the top brewing academies in the world.

20 contestants will be put to the test and compete against each other in a range of categories such as recipe formulation, market branding, product placement, running a brewpub, and food pairing. The winner will ultimately win a scholarship to the Siebel Institute and will also have the opportunity to brew their beer at Goose Island.

It will pretty much be like Top Chef, but instead of cooks it will be brewers. Judges will consist of industry pros such as brewers, pub owners, marketing professionals, and chefs.

The program still needs support and studios have been apprehensive to get involved based on the lackluster ratings of the short-lived Dogfish Head Brewery-based reality series “Brew Masters”. But interest is there in the likes of Youtube and Netflix.

I think this could be a great show if done right. The production company, Main Gate Visuals, is also behind Top Chef so the potential for success is definitely there. There is a strong interest out there about what it truly takes to brew a beer and get it out in the marketplace. I think this kind of expose inside the industry would not only entertain but surprise a lot of people…and could also appeal to the non-beer geek demographic as well…

I wish it success.