Strange Brew was a middleweight robot built by Team STUPID which competed in Season 4.0 and Season 5.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots.
It was a sloped square-shaped robot armed with a pneumatic front-hinged flipping arm. It performed decently in competition, winning three fights in two seasons of competition.
Strange Brew was originally going to be named Ground Zero, but after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it was decided that the name was no longer appropriate.[1]
Strange Brew was meant to be rebuilt for a theoretical 'Season 6.0'. The robot was changed to be an octagon shape with the plan of deflecting spinning attacks and with a reworked flipper system that the team claimed would be the second most powerful flipper only behind T-Minus. However, the robot was never finished as BattleBots was ultimately canceled.
On February 12, 2003, team member Jack Mayberry tragically passed away in his sleep.[2] Builder Dan Wiseman's son confirmed via Reddit that as of August 2023, Strange Brew's frame is still in their possession.[3]
The team opted to reapply with a heavyweight robot for World Championship VIII in 2023, first King Crunch and then Sucker Punch.
Robot History[]
Season 4.0[] |
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Strange Brew vs. Commando Strange Brew went against Commando in the first preliminary round. Strange Brew had a few problems with control once or twice, and neither robot was really able to get underneath the other at first. However, Commando later got a few hits on Strange Brew that are off-center, causing Commando to roll over the edges of the pyramid shape and land back on the ground like a car going over speed bumps too fast. Strange Brew got one good knock with a fast spin-in-place move, and eventually won a 28-17 judges' decision. |
Strange Brew vs. Mobster Strange Brew then went up against Mobster in the second preliminary round. Strange Brew got in a good ram on Mobster, and followed it up with pushing. There was some circling-and-pushing and then Strange Brew impaled itself on Mobster's rear spike. The bots were stuck together and had to be separated. Strange Brew tried a spin-in-place move, and got one little hit, but then it went back to circle-and-push. Eventually Mobster got high-centered on the exit ramp and Strange Brew won by KO at 1:53. |
Strange Brew vs. Psychotron   Psychotron gets underneath Strange Brew.   Strange Brew gets underneath Psychotron. In the third and final preliminary round, Strange Brew was set against Psychotron. Strange Brew tried to ram Psychotron, but missed and hit the spikes. Psychotron got under Strange Brew and pushed it around some. Strange Brew then took a turn getting underneath, acting like a road dot, with Psychotron going right over, and Strange Brew wall-rammed it a couple of times. The tide then turned back to Psychotron, who mysteriously became able to get under Strange Brew. Towards the end of the match, an armor panel began to detach from Strange Brew from the repeated pushing and hitting, giving Psychotron the damage category and the win, 28-17. This meant that Strange Brew was eliminated from the tournament. |
Season 5.0[] |
Strange Brew vs. Gremlin Strange Brew's first match in Season 5.0 was against Gremlin. When the match began, the two bots rushed each other and Gremlin managed to get under a few times. Eventually, Strange Brew got under and flipped the two-wheeled wedge up in the air. When Gremlin hit the ground, the supports for the radio receiver broke, rendering it incapacitated. Strange Brew won by KO and advanced to the next preliminary round, where it faced Darkness. |
Strange Brew vs. Darkness As the match started, both bots went straight at each other to the middle of the BattleBox. Darkness started spinning and tried to hit Strange Brew, but the pick slid up the side and went right over the top. Strange Brew kept coming at Darkness and Darkness was trying to get a solid hit in. This repeated quite a few times with the pickaxe just sliding up over the top of Strange Brew. Finally, Strange Brew used its flipping arm and tried to flip Darkness. Darkness was spinning in the opposite direction and came around from behind the flipping arm, breaking it free from the cylinder. The flipper was now immobile and just flopping around loose. Despite this, the weaponless Strange Brew was still chasing after Darkness. Darkness started spinning again and its pickaxe penetrated the Lexan armor of Strange Brew. Darkness had Strange Brew at the end of the pick and Darkness attempted to take it toward the spikestrip. However, Strange Brew had the better pushing power and this prevented Darkness to push it against the spikestrip. After this, the match was halted and both robots were separated. After the match restarted, both robots were slightly hitting each other before the time ran out. Darkness won on a close 23-22 judges' decision and Strange Brew was eliminated from the tournament again. |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 3
- Losses: 2
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Season 4.0 | Commando | Psychotron |
| Season 5.0 | Gremlin | Darkness |
See Also[]
Trivia[]
- Strange Brew is the first robot in BattleBots to sport a front hinged flipper.
- Strange Brew's initially planned name, Ground Zero, would eventually be adopted after BattleBots by Major Divot.
- Both captains have the same name, only being different by the middle initials due to being a father and son team.
- Team STUPID applied for Season 5.0 with a superheavyweight named Chester but it did not compete due to burning up in a fire during testing the week before the event.
- STUPID is an acronym Super Tough Ultra Powerful Insane Dudes/Dans.