Esquire Bar Shows

I have not seen a moment of these shows, but your review is not a great endorsement. And I believe the Brewdog guys are Scottish. Anyway, I know what you're saying and I completely agree. Sounds like "The Hangover 5-7".

 

The point of the show is for them to get hammered and I see your point on the gender issue. I really don't see them having any 'cause' they are trying to promote, whereas Brewdogs at least comes off that they are looking to promote craft beer. That being said, On Best Bars I have seen them drink local craft beer. NOLA in New Orleans, St. Arnolds in Austin, Barrier in Brooklyn, and few in Portland are some I can think of off the top of my head.

 

I find the 'Best Bars' show pretty entertaining, if you can look at it through a lens of drinking/exploring rather than craft beer. Definitely not a great craft beer show...save for the scene at Torst in NYC, maybe.

I've tried to watch Brew Dogs, but just don't find it to be that interesting. I agree that it seems to make craft beer more accessible to people who aren't as familiar with it, so I appreciate that, but I'm just not getting much out of it. Like the OP, I don't care for the 'challenges' at all.

 

I've watched both, and both shows are hit or miss. I really enjoyed "Best Bars" Brooklyn. Maybe cause I can relate the closest as I have been there a bunch and been to many of the bars they went to.

 

Scottish. Please.

 

I like this show. And I loved the Brooklyn episode. I've been to Torst and loved it. All it does for me is give me ideas of places I want to go to. I just dismissed the dive bar parts. Sorry but I'm not going there. Not going to drive or ride a train for an hour to drink shitty PBR in a piss smelling bar. I don't care how long it's been there.

Brew Dogs the same. The stuff they brew is interesting and I'll never sample it which is fine. But it gives me an inside look at some cities and ideas on where to go if I happen to go there for some reason.

 

I've been watching brew dogs, however I find it embarrasing to watch sometimes. You get the feeling that some of the guests on the show feel forced or didn't neccessarily want to be on it.

Still wish BrewMasters was still on.

 

I think Brewdogs is at least entertaining, gimmicky sure, but it's appealing to the masses. Brew Masters, with Sam from Dogfish was a better show about brewing and the day-to-day operations at a brewery. Dark Horse Nation was more of the scripted, reality show kinda thing, and was barely about beer at all. I haven't seen Best Bars, but assumed it was exactly how you described it. Anyway, I think any exposure for craft beer, anything that gets people to at least try something from one of their local breweries, is a big plus, and no matter how bad any of those shows are, that's what they're achieving.

 

I've seen both shows. Some of the places they go to on Best Bars are pretty interesting. The hosts are not the most entertaining but they have grown on me a little bit. I've seen them drink craft beer in multiple cities. I remember them specifically asking for a "local" beer a couple of times. I forget which city it was but the bartender even suggested to one of them that they pair their food with a hefeweizen and they obliged.

Brew Dogs is so boring to me. I tried watching it thinking it would interest me but I really don't enjoy it at all.

 

I wish Brew Dogs Show idea was done by Americans, because I think what they do encapsulates some of American brewing "innovation" that involves this or that exotic, local, shocking, whatever ingredients. It is refreshing how they openly embrace the extremes in all of it, because it seems like sometimes people fail to acknowledge it for what it is.

Best Bars - In some respects I liked the previous season(s) when they posted the drink tallies and such. It felt like an authentic show by drinkers, for drinkers. Serious drinkers. I don't mean connoisseurs and such. I mean drinkers. The current season seems like they're trying hard to fit some boring format. It just doesn't seem all that good, as many times the "best" places are just ones that they worked at, or know someone famous who goes there, or were their old neighborhood bars, etc. The earlier portrayal of Dave Wonderich was more likeable with his mentioned status of being an expert with his picture being shown (in previous season), but now that he's in the episodes I feel like the mystique is gone.

 

"Brewdogs" is unwatchable and the guys from "Best Bars" seem to try way to hard...

 

I like Brewdogs for the small window it provides into the brewing culture of other cities. I don't get to travel nearly as much as I would like

 

I really enjoy both of the shows. Shows about beer, drinking, and cool places are alright with me. I really like the quality of production as well.

 

Anyone ever watch Three Sheets or any of Zane Lamprey's other shows? It's like that; guy gets drunk at some cool looking places, drinks signature house drink, etc. Except Zane is the man!

 

Best Bars is painful. I think both guys are mediocre comedians outside of the TV show, and that comes through pretty clear on the show. It seems like every episode has them drinking at bar owned by a friend as well. Love the concept, hate the execution. The Boston episode is particularly awful. The bartenders at the bars are pretentious and the hosts are douchey.

But I will say, I have no idea where you're going with the gender angle.

 

I've seen Best Bars and Brew Dogs and I can take thrm or leave them. Another take it or leave it show on another channel was Drinking made Easy - basically a chug fest. But I wholeheartedly agree with the OP and her opinion on whether females could "get away" with the same schtick the guys do on these shows. There is a definite double standard between men and women when it comes to drinking.

My idea for a show is a hidden camera and microphone in a bar where nobody, not even the bartender, knows they're there. Of course, there would be legal issues and editing but at least you'd get the real deal or close to it.

 

I agree with the earliest iterations of Best Bars being the uh, best. The Milwaukee episode was the first one I saw, and still the best I've seen.

On the subject, what about Dark Horse Nation? Anyone watching and enjoying that? I've tried, but am not a fan. Too much reality show, too little about brewery operations for my taste.

 

I'd rather them bring back a show like Three Sheets or Drinking Made Easy.