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NARRATOR: On this episode of Brew Dogs...
JAMES: Just outside Mesa Verde.
I think we should make an ancient-inspired beer.
Oh!
JAMES: My heart is absolutely pounding.
(SCREAMS)
Cheers.
NARRATOR: Scottish brewers James Watt and Martin Dickie love beer.
They've brewed the strongest beer in the world,
staged beer-inspired protests,
and even brewed a beer at the bottom of the North Atlantic.
Now they're coming to America
to brew outrageous beers with the country's best craft brewers...
Cheers.
Risk life and limb to find the most bizarre ingredients.
MAN: There we go.
And spread their passion for everything craft beer.
(MAN CHUCKLES)
This is Brew Dogs.
In Southern Colorado, at the edge of the San Juan National Forest,
where the Rockies meet the desert,
an old mining town lies like a postcard from the Wild West.
Durango.
MARTIN: Giddy up, giddy up. (CLICKS TONGUE)
This week, we're in Durango,
a town with about 20,000 people.
JAMES: It's such a small town.
It's got two hotels, it's got one main street.
Yet, there's seven phenomenal craft breweries in Durango.
MARTIN: It just goes to show how far the craft beer movement is progressing.
Durango's also just outside Mesa Verde,
ancient Native American cliff dwellings.
And we're going to find out exactly what type of beers
they might have made there a thousand years ago,
and to find inspiration for the beer that we're going to make this week.
I've got no idea why I've stopped.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
Look, we're doing a piece to camera just now... You can't...
I need to face that way to do my job.
Let's just go.
What? "Let's just go"?
The horse has spoken. Not literally.
NARRATOR: Mesa Verde. Cliff dwellings that were once home
to a large population of Puebloan people from 600 to 1300 AD,
until they were abandoned as the inhabitants migrated south
to New Mexico and Arizona.
James and Martin are here to meet
University of Pennsylvania archeologist
and expert on ancient alcoholic beverages, Dr. Pat McGovern,
whose renowned collaborations with Dogfish Head,
have resulted in award-winning, historically meticulous beers
like Theobroma, Sah'tea, and Midas Touch.
Today, the guys are here to talk with him about
what kind of alcoholic beverages the people of Mesa Verde used to drink.
We have no evidence that they ever made beer here.
Oh, that's kinda why we came.
(EAGLE SCREECHES)
Did any Native American people brew beer?
Well, they brewed all kinds of beers, actually.
And one of the most important ones is corn beer.
NARRATOR: The Apache tribes that lived in the area, for example,
brewed and drank a fermented corn beverage.
In the center of their tipis,
they would dig a hole, fill it with dried corn,
cover it with grass, and sleep on top.
NARRATOR: Two weeks later, the corn would have sprouted,
giving them the fermentable sugars they needed to make beer.
So, here you go.
It looks a little bit like giant ***.
(LAUGHS)
Tastes sweet, nutty,
just those kind of vegetable,
kind of cucumber notes in there, too.
Would you like to try a taste of, uh,
I'd love to.
NARRATOR: Lucky for the guys, Doctor Pat
just so happens to have some in his charred ceramic vessel.
It's got some delicious beverage inside.
There's not much taste there.
No carbonation in it at all.
It's quite flat in taste.
Yeah, and of course, the alcohol content is pretty low, too.
So, you're not gonna get any mind-altering effects.
NARRATOR: Between its lack of flavor and lack of fun,
the guys realize they're gonna have to put their own spin on this ancient style.
What I think we should do
is make an ancient-inspired beer,
but try and give it a bit of a modern twist.
I think we can use this as an inspiration.
Use the techniques, the tools, the methods, the sprouted corn,
then take this into the 21st century.
Thank you so much for helping us understand
about how beers were made a thousand years ago.
You really are like a Indiana Jones of ancient elixirs.
NARRATOR: With Doctor Pat's sprouted corn in hand,
the guys head into town to plan their ancient modern bipolar brew
with the equally unstable team
at the biggest and best known brewery in town,
Ska Brewing,
a local institution whose famed stable of hoppy beers
put Durango on the craft beer map.
Ready to riff with Ska's always well-behaved president, Dave Thibodeau,
James and Martin find him hard at work at his favorite hobby,
making up beer names.
"Dystopian Puppet, One Legged ***, *** Goblin."
I'm happy to hear.
When did the brewery start?
It started in 1995.
And inspired by ska music?
We figured out how to home brew in high school
and ska music was kinda part of the ritual.
Otherwise, the beer wouldn't turn out.
Actually, a lot of times it didn't turn out anyways,
even when we did listen to ska. (LAUGHS)
Have you ever been to Mesa Verde?
We went there this morning.
We were completely blown away by the way the Native Americans
used to live in the cliffs there.
And we'd like to make a beer that kind of pays tribute to that.
I like that.
But we also tasted some ancient ales,
and to be honest, they tasted like they were
800 years past their sell-by date.
So we want to take inspiration
from these ancient traditions,
but give it a modern twist.
I figure we might as well chuck a (BLEEP) of hops at it.
I like chucking a (BLEEP) of hops at everything.
NARRATOR: And he certainly chucked a ton of hops into his flagship beer,
Modus Hoperandi.
All right, guys, I got something a little different.
This is our Modus recipe, but we tried a hop we hadn't tried before,
as the dry hop in this, Mandarina Bavaria.
I love this beer, we just did one batch of it.
I want to work with it in the future a little more.
Cheers.
For me, this is just Jekyll and Hyde in a glass.
Initially, you get sweetness and then the bitterness
just hits you like a sledgehammer.
Massive in sweetness, massive in bitterness, perfect.
MARTIN: A modern hop in an ancient beer.
NARRATOR: To get a little more inspiration,
Dave offers the guys a taste
of another one of Ska's most popular offerings,
Buster Nut Brown Ale.
What nuts did you use in here?
We don't actually put nuts in it.
That's nuts.
I just thought maybe it would help us think about, I don't know...
James' nuts?
Leave my nuts out of this.
(LAUGHS)
Maybe pine nuts?
Pine nuts?
Where do you get pine nuts in Colorado?
Shops.
Yeah, I get 'em at the store.
But do they actually grow in what? Bushes? Trees?
(CHUCKLES) I've never harvested a pine nut.
Hopefully, Martin and I could find some pine nuts
somewhere in Durango to throw in there, too.
MARTIN: I think I'll go on to Google tonight
and just work out what a pine nut actually is.
I would be careful googling anything to do with nuts.
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: While Dave takes them on a tour of Ska's brewing facility
and sophisticated interior design,
the guys mention the corn Doctor Pat gave them for their beer.
So Dave takes them upstairs for a taste of Ska's own corn based brew.
I found an old recipe to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition.
It's the only beer that we've ever used corn in.
Clean, crisp.
It's got a lovely caramel note flowing right through it.
By using corn in the beer,
we can tie it to these ancient Native American drinks,
but also infuse it with the essence of Durango beer culture.
I love when it comes together like that.
But what I think would be really cool
is if we kind of forget all the modern brewing equipment
and try to brew the beer as if we were in 1200 AD.
So that means no stainless steel,
no electricity.
I can't picture making a brew system out of feathers and sticks.
I know someone that could help us.
Not you.
Like, another David.
And also, I think he might have actually been around in the 1200 AD era.
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: Before gathering the materials for their brew,
the guys grab the opportunity to continue their eternal quest
to find and convert the world's craft beer virgins
at the zip-line park.
Because it's important to know the effects of beer
and adrenaline on the craft beer palate.
Zip-lining and beer. On the face of it, an unlikely combination.
We're gonna add fear, speed and pure adrenaline into craft beer tasting.
Easy, sailor.
NARRATOR: James will send each unsuspecting stranger down the line
with a beer to taste while they zip.
And Martin will be there at the other end
to comfort them and get their tasting notes.
Where's the most terrifying place you've had a beer so far?
The Bering Sea.
The most terrifying place I've ever had a beer was a strip club in Tampa.
That sounds actually scarier. (CHUCKLES)
So, this is the beer,
this is a double IPA made by Ska.
So, this is a leap of faith into the unknown.
I can see where we're going, though.
It's kinda unknown in the sense that this cable could snap
and you could fall to your death.
Party.
Definitely tastes really good when you're going that fast.
What flavors were you picking out there?
There's a lot of dry malty bitterness, but, um,
it's very refreshing on a hot day still, you know?
Would you say it's the best way to drink a double IPA?
Slamming a beer, doing that at the same time,
was the best thing I've done all week, for sure.
Cheers, bruv.
Aggressive women.
(LAUGHING)
What we're going to do is an experiment.
We're going to try and heighten your senses,
we're going to try and get the blood flowing
and see how that impacts the taste of the beer.
This is beer and zip-lining.
Sweet.
(GRUNTS) 'Murrica!
And how did you think the experience has been
down the zip-line while you were drinking the beer?
I had a little bit of adrenaline going,
so I couldn't really focus on the flavors.
But it's a good IPA, I recommend it.
You look like the most excited person I've ever met.
(LAUGHS)
Hailey, you look quite scared.
I'm terrified.
So, we're gonna play a game just to make this a bit more extreme.
Whoever loses the coin toss has got to go down in their underpants.
I'm not wearing any underpants.
(CHUCKLES) You better not lose this coin toss then.
Okay. I'm going for heads.
You've won.
I'm quite happy that I've got underpants on, to be honest.
(LAUGHS) Okay, I was a little nervous.
Oh, Jesus Christ. Ready?
(SCREAMS)
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
You look very scared.
I didn't spill my beer or pee myself.
Anytime I finish one of these beer tastings
and say that, I know it's been a good day.
Okay, good.
NARRATOR: Never one to back out of a bet,
now it's James' turn to put his money where his pants were.
This is gonna be a delight for my mouth and Hailey's eyes.
He was not joking.
He's really coming down in his underwear.
(WHISTLES LOUDLY)
Wow, that is something special.
Oh!
How did you enjoy the zip-lining?
Judging by this, James enjoyed it more.
I'm actually quite happy it's not cold here.
(LAUGHS)
(SIGHS) Eyes up. I just...
NARRATOR: Since James and Martin are brewing
an ale inspired by ancient libations,
they head back to Mesa Verde,
where they hope David will be able to devise a brew system
using technology as old as the hills.
So, David, we want to make an ancient-inspired ale.
But the challenge is, we want to only use tools, materials,
and techniques that they would have had at their disposal
a thousand years ago.
Okay. Using their materials, rocks, stone...
We have no electricity to use.
We've got no stainless steel, we'll have no pumps.
Clay pots.
Pots. That might be the toughest part,
what were they, what they make 'em out of.
Clay.
Well, how about you take care of everything else
and we'll take care of the clay pots?
DAVID: Sounds good.
Oh, David. One more thing, as well. We want to make it
in the clothes they would have worn a thousand years ago.
So, if you can let us borrow that shirt, that would be awesome.
That's a deal.
NARRATOR: Leaving David behind to figure out
the details of their ancient brewery,
the guys head to Red Cliffs Pottery
to fashion some authentically old-fashioned brew vessels.
You can't make an ancient ale in modern stainless steel vessels.
We don't have a time machine,
but we've got the next best thing.
We're at Red Cliffs Pottery to make a modern ancient brew house.
I think I might have oversold that.
Pretty sure this is not the next best thing to a time machine.
NARRATOR: Heavily influenced by the traditional ceramics of the Native Americans,
Sean Stewart knows pottery better than anyone in Durango,
which makes him a pot expert.
The kind that's legal in all 50 states.
Sean. How's it going?
James. Good to meet ya.
It's just clay.
That's good to know.
How can I help you guys?
We're making an ancient-inspired ale,
and we want to make it in clay pots
like they would have used here a thousand years ago.
Their clay that they used,
they had to take smashed pottery,
and then they add it to the clay that they just went and gathered,
and it actually helps with the structure of the clay.
The clay I use is a little stronger,
so it can withstand thermal shock
that you're gonna be giving to the clay.
Well, we're not gonna brew anything unless we've got a pot to cook it in.
So, Sean, show us how it's done.
NARRATOR: Not only are the guys using a modern clay composite,
but they're also going to use an electric potter's wheel.
Once again, putting a modern spin on ancient techniques.
The key to making pots this way
is making sure that the pottery is centered well at the beginning.
When it's taller, it will still be the same thickness and uniform.
So, now right here, I'm kinda pushing the outside of my hand
towards the inside of my fingers.
And this is gonna help raise the clay.
And after you finish this part, you then bake it in an oven?
I bake it for 12 hours,
and then it needs to cool for about 20 hours after that.
We're getting right about to the height that we want to get.
Okay.
I'm pretty sure I've got this.
Be my guest.
Oh, you're doing well. Look it, that's beautiful.
SEAN: You're good at this.
It's very easy.
I didn't know you were a good potter.
I've read all the books.
Oh, Martin, that one is good to go.
(CHUCKLES) I've got it. This is fine.
Oh! (LAUGHS)
SEAN: It's a shorter pot.
There we go. Oh, yep.
I think you should have a go, James.
Why are you only using one hand?
(LAUGHS) I don't trust my left hand in high pressure situations.
I had to learn that the hard way.
MARTIN: And then, just bring the lip up, and then...
Am I doing this okay?
MARTIN: Oh, no.
(LAUGHS)
SEAN: It's... This might be more like a plate.
I would say even a plate is a stretch.
I don't think we can use this to make our ancient ale.
NARRATOR: Having proven their total incompetence,
the guys aren't too proud to ask for a little help.
And Sean is only too willing to oblige.
SEAN: See? Look at it. Team work don't seem work, huh, guys?
MARTIN: Wonderful.
We can start making the pocket taller and taller.
The pot's not the only thing that's enlarging at this stage.
Well, let's just keep that where it is.
Would you be able to take over and rescue us?
You know what, I'll go ahead and make
the other pots that you're looking for.
And I'll have these ready for you here in a couple of days.
Oh!
MARTIN: Bye.
NARRATOR: While the pots harden over the next few days,
the guys are off in search of one of the most dangerous ingredients
they've ever had to harvest.
Nuts. Pine nuts.
And to help them on this perilous quest,
they've enlisted Tom Eskew,
who's been climbing and trimming trees for over 30 years,
earning him the nickname "The Tree Ninja."
We need your help to harvest some pine nuts.
Okay. This is a Ponderosa Pine.
And pine nuts come from the Ponderosa Pines.
I'm scared of heights. Is that gonna be an issue today?
(CHUCKLES)
TOM: This is one of the tallest trees in the county.
You look a little nervous.
I just can't wait to get my hands on the nuts.
That's what she said.
So, what are we looking for when we get up there?
Well, the cones typically are out near the ends of the limbs.
So, what we'll have to do is kind of scramble around out there.
But we're actually after nuts, not cones. The little pine nuts.
Those are actually inside of the cones.
So we need to get the big cones.
TOM: Let's get up in the bucket and climb that tree.
MARTIN: Great.
Never felt safer.
(SPUTTERING CHUCKLE)
So, just to make this even more terrifying,
we're not starting at the bottom
to give ourselves a chance to ease into this.
We're starting about 50 feet up.
James, you're gonna love it up here. This is kind of terrifying.
NARRATOR: Despite his cool demeanor,
James' nerves are shredding by the second
as the pine cones sit even higher up than the bucket can go.
Looks like they'll have to do some climbing.
I can't feel my legs anymore. Oh! (BLEEP)
Oh! Oh! Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no, no.
(BLEEP) It's high. (BLEEP) Oh!
Wait until you're tied onto the tree.
We've done a lot of stupid things to get ingredients for beer.
This is the stupidest thing we've ever done by a long, long way.
MARTIN: (CHUCKLES) This is crazy.
Put that in that central one there.
Yep, yep.
Is that thing gonna hold?
I'm not sure, Tom,
why you're asking me if it's gonna hold.
It's fine. I do it right most of the time.
What do you mean "most of the time"?
We can ascend a little.
Oh, my God. The bucket's leaving.
(GRUNTS)
Climbed about six feet. I'm now exhausted.
Why is that slipping? Why is that slipping?
It shouldn't be slipping.
Oh, no! You were saying you could tie it.
It's actually slipping.
TOM: Put your hand on the knot.
Put your weight on it.
It's weight dependent.
A faulty knot?
Oh, don't take the... Don't take the knot off.
He's gonna fix the knot by taking the knot off.
Which means I'm holding onto basically nothing.
Okay. I think you're good.
Oh, my goodness.
Tom! We're pretty high up here.
Whereabouts should we be looking for the pine cones?
Well, I think there's some out on the, uh, end of this limb.
And how... How the hell do we get out there?
JAMES: How do you get out there?
TOM: Well, if one of you guys could just, sort of, scooch out there and...
JAMES: Scooch?
Hey, guys, there's, there's a couple out here.
JAMES: Martin, have you found some?
TOM: Oh, careful.
There's some out here. (BLEEP)
MARTIN: Sorry!
That just about took Tom's eye out.
(GRUNTS) Some of these big branches have got some pine cones.
Okay.
TOM: Chuck 'em down here. I got a backpack. We'll put 'em in there.
TOM: Here's some others.
(GRUNTS) I've got one.
Oh, there's one out here.
You can actually see the nuts
if you look really tight into the cone. There's loads of them.
I don't know about pine nuts,
but I can certainly see nuts.
I'll just put this down.
Oh! Aah! Aah!
(CHUCKLES) I'm glad I've got a helmet on.
Hold on. Don't throw them at my (BLEEP) head!
TOM: There's another one.
Yeah, James, I've got loads now!
TOM: (CHUCKLES) Sorry.
JAMES: I think we've got enough.
NARRATOR: Since the guys clearly have a surplus of pine cones,
it's time to come down from the tree tops.
JAMES: I'm going to be very happy to get to the bottom.
Oh. (GRUNTS)
Wow, that was really easy.
You did it.
My heart is absolutely pounding.
NARRATOR: The guys have got their pine cones,
but to get their hands on those tiny nuts,
they'll have to roast them on an open fire,
under the watchful eye of the Durango Fire Department.
We're gonna take our pine cones and dump 'em on here then,
just to, uh, get rid of some of the sap on 'em
and open 'em up a little bit, so we can get at the nuts.
JAMES: The great thing about this is we're actually
toasting the pine nuts at the same time,
so bringing out a toasty character to the beer, too.
MARTIN: Smells like Christmas.
So is this what the ancient civilizations would've done
to render the pine nuts out of the pine cones?
Yeah, with the exception of the metal fire pan.
Tom, are you sure you know what you're doing?
This looks like it's getting out of control.
MARTIN: Whoa, oh, oh!
Have you done this before?
No, I read about it once.
Fireman actually looks a little bit nervous. Watch your face.
Oh, I think it looks like they're starting to kinda open up.
We kinda need to put this fire out now.
Shove 'em in this bag and smack 'em on the rocks a few times
and release some delicious pine nuts.
Smells fantastic!
Can, like, smell this toastiness that's comin' off the nuts.
So what do we do now, just scoop 'em up?
Oh, yeah, now let's bag 'em up.
So, Tom, all I do is take this bag with the red hot pine cones
and smash it on this stone?
This'll help us get the pine nuts out?
You need to be vigorous.
Swing it. Swing harder.
You need to smash them. You can actually hear them, though.
JAMES: We good?
You should be able to reach down in there
and find some of the shells on 'em.
So, are these what we're looking for?
TOM: Yes, that's precisely it.
MARTIN: So this is a pine nut.
Yeah. It's a lot of work for a little nut.
Oh, it tastes incredible.
It's a little bit creamy with the fat.
But then, it's got a really nice sharpness, a little bitterness.
It's gonna be perfect for our beer.
TOM: Oh, good.
So, what better way than to end a perfect day harvesting pine nuts
than to have a beer with friends?
To pine nuts and to not dying.
I still can't feel my legs.
Durango, a town with one main street, two hotels...
And five great craft beer bars.
God bless the Wild West.
NARRATOR: Coming in at number five
is Lady Falconburgh's Barley Exchange,
known to the locals as Falc's.
With more than 100 beers, including 38 on tap,
this is the pub of your dreams,
especially if your dreams involve a pile of nachos in a brick basement.
***.
We don't often pick bars located in haunted hotels,
but when we do, we pick The Office Spiritorium
in downtown Durango at number four.
With its upscale old-time vibe,
plenty of local beers and six types of absinthe to try,
it's a classy way to liven up a night of drinking.
If you see Homer S. Michaels,
tell him it's no big deal, we just wanna talk.
Our number three pick is Derailed Pour House,
located in one of Durango's historic buildings
dating back to 1898.
There's also killer food, live local music,
and a real wood-burning fireplace,
where you can cozy up with your favorite craft beer.
Number two on our list is Durango's best dive,
El Rancho bar.
A favorite amongst locals, roller derby girls,
and canine craft beer connoisseurs.
With plenty of brews on tap,
it's a low-key spot where you can get in a game of pool,
play foosball, and throw peanut shells all over the floor.
Our pick for the number one craft beer bar in Durango
is El Moro Spirits and Tavern.
Built on the site that hosted the original El Moro Saloon
and occasional shootout,
it's now bullet-free, with the best beer selection in town.
Throw in a modern take on rustic cuisine
and you have a bar that tips its cowboy hat
to the past and the future.
James and Martin are in Durango,
brewing ancient ale with a modern craft beer twist.
They've worked up quite an appetite throwing pots,
and have narrowly escaped death.
(CHUCKLES) Sorry!
NARRATOR: What better way to satisfy that appetite
than with the mother of all southwestern cuisine, green chili?
And as locals young and old know,
there's no place better for green chili than the Durango Diner.
Where owner Gary Broad and his family
use a green chili recipe so delicious,
they send jars of it to fans all over the world.
We hear that you make some of the best
green chili in the city of Durango.
Not only in the city, in the universe.
So do you eat this famous green chili on its own,
or do you put it in stuff?
You can do whatever you want with it.
Some guys put it on their wives.
Just to spice them up a bit?
Oh, there you go.
If your wife's not into that,
you can join the rest of the regulars
by putting green chili on the Cure,
Gary's breakfast concoction that's guaranteed to cure a hangover.
This is a man-sized plate of food.
Well, in America, this is for kids.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Looks fantastic. (SNIFFS)
Obviously, it's got green chili on top.
What else have you got in here?
Potatoes, cheese, vegetables, bacon, eggs.
This is worth coming all the way to Durango for.
(GARY CHUCKLES)
I love that pop. That pop... Oh!
You're a good man. (CHUCKLES)
You did a good job!
I love this.
This is beautiful and invigorating.
It's rich, it's buttery,
got a nice, even, deep spiciness
with those bell pepper notes coming shining through.
It's delicious. And I feel instantly more awake.
Oh, and the heat just hits you in the back.
(LAUGHS)
There's one thing I think can make this better,
and that's adding beer to the green chili.
That would be a good idea.
Normally, we'd look to pair the beer with the chili,
but today, we want to put a beer into the chili.
I love the way you guys think.
I'm gonna choose a beer, Martin's gonna choose a beer,
and maybe your customers can tell us which beer works best in the chili.
NARRATOR: After James and Martin choose their beers,
the cooks infuse each into its own batch of green chili.
And now it's up to the esteemed patrons of the Durango Diner
to decide which is better.
So you guys are going to be our judging panel for today.
Great.
MARTIN: I've picked Diablo ***,
and that's a beer from Steamworks Brewing.
It's a Belgian beer that's then aged
with black currants and black cherries.
So what I want to do is try and balance out
some of the heat of the green chili with the sweetness of the beer.
Taste it. Drink it.
Whatever you would like to do.
Yeah. (CHUCKLES)
Wow.
Yeah.
Full of flavor. There's definitely a little bit more
of a sweet texture to it.
I imagine that might have been from some of those black cherries.
Yeah!
Good.
What we're gonna do now is taste my combination,
and you're gonna decide which one is best.
All right, James. Let's see what you got.
I've got this beer from Pagosa Brewing Company.
It's called Chili Verde Cerveza.
And this beer is actually made with chili.
All right.
I'm looking to take those amazing chili flavors,
find harmony between those in the beer,
and just amplify everything that's in there.
WOMAN: Yep.
It's gonna smash you in the face and make you super happy.
The perfect marriage. You got the green chili beer, the green chili,
it just makes perfect harmony.
Kind of like me and you.
I like the flavor in that one.
It's a little more about, like, bam, it got to you.
Wasn't totally sure
I could distinguish between the two.
A lot of it just tasted, um, more like green chili.
This is the big moment.
And you guys have got to make this decision.
What I want you to do on the count of three
is touch the bottle that you thought made the best green chili.
Martin's choice or my choice.
One, two, three.
MARTIN: I'll take that.
JAMES: You can't... You can't vote.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Good one.
To celebrate my success,
I'm now, using this ladle,
going to eat this entire bowl of green chili.
(LAUGHING)
Enjoy.
Thanks very much.
You may need, like, adult diapers.
Good!
Mmm.
NARRATOR: Having sufficiently depleted
the Durango Diner's stash of green chili,
the guys pick up their brew vessel pottery,
and meet up with David to give it a trial by fire.
So the key thing to find out today
is can this pot withstand the heat?
If we get a pot malfunction mid-boil, that'll be a disaster.
Yes. We don't want that.
It's gonna be quite interesting as well,
making beer in a porous vessel,
just to see what that does to the flavor of the beer.
How long should it take to boil the water that's in it, David?
I've never actually cooked in the... In a clay pot.
(CRACKING)
Ooh! That doesn't sound good.
Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
(LOUD CRACKING)
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh.
(LOUD CRACK)
(MARTIN CHUCKLES)
JAMES: The pot's hissing and cracking.
You can see these kind of fault lines.
David, if this happens when we're making the beer,
we're gonna have boiling wort going everywhere,
then we're not gonna have any beer at the end of it.
DAVID: Well, let me look. Let me look.
Whoa!
Oh... Yeah.
David, look what you've done.
Well, this is clearly not going to be our brew kettle.
Back to the drawing board.
You need to build a brew system with a heat source that actually works.
See you, David.
NARRATOR: While David figures out the fire,
James and Martin walk off into the sunset
to have Sean make them some more pots.
NARRATOR: It's brew day, and there's no one around for miles.
Except for that house over there.
They're brewing an ancient inspired ale,
except for the barley, hops, and yeast they're putting in.
The setting is straight out of a John Ford Western.
Except, instead of John Wayne, we've got these guys.
Three clay pots, none of which were made by Martin and myself,
the help of one expert archeologist,
a handful of pine nuts we put our necks on the line to harvest,
malted maize, a (BLEEP) of hops,
and a mission to make the newest oldest ale ever.
NARRATOR: While it may look like a work of art, the question still remains,
will David's brew system actually work?
Fellas.
Aw, man.
This system is dazzling. I feel like it should be in a museum.
So, look. I took the pots off of the coals.
So you've solved the problem of the pots burning up.
Yeah.
I got the hot water already steaming.
We use our funnel, tip, pour right in.
Then, when we go to sparge, we have our strainer.
Catch all the mash and go into there.
Then you can dump right into the boil pot.
So it's a perfect system for brewing beer.
Start at the top and work our way down the hill.
During all of this, we've gotta be stoking the fire,
putting some new coals in there.
Well, I'm getting tired of holding this (BLEEP) corn.
We can get brewing this beer.
Think we need to start by grounding up some of this maize.
NARRATOR: In order for the guys to be able to extract
the beer-making sugars from the sprouted corn,
they'll have to grind it up first.
And of course, they'll have to do it using only the ancient tools
available to the Native Americans.
Well, how much of this do you need?
(LAUGHS)
Dave, you were the one who paid the most attention.
How about you have a shot?
It looks quite easy.
So we just need to crush it up,
and we can use it straight into the mash.
Yeah, this is some work.
This better be tasty beer.
If you look at the tools that we've got here,
the system we're using,
almost takes you back to 800 years ago,
when these type of beers would have been made in this type of system.
We're not making much progress here. (LAUGHING)
I think we're gonna be here for the next 800 years just milling this maize.
I'll have a go.
Kinda hard.
It's difficult, huh?
I think we should just use the magic of television,
to get from here, to the finished article.
Nice work.
That is exhausting.
So the great thing about this corn is,
because it's been malted already,
the sweetness is already there.
Little nutty.
'Cause we've been grinding it by the fire,
there's a little touch of smoke in there, as well.
Let's get it in this mash tub, before we eat it all.
NARRATOR: In order for the guys to mash in,
they'll need to transfer heated water
down from the hot water pot, into the mash tub,
the first real test of David's brew system.
If you're gonna do that, you should use some gloves.
David, they didn't have gloves back in ancient times.
Yeah, uh, they had leather.
David, we don't need gloves.
JAMES: Here we go.
DAVID: Easy, there you go.
There you go.
It's getting hotter and hotter. Has no one got gloves?
Yeah.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Since the guys don't want the beer to taste
like a bland, ancient, fermented corn beverage,
they depart from a strictly ancient style of ale-making
by busting out some fermentable backup.
So, we've got some pale malt going in here,
James is adding in the crushed maize.
JAMES: Have you ever mashed in like this before?
(LAUGHS)
If you break it, we're (BLEEP). There's not a replacement,
it's the only mash tub we have.
Smells fantastic.
You get that kinda sweet nuttiness from the maize,
that kind of caramel biscuit flavor
is coming from the malts in there,
and some deep, charred smokiness from the stoked fires.
It's quite an intoxicating combination.
DAVE: A good-looking mash.
Temperature feels good, nicely mashed in.
Let's put the lid on, and leave it for the mash rest.
Now, we've just got to wait for 60 minutes.
I could really go a coffee just now.
What's that even... You can't "go a coffee." It's not a bike.
I could go a coffee.
Say it properly, or you won't get one.
I would really love to have a cup of coffee.
Let's go.
NARRATOR: James and Martin leave Dave behind
to prep more coals for the boil,
and head off in search of a local cup of Joe,
when they find themselves on the wrong side of the tracks.
Looks like we got company.
Oh! Son of a (BLEEP).
I don't know.
Morning, hi. Martin.
Not from around here, are you?
No.
Well, we heard a lot about the coffee that cowboys make,
so we'd love to try it.
In return, we'll let you taste how we like to have coffee.
Give him some coffee.
(SPITS)
It's like drinking tar.
NARRATOR: So this isn't going as well as James and Martin had probably hoped.
Um, what we'd love to do now
is let you guys taste how we like to have our coffee.
In a can?
There's coffee in it, but it's not coffee.
You're about to taste a coffee-infused Imperial Stout.
MARTIN: The beer is Java Stout from Santa Fe Brewing.
Yeah, this is, this is good. There's a little chocolate.
This would be good for a chili recipe, too.
I think chili cook-off time, I know where I'm getting my spices.
You should also start to taste maybe hints of toffee,
or burnt sugar, as well.
The burnt sugar, 'cause...
Yeah.
The best thing about some Imperial Stouts are,
they're really quite smooth and rich in your mouth, quite silky, and thick.
Like having your tongue massaged by a velvet glove.
Do you think you could see yourself drinking this,
out in the open plain with your horse?
I don't think I'd share it with my horse.
Apparently, there's a Durango in Spain and Mexico.
Luckily, we came to the one with awesome beer.
In addition to Ska, these are our top five craft breweries in Durango.
NARRATOR: For almost 25 years, number five on our list,
Durango Brewing Company, has been a favorite amongst Durango locals
for award-winning beers, like Hop Hugger IPA, and Durango Derail Ale,
which you can take home in one of their nifty, flip-top growlers.
Built into an old, downtown car dealership,
our number four, Steamworks Brewing Company,
has stand-outs like Colorado Kolsch, and Spruce Goose,
an ale made with spruce tips.
And on Firkin Fridays, they tap new craft creations,
like a three IPA blend, they call the Day Wrecker,
and that you'll call amaz...
Well, you'll probably call it the Day Wrecker, too.
Our number three spot, is downtown's newcomer, Brew Pub and Kitchen.
In addition to their truly outstanding menu,
each of founder Erik Maxson's freshly focused brews
is named after someone close to him.
Hang out long enough, and you could be on the same wall as
Gwen, Imogene, Gus, and Jesus.
Tony Simmons, founder of our number two spot, Pagosa Brewing,
left the corporate world to open a mountain-top, craft beer oasis.
Whether it's summer or winter, there's no better place to grab a brew
after a day on the mountain than Pagosa Brewing Company.
Located in the heart of downtown Durango,
is our number one spot, Carver Brewing Company.
Carver's year-round selection, like Old Oak Amber and Iron Horse Stout,
are so good, it'll give you the fortitude to try their famous Razzmosa,
a blend of orange and lime juice, Chambord,
and their raspberry wheat ale.
It's that pioneering spirit that makes them our top choice.
Brewing in an ancient inspired style,
the guys think the mash-rest for their old-meets-new beer is just about over.
But without a clock or a thermometer on hand,
they'll just have to taste it to be sure.
MARTIN: To the oldest, newest wort ever made.
It's got a nice, smoky character, bit of sweetness in there.
So, we know we're extracting sugar.
You're also getting some minerality,
which I think is coming from the actual pot itself.
NARRATOR: With the flavor of the wort confirming the guys are on the right track,
it's now time to transfer down to the boil kettle.
This is kinda complicated. David gave us his lacrosse bat,
and he said we need to hold it roughly here
while we transfer the wort from the mash across.
(CHUCKLES)
Probably that one. Can you manage to pour it in there, James?
Ah, it's working okay.
We're holding back the maize, and the barley perfectly,
so we're getting some nice wort coming into our kettle.
It is quite hot.
How's your hand doing?
Taking one for the team. The ancestral...
(BLEEP) It's too hot.
(ALL LAUGHING)
It is literally burning.
MARTIN: Okay, that's pretty good, I say we put all this back in,
fill it up with water again, give it a mix, let it sit for another 10 minutes,
transfer it out again.
NARRATOR: Without a pump to help them recirculate the water,
this is the next best thing to sparging.
By adding more hot water to the mash,
the guys can rinse all the sugary wort off the grain
before beginning the boil.
It's a great system.
Whoa. Was almost a catastrophe.
DAVE: I think we nailed it with this second sparge,
'cause that's about full kettle.
JAMES: Now, for the most difficult part.
We've somehow got to generate enough heat
to get this wort to boil without damaging the pot.
What odds do you think we have of getting this to boil?
I'm gonna have to go with zero.
What if we take out some stones and get it closer to the coals?
Or lift it up higher and get more underneath.
There's a huge risk it's going to do what the last one did,
but we've got to get it to boil somehow.
DAVE: What are we gonna do if the pot breaks?
I think they would cancel the TV show.
No pressure.
MARTIN: We're gonna need coals galore.
DAVE: Don't start dumping 'em right through the top.
JAMES: Let's just get as much as we can in.
Well, there's plenty of heat coming off that now.
JAMES: Okay, I think I've got it.
That's great. That stick will just stop it.
I guess the one thing this pot has is some heat on it,
so it's not as if we've just, all of a sudden, put a lot of heat on it.
So maybe just slowly building the heat through it
is maybe going to let it work.
James, I would say this is a good time to pray to the pot gods.
Who are the pot gods?
You are in Colorado.
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: Their fate now in the hands of the gods,
the guys can only wait and see if their pot
survives bringing the wort to a boil.
No way.
JAMES: It actually worked and it's boiling.
The pot still seems to be in one piece.
The show, the show airs.
Oh, yeah.
Time for hops and time for pine nuts.
NARRATOR: Along with pine nuts for flavor,
the guys add the hops that will bring the brew into the 21st century.
We've got Columbus hops, and Mandarina Bavaria hops,
so maybe a little orange, tangerine citrus, from the Mandarina Bavaria.
Some big American hops
DAVE: Yes.
And we've got the pine nuts going in there, as well,
and I think they're gonna impart some bitterness, too.
MARTIN: They're really quite a fantastic ingredient.
Little tip, if you think this is amazing,
and you want to use some pine nuts in some of the Ska beers,
um, buy them in a shop, don't do what we did.
(LAUGHS)
JAMES: We're coming to the end of the boil.
Conveniently, we're losing some heat.
We've got hops, we've got pine nuts, we've got some malt,
we've got some maize still in there.
Perhaps we could use this bag as a strainer.
DAVE: Good plan.
Otherwise, there's gonna be so much junk in there.
Look at all the pine nuts and hops.
Look how hot it still is.
See the steam rising up?
Now, maybe I can taste... (LAUGHS)
Nice, that's worked really well.
So we've got all the hops retained in here,
and the pine nuts, as well.
We've lost a little bit of heat by transferring it to this cold pot.
The next stage is to then transfer the pot into the cold water
to try and cool it down to a temperature we can pitch the yeast.
The one thing we need to be careful is that this pot is still hot,
and the one thing pots hate
is going from hot to cold, or cold to hot, very quickly.
So, we need to watch that it doesn't smash.
Oh, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot.
All right, just put it down really carefully.
Sorry about that. (LAUGHS)
(GRUNTS) It's hot!
Sorry. (CHUCKLES)
NARRATOR: One last time, the guys decide to use
a modern technique for their ancient ale.
So we'll just pitch a little bit in.
JAMES: So, this yeast is gonna turn this wort into the newest oldest beer ever.
I don't think anyone's made a beer like this,
and, after today, I can kinda see why.
Job well done.
We've taken the beverage we love,
the thing that we've dedicated our lives to,
and taken it right back to its very origins.
To the newest oldest ale ever.
ALL: Cheers.
NARRATOR: As the sun sets over the Rocky Mountains,
James and Martin are about to release
their ancient-inspired ale to the beer-loving citizens of Durango.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I got to hang out with James and Martin from Brew Dogs.
It's been pretty incredible. Their sense of humor,
and, I don't know, it's probably just a Scottish thing,
I didn't understand a (BLEEP) word of it.
(ALL LAUGHING)
So, without any further ado, from Brew Dogs,
Martin Dickie and James Watt.
Welcome, how you all doing?
(CROWD CHEERING)
Before we came out to Durango,
I actually bought some cowboy boots.
The problem was, I looked a lot more like
a Cuban drug lord than a cowboy.
(ALL LAUGHING)
So, anyway, James and myself came to Durango.
We thought we could brew the most ancient ale ever.
But we also wanted to give this beer a modern twist.
This is a beer that's as new as it is old.
It's a juxtaposition in your glass.
MARTIN: So we got the help from an ale archeologist.
He let us taste this beer made from sprouted corn,
and (BLEEP) it was awful.
(ALL LAUGHING)
So, we threw a (BLEEP) of hops in it.
(ALL CHEERING)
We also used pine nuts in the beer.
We actually harvested them ourselves,
100 feet up in a Ponderosa Pine.
I was absolutely terrified.
The system that we made this beer on
was made with materials that they would have had here a thousand years ago.
So, now it's time to taste the beer.
Let's get to know the aromas in this beer.
ALL: Hello.
How are you?
ALL: How are you?
Take a drink!
What'd you think of the taste?
I really love hops, so I really, actually,
honest to God, do love this beer.
I like it.
I think you're just lying for TV.
No, I like it.
I wasn't crazy about it. I wouldn't buy it,
I didn't hate it, but it just tastes flat to me.
I don't know if it's the corn that's in there or what,
but something in there is creamy.
Have you ever harvested pine nuts?
Yes, I have.
You are a (BLEEP) idiot.
(LAUGHS)
So, what was better, the beer,
or watching me zip-lining in my underpants?
Oh, you zip-lining in your underpants.
That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
And what do you think of the beer?
Could you say that in English?
What do you think we should call it?
(LAUGHS)
I'm allergic to nuts.
You didn't actually taste the most ancient beer ever?
I couldn't.
You just held on to that glass for, like, the last hour and a half?
Maybe we should get a different beer for me,
and then I can cheers something.
We'll just have a hug.
For us, it's been an absolute honor making beer with Dave.
It's been a blast hanging out at Ska. We've loved Durango.
(ALL CHEERING)
If you love it, stick your hand up, and shout, "Drink it!"
If you hate it, stick your hand up as well, but mumble, "Dump it."
(ALL LAUGHING)
On the count of three. One. Two. Three.
CROWD: Drink it!
(ALL CHEERING)
We've had an absolutely incredible time here in Durango.
Most importantly, thanks so much to the guys at Ska Brewing Company,
(ALL CHEERING)
Cheers!
Stand up, here. Get kind of a fighting stance.
Atta boy.
Boy!
The sights are a bit off in your gun, I think.
Good!
I don't know, guys!
Yeah!
Who needs guns?