Netflix recently released the show Brews Brothers and I was able to check out the full season. Here are 10 thoughts on the show.
It really wasn’t a great first season. The characters were bland, the acting needed work, and the story was nothing special.
One of the reasons I watched it was it was created by someone tied to the League. Unfortunately, they took the worst part of the League and made a show out of it.
The brothers were probably the worst part of the show. Both were polar opposites and were the worst stereotypes of beer people: the messy guy that likes to get drunk and the extreme beer snob.
Wilhelm (the messy one) could be likeable, but they made him a bumbling idiot. Someone like that couldn’t get into their own business and run it as long as he did. If they toned down how big of an idiot he is, it would make the show better.
Adam (the beer snob) is everything wrong with craft beer. He only wanted to make rare beer styles that he liked. Anyone running a brewery knows they make a variety of beers; some for mass appeal and some for the beer snob. The character felt very forced, which made him unlikeable; I don’t think they could redeem him.
The supporting cast was mixed. Sarah, the bar manager, was maybe the best character on the show, until they did a little swerve with her. She was a smart woman in a male dominated industry, which is something that is needed. The forced love story with Wilhelm was also uncomfortable. Chuy was not bad either; he served as good comic relief throughout the show, and he was smarter than he let on.
The bad was really bad. Truffle, one of the monks that taught Wilhelm to brew, was so over the top that he didn’t feel like a real person. His accent was just as over the top and ruined every scene he was in. Elvis and Becky, the food truck couple, continually made me cringe; they ran their food truck worse than Wilhelm ran the brewery.
I did like the location of the brewery in the show. It reminded me of some of the local craft breweries I visit. Old brick, decent looking equipment, and a nice taproom. The downside was the brother living in it.
The writing was pretty lazy. The show wanted to go for the raunchy factor for the comedy and most of the time it missed its mark. They went for the cheap laugh too much. At first, it was funny; after 8 episodes it was worn out.
The show was left open for a second season, but I don’t know if I’ll watch it. I liked the “cliffhanger”, but there are so many better comedies out there.
A better version of the show would have been Adam running the brewery, but it’s unsuccessful due to his limited beer styles available. Wilhelm comes in to dumb it down, resulting in more sales and more conflict between the brothers. Reduce the mentioned stereotypes and cut the raunchiness by 50%. Try for a little more straight comedy.