USVI-On-Line

Hello All...I'm new...first timer. I leave for STJ and Caneel Bay next Sunday, for the first time. I have only one serious question, as any thing else that comes up can be dealt with at the moment...that's the fun of an adventure.But I need to know which establishments on the island have the best selection of draft beer? Of good beer? Newcastle on tap? I look forward to tasting the local brews, also. Thanx

Hello markmcb, congratulations on the trip, you're going to love St. John. As for beer, the Quiet Mon Pub has Newcastle on tap, they just installed the tap when I was there in November and December. The Taproom in Mongoose Junction has several local brews on tap, I particularly like the India Pale Ale. As for selection, Woody's is my favorite, the beer is all bottled but they have about a dozen different types.

Beer, wonderful beer. Well, as a serious beer geek I'm afraid there are only a few opportunities for beervana.

Draft selections are difficult to find and not always fresh. There's not a great understanding of how to care for draft beers. StJohnMike points out the two main options and I'll add Maho Bay Campground. The Tap Room has the best selection with their own brewed beer and beers from their contract brewer - Shipyard.

The most interesting beers I find on island are the Foreign Extra Stouts. Look for the Guinness bottles that are labeled this way with 7.5%. These are deliciously rich beers that we call "West Indian Viagra." You can also find a selection of similar beers from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Denmark and other exotic locales (I've even found one from Singapore on occasion). The place with the largest selection of these beers is Starfish Market. If you in Cruz Bay you can get a Guiness FES from the street vendor that is setup evenings to the right of La Tapa/Quiet Mon.

Cheers, RickG

Hey Rick, as a fellow beer geek, I have a question. Have you ever brought beer back from St. John? I love Guinness FES and Carib and I want to bring some back this year since I can't get it here at home. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

We've brought beer back many times. I follow the same apporach as we do for coming back from Europe - just wrap the beer in clothing. If we are feeling greedy and want to maximize our haul we wrap the bottles in a single sheet of bubble wrap and put each beer in a 1 gallon zip lock.

Cheers, RickG

StJohnMike:

I don't know where your from but I'm here in PA and one of our local beer distributors is now carring Carib!! We asked for it after our last trip and he had it in within a week. Some of his other customers seen it on the shelf and starting trying it as well. He now stocks it. Check with your local distributor to see if he can get it for you

XOXO
Bug

Yo RickG,

That little vendor out front of Quiet Mon is Paulie. Great guy and a good man to talk "island talk" to. Sometimes a lady works it, she is also very nice or Mango, another great guy. I can honestly say, while the girls are in Woody's, I really enjoy my time at Paulie's little "bar".

StJohnMike-Thanx for the info.My first stop will be at the QuietMon for my Newcastle...after travelling all day...then to the hotel. First things first.

Rick- Thanx for the beer suggestions. Any adventure must include learning about the indiginous cultures... and so I shall.

Hi bugblu98, I'm from Minnesota, I've checked Carib's website many times and they don't seem to have any distributors west of the Mississippi. I haven't asked any of my local stores though, maybe I should. Otherwise, the only Caribbean beer we get here is Red Stripe but that's one of my favorites too so it's all good.
Thanks for the tips Rick, the only question now is do I want to pay $25 to check a second bag to bring back a good haul of island alcohol.
Does that little stand next to Quiet Mon only open at night? Every time I've been by there it seems to be closed.

Mike if you are flying AA the booze box is free

It's funny, Carib shows up in Montgomery Co. MD sometimes, but unfortunately more often than not, it's skunked. All carry-out beer sold here goes through the county controlled distribution and they don't refrigerate it at all!
By the way, in answer to the original poster's serious question: Even bad beer seems to taste better on STJ! And unless things have recently changed, there are no draft beer taps on the Coral Bay side. Ol' Doug Sica [RIP] of Skinny's told me it was a refrigeration issue and too many power outages to keep things consistent. That was then. Now? Again, as best I know, nobody has tried it over there. It can certainly be a much more profitable way to sell beer, but does leave the ownership more open to having "silent partners."

One of the biggest things impacting draught beer sales in export markets is the cost of the kegs themselves. They've gone from $90 new to $175 new. Add in the long turns that container shipping drives and kegs don't make a whole lot of sense to the brewer. The Tap Room gets kegs, bottles and brewing ingredients in their containers, so it makes more sense for them as brewers as well as retailers.

Cheers, RickG

I had a great conversation with Kelly, the owner of the Quiet Mon last year about the difficulties of tap beer down there since the Quiet Mon had just installed a couple of taps. Like Rick said, yeah, a lot of it has to do with the cost of not just kegs, but keg coolers and their replacement parts since at the time, the Quiet Mon's backup keg cooler had broken down so the keg of Newcastle they had just tapped was still warm and they had run out of Strongbow hard cider altogether.
Say, while we're on the subject, does anyone know of any places on St. Thomas to get draft beer?

hi Benchill!!

hey mon we know Paulie too. we met Paulie and Donna a few years ago...wonderful people with good hearts. Hi Paulie and Donna Paul turn off CNN..you know why!!! hope to see you soon.