Just  last week, I traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands, specifically to the islands of St. Thomas and St. John. I was excited to see that there was a Virgin Islands beer. I ordered one at a local restaurant. The Virgin Islands Island Summer Ale is a light wheaty ale, perfect for a hot summer day.  But imagine my surprise, when looking closely at the bottle, I learn that it is actually brewed in Portland, Maine, by Shipyard Brewery.  This seems a bit deceitful to me, especially when the coaster accompanying the beer tells me to go to www.stjohnbrewers.com to learn more about the beer.

Since I was headed to St. John anyway, where the brewery was advertised, I decided that I would be sure to make the stop. The “brewery” is actually the Tap Room, located in a shopping mall called Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay.

Upon entering, I was immediately unimpressed with the atmosphere. The bartender spent most of the time talking and playing dice with his local friends, while ignoring paying customers. I was there for about an hour and saw several other people walk in, receive no service, and walk out. We actually had to go up to to the bar and interrupt him several times to get service. I sat for quite a while with an empty glass, just to see if he would even notice. In addition, to the atmosphere. We found the bartender to be just plain rude.  I asked if they had a sampler– I receive a rude response that included something about this being an island and beer costs 80 cents an ounce to even get here….etc. I told him I was not asking for anything for free. A sampler could have easily been charged out at $10 and for the 4 beers they had that were “Virgin Island” beers, they would have made a good profit. When I got my final bill, this 80 cents an ounce didn’t even seem to pan out because I was charged about $2.40 for a pint (do the math).   Let’s not mention the fact that at 6 pm on Friday night, the food service had stopped because the cook had apparently left.

In spite of these issues, I ended up trying all four “Virgin Island” beers available.

Of course, the majority were quite good, as they were Shipyard brews.  As I stated previously, the Island Summer Ale appeared to be the most popular and was widely available at bars, restaurants, and even the airport throughout the US Virgin Islands.  The Tropical Mango Ale was not bad. In a moment of friendliness, the bartender said it reminded him of Magic Hat #9. Although I could see it somewhat, I think it was a bit of a stretch. The Tropical Mango Ale is very fruity on the nose which is a bit off-putting. The Liquid Sunshine was reminiscent of Budweiser to me and the worst of the bunch.  The Island Hoppin IPA was obviously a Shipyard product and tasted exactly like Shipyard IPA.

So what would I say about the St. John Brewery….. save your time in St. John for the beach and take a trip to Shipyard in Portland, Maine. Maybe they are friendlier there and we know that’s where the beer came from anyway!