Foodievents

Marc Summers Hosts ‘Dunkel Dare’ at Frankford Hall For Philly Beer Week

Take the beer challenge.
Take the beer challenge. Photo: Courtesy Marc Summers

Even though Marc Summers isn’t much of a beer guy, the Food Network personality and producer is still being a good sport about resuming his role as a game show host for “Dunkel Dare,” a special Beer Week program that’s going live for three nights (June 5 through 7) at Frankford Hall. It will pit breweries like Yards, Victory, and Sly Fox against each other in a sudsy homage to the Nickelodeon cult program Double Dare that launched Summers’s career into orbit. Teams from each brewery will answer questions and compete in potentially messy physical challenges to win. And you’d better believe there’s going to be green slime! “I know so little bit about beer, I’m sort of stupid about it,” Summers readily admitted when Grub caught up with him on the phone while he was on location in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “I’m more of a wine drinker. An Amstel Light is a big night out for me.”

Despite the fact that many of the live game show’s details are still being ironed out, and that he’s unsure when rehearsals will take place, Summers says he’s incredibly enthusiastic about it. “My phone rings, and people ask me to do stuff,” he explained. “If I like it, I do it. If I don’t, I don’t.”

He was awaiting a new batch of questions when we caught up with him. Apparently the first draft went way too deep into the particulars of beer and beer-making. The revisions, though still steeped in beer culture, he said, will incorporate more pop culture references. Since the first round begins on Tuesday, June 5, at 7 p.m., he hopes to go through a dry run or two before that. “Hopefully over the weekend that will all come together,” Summers said. “I’m not really too concerned about it. Knowing how Stephen Starr runs his operations, I know its going to be a top of the line event.”

Below is a rundown of Dunkel Dare that a rep for Starr just sent over:

Round 1: The two teams will go head-to-head in a challenging race to determine who wins control of the first round. Challenges to start each round may include:

Waiter Water Balloon Challenge
Egg Between the Ears
Ping-Pong Ball on Table with Squirt Guns

The teams will enter into two ten-minute rounds of questions on beer history and general beer knowledge where they can choose to answer the question and win $10 OR dare the opposing team to answer the question for the opportunity to win $20. Should the other team decide not to answer, they can Double Dare it back to the first team at which point they can answer it and win $40 or take a “physical challenge” and win $40 if completed successfully. Physical challenges may include:

Rubber Ducky Dunk
Paper Airplane Challenge
Back-to-Back with Rubber Balls

Round 2: A tasting match-up. Here, contestants will taste several different beers either from a German brewery or an American brewery and will be challenged with identifying the style AND which country the beer was made in, earning $10 for each correctly identified beer. The winning team with the most dollars in their pot will take on the obstacle course!

The final obstacle course will be comprised of four to six virtual stations each hosting a flag that the contestant must grab in order to win a small prize for the team. Obstacle Course stations may include:

Rope Climb
Foam/Popcorn Pit
Sundae Slide

The winning team with the highest dollar amount will make it to the Championship Round where the final winner will earn a placement on Frankford Hall’s draft list for one year…plus bragging rights.

Frankford Hall will be serving different beers from the participating breweries all week. Philly Beer Week goers can experience the fun of “Dunkel Dare!” free of charge for all three nights.

Related: The Food Network’s Marc Summers Won’t Eat Eyeballs, Intestines or Any Tripey Kind-of Stuff

Marc Summers Hosts ‘Dunkel Dare’ at Frankford Hall For Philly Beer