A BREWERY THAT HOPS
Sail aboard the Carnival Vista cruise ship, home to the first private-label craft brewery at sea,
ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN SEA— Colin Presby is finding it hard to speak over the instrumental boom of a Carrie Underwood song, the lyrics of which are being belted out by a karaoke enthusiast visiting the Redfrog Pub & Brewery. Presby is on a short break from a non-stop day of work and suggests, with a four-glass beer flight in tow, that we retreat to the pub’s patio for easier conversation.
Thirty feet to his right is a fermentation cellar typical of any craft brewery. Silver vats are purring as fusions of water, yeast, malt and hops combine and are transferred to taps for the pour. A look in the opposite direction, however, reveals a view to the Caribbean Sea that stretches for hundreds of kilometres. It’s a view that gives way to the distinctly atypical nature of the Red Frog: the first private-label craft brewery to ever exist at sea.
“I often get passengers come in here who say, ‘I thought this might have been a marketing gimmick,’ ” says Presby, official brewmaster of the Carnival Vista cruise. “But then they realize, ‘Hey, these guys are actually making beer. And they’re actually making good beer.’ ”
Since the Carnival Vista embarked on its maiden voyage in May 2016, Presby has been responsible for producing the boat’s signature brew, under the label Thirsty Frog, for the up to 3,934 passengers who call the boat home during six to eight-day Caribbean adventures. While the vessel includes such unique attractions as a poolside movie theatre and the SkyRide, a suspended bicycle that circles the contour of the ship from soaring heights, Presby says the one-off nature of this tourable craft brewery is a draw for cruisers looking for a refreshing change of pace.
“Every cruise, I get a good handful of people tell me they chose to cruise on this ship because of the brewery,” says Presby, who specifies that breweries have existed before on ships in Europe, but thus far have always been representing an on-land beer brand. “I always think that’s cool.”
Today, Presby sets down four taster glasses of beer on the pub’s patio, his concoctions shielded by an umbrella from the midday sun. There’s an IPA, a Caribbean wheat beer and a java stout which are available on the boat year-round, as well as a rotating seasonal creation. At the moment it’s the Thirsty Frog Caribbean Wheat — a crisp, summery beer with hints of grapefruit and mango. It’s a perfect complement to this sunny sailing day, which we note stands in stark contrast to the previous day’s onslaught of tropical rain.
“If we have announcements made about heavy seas and if they start to put the bags out at the stairways, I will not do a hot side brew,” says Presby when asked about the unique challenges of brewing beer on the open water. “I don’t want to run the risk of having the 380 litres of boiling liquids sloshing around.”
Presby says that on the fermentation end of production, travelling on the open water doesn’t pose much of an issue. What’s complicated, he says, are the logistics.
“Getting my stuff, my spare parts, ingredients and getting everything I need on the ship at the right time is tricky,” Presby says. “There’s also the learning curve aspect that, as big as the Carnival is, it’s never brewed before. What do brewers need? We’re figuring that out — we’re getting there.”
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Presby decided to take up home brewing as a hobby when his university chemistry professor pulled out his own personally made pints at a barbecue. Seven years of professional Pennsylvania brewing later and Presby is now living on the Carnival Vista year round, slinging out 1,000 litres of beer a week to passengers from around the world.
“It’s been very fascinating getting to see different beer cultures and different people’s response to the beers,” he says. “I meet many people who have never had craft beer before — and only really think that beer comes in one flavour and colour. It’s rewarding hearing them saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t know a beer could taste like this.’ ”
In its 15 months at sea, the Carnival Vista, Carnival Cruise Line’s largest ship, has cruised both Europe and the Caribbean, allowing Presby to study beer culture in ways he never dreamed he could. Blending that knowledge into his own craft, he says, is inevitable.
“I met a brewer in Marseilles, France, and got to talk to him about his experience and starting his brewery,” Presby says.
“He was explaining to me that at the beginning they couldn’t sell a hoppy beer — nobody would buy it. They made a batch of the IPA and they dumped most of it — and now it’s all everybody wants.”
Presby goes on to say that the craft beer scene in France, while in its fledgling infancy, is now gaining momentum because of brewers such as the one in Marseilles.
In this same way, Presby says, being able to be captain of an ever-moving at-sea brewery has given him his own unique leadership role in the crusade to connect the entire world with craft brew.
“Beer is a moment in time,” he says. “And beer is an experience and that’s part of what makes it powerful — the sense of memory of it. When I drink a certain beer it immediately brings back those memories of when I first had it — with a friend, a loved one or at a particular place. There’s a lot to be said for that.” Liz Beddall was hosted by Carnival Cruise Line which did not review or approve this story.