do cruise ships do craft beer?

[ozdevil]

hey guys and Gals i brew beer for a hobby and i am pretty good at it so some tell me 

i love beer  but i dont drink vb,, great northern . crown lager 

actually i am beer snob so to speak

do cruises seek out  craft beers to have on board

[Galesa]

Princess do Balter XPA. Took me 3 days of drinking "lagers" before I realised.

[NSWP]

Cunard and P&O UK have some decent Brit draught beers, i.e. Fullers London Pride, Old Speckled Hen, Boddingtons, etc. Plus Thatchers Gold Cider which I consumed a few pints of.

 

As for craft beers on the local ships, Balters, don't know what else.

Edited April 15, 2023 by NSWP

[Elorac123]

Fat Yak on Coral,,lovely brew

 Cheers Carole 

[NSWP]

2 minutes ago, Elorac123 said:

Fat Yak on Coral,,lovely brew

 Cheers Carole 

I had a couple of those in my Elite Mini Bar on Coral Princess last September, I presented them to my cabin steward.  As most of you know, being a Coeliac, beers are a no no, and the gf beers are horribilus.

Edited April 15, 2023 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

Rolf enjoyed Pirates Life beer on our recent Grand Princess cruise.

Edited April 15, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

It depends on ships and seasons, as some come and go. We enjoyed a couple of Alaskan Brewery beers on Royal Caribbean a few years back, but they were gone again for the following season here.

 

Carnival does try. If you are cruising the Caribbean. Carnival Vista brews 3 of their own aboard. - https://www.carnival.com/-/media/images/explore/fun-activities/menus/redfrog-pub-brewery-menu.pdf

 

In Australia they have Red Frog Summer Ale on tap, which is from Lord Nelson Brewery in Sydney. They do have some of their imported Red Frog varieties in bottles as well, so Carnival Splendor might be a good ship to try  

https://www.carnival.com.au/fun-activities/redfrog-pub

[backbiter]

We were on the Splendor last month. The Red Frog summer ale was the only craft beer on board. Having enjoyed the beers on the Vista and other Carnival ships, the lack of decent beer was a let-down. I made do with Great Northern and New, but they were pretty dull. The summer ale was not bad but too hoppy for my taste. I particularly missed the Red Frog Caribbean Wheat, as wheat beer is my beer of choice. Last year on the Pride on a cruise to Norway they had that on draft, and had cans of Blue Moon and Paulaner as well. A few months later on the same ship in the Mediterranean, they had run out of just about everything.

[ozdevil]

interesting  i guess there isn't a whole lot of choice to beers  on the floating cities we have in Australia 
unless they have it  basic craft beers .

guess when i come to 1st cruise i'll have to enjoy  what beer is on offer or smuggle my own on board lol (i know i know this wont be allowed)

arrrgh well.   i'll still have a beer whatever they have long as its not vb

[bazzaw]

Sail from Sydney - and enjoy some time in the Lord Nelson before departure!!! Cunard QE even had London Pride on tap in February. 

[ozdevil]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Sail from Sydney - and enjoy some time in the Lord Nelson before departure!!! Cunard QE even had London Pride on tap in February. 

we are sailing  from Sydney   so the Lord nelson  will be a place i  will be checking out as i plan to get to Sydney 2 days  prior and check a few craft beer places out

[arxcards]

On 4/15/2023 at 10:13 PM, backbiter said:

We were on the Splendor last month. The Red Frog summer ale was the only craft beer on board. Having enjoyed the beers on the Vista and other Carnival ships, the lack of decent beer was a let-down. I made do with Great Northern and New, but they were pretty dull. The summer ale was not bad but too hoppy for my taste. I particularly missed the Red Frog Caribbean Wheat, as wheat beer is my beer of choice. Last year on the Pride on a cruise to Norway they had that on draft, and had cans of Blue Moon and Paulaner as well. A few months later on the same ship in the Mediterranean, they had run out of just about everything.

That seems to be the current trend that everyone is brewing - too hoppy or too gassy. Shame that the pub has no (unique) beer.

[backbiter]

10 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Sail from Sydney - and enjoy some time in the Lord Nelson before departure!!! Cunard QE even had London Pride on tap in February. 

We did stay there the night before our cruise. Very nice, historic pub/ hotel - supposedly Sydney's oldest. Very good choice of beers. Close enough for us to walk to the Terminal, too. A very nice part of the city.

[lyndarra]

8 hours ago, arxcards said:

That seems to be the current trend that everyone is brewing - too hoppy or too gassy. Shame that the pub has no (unique) beer.

One of the highlight of narrowboating on UK canals was the variety of beers available. You could guarantee there would be something different at every pub, and there are plenty of them along the canals. I have enjoyed a variety of "real ales". One craft brew I liked a lot was a dark beer called Hobgoblin.

So, if you feel the need for craft beers, try canal cruising in UK. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale

Edited April 16, 2023 by lyndarra

[ozdevil]

29 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

One of the highlight of narrowboating on UK canals was the variety of beers available. You could guarantee there would be something different at every pub, and there are plenty of them along the canals. I have enjoyed a variety of "real ales". One craft brew I liked a lot was a dark beer called Hobgoblin.

So, if you feel the need for craft beers, try canal cruising in UK. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale

you can get the hobgoblin in Australia   just did a quick search   but beer cartel has some of Wychwood Hobgoblins beers. Wouldnt mind Trying the Ruby beer

Also i reckon Narrowboating would be fun  way to travel  and Live , I have often thought of heading to the UK  buying a Narrowboat to live on  and brewing a craft beer on some of the canals however i cant see my   lady who must be obeyed wanting to to do that  as a permenant way of life but she would do it for a holiday 

Love to get to some of the old English style Pubs

 

[lyndarra]

8 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

you can get the hobgoblin in Australia   just did a quick search   but beer cartel has some of Wychwood Hobgoblins beers. Wouldnt mind Trying the Ruby beer

Also i reckon Narrowboating would be fun  way to travel  and Live , I have often thought of heading to the UK  buying a Narrowboat to live on  and brewing a craft beer on some of the canals however i cant see my   lady who must be obeyed wanting to to do that  as a permenant way of life but she would do it for a holiday 

Love to get to some of the old English style Pubs

 

I never thought of checking locally for a UK craft beer. I'm not sure the canned product would taste as good as draught. e.g. I've tried canned Guiness and it's not the same. But, it wouldn't hurt to try. May even try Hobgoblin Ginger Beard.

Some time ago I considered buying a narrow boat but they are expensive plus there's mooring, maintenance, insurance and registration costs. Last time I checked £65,000 would buy a nice, ex Black Prince, rental. We once met a Kiwi couple who owned one on which they would spend six months each year to escape NZ winters. They had been doing that for about seven years and still hadn't seen all of UKs 2000+ miles of canals.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Rolf sometimes gets the Belhaven Scottish Ale from Dan Murphys. He really likes it.

[ozdevil]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

I never thought of checking locally for a UK craft beer. I'm not sure the canned product would taste as good as draught. e.g. I've tried canned Guiness and it's not the same. But, it wouldn't hurt to try. May even try Hobgoblin Ginger Beard.

Some time ago I considered buying a narrow boat but they are expensive plus there's mooring, maintenance, insurance and registration costs. Last time I checked £65,000 would buy a nice, ex Black Prince, rental. We once met a Kiwi couple who owned one on which they would spend six months each year to escape NZ winters. They had been doing that for about seven years and still hadn't seen all of UKs 2000+ miles of canals.

you would be much better finding the bottle versions and to be honest  with you some of these styles are better bottled conditioned then the draught pulled version.

yes it it would be expensive owning a narrowboat  but the fun of just pottering down a canal , i often  watch  youtube on narrow boats  .  its amazing some of the history of the rivers and how these boats   get around the canals and the winding channels 

if i was a single i reckon i would head over and do it

 

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, lyndarra said:

One of the highlight of narrowboating on UK canals was the variety of beers available. You could guarantee there would be something different at every pub, and there are plenty of them along the canals. I have enjoyed a variety of "real ales". One craft brew I liked a lot was a dark beer called Hobgoblin.

So, if you feel the need for craft beers, try canal cruising in UK. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale

We will be spending a bit of time in the UK in 2025, but a narrowboat pub crawl isn't on the agenda. Yes, always nice to drink somewhere where it isn't death by 50 IPA's. Locally, I like a couple of the Murray's drops, and go there for lunch once in a while.

[backbiter]

17 hours ago, lyndarra said:

One of the highlight of narrowboating on UK canals was the variety of beers available. You could guarantee there would be something different at every pub, and there are plenty of them along the canals. I have enjoyed a variety of "real ales". One craft brew I liked a lot was a dark beer called Hobgoblin.

So, if you feel the need for craft beers, try canal cruising in UK. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ale

Hobgoblin is good stuff, whether on draft or in bottles. Wychwood Brewery have a great range of very drinkable beers. https://hobgoblinbeer.co.uk/?cbgAge=1961121&cbgC=true

 

[lyndarra]

19 hours ago, ozdevil said:

you would be much better finding the bottle versions and to be honest  with you some of these styles are better bottled conditioned then the draught pulled version.

yes it it would be expensive owning a narrowboat  but the fun of just pottering down a canal , i often  watch  youtube on narrow boats  .  its amazing some of the history of the rivers and how these boats   get around the canals and the winding channels 

if i was a single i reckon i would head over and do it

 

There's almost always a convenient pub to eat at if you don't feel like cooking.

This one was at Wolverhampton.

Edited April 17, 2023 by lyndarra
add location

[MMDown Under]

On 4/17/2023 at 8:35 AM, ozdevil said:

you can get the hobgoblin in Australia   just did a quick search   but beer cartel has some of Wychwood Hobgoblins beers. Wouldnt mind Trying the Ruby beer

Also i reckon Narrowboating would be fun  way to travel  and Live , I have often thought of heading to the UK  buying a Narrowboat to live on  and brewing a craft beer on some of the canals however i cant see my   lady who must be obeyed wanting to to do that  as a permenant way of life but she would do it for a holiday 

Love to get to some of the old English style Pubs

 

Narrowboating would be a wonderful way to see England, but it would be a working holiday.  One March, we walked alongside two guys in a narrowboat (yes it is that slow).  Their wives stayed home because they thought it would be too wet.  It was so warm and sunny, both guys were sunburnt as you can spend a lot of time outside with a small narrowboat.  

[ozdevil]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

Narrowboating would be a wonderful way to see England, but it would be a working holiday.  One March, we walked alongside two guys in a narrowboat (yes it is that slow).  Their wives stayed home because they thought it would be too wet.  It was so warm and sunny, both guys were sunburnt as you can spend a lot of time outside with a small narrowboat.  

There is alot of charm  to  these boats  and cruising along a small canal or waterway .   They look cosy and warm and the view can change every morning .    i could easily live on one of these  boats 

 

 

[MMDown Under]

26 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

There is alot of charm  to  these boats  and cruising along a small canal or waterway .   They look cosy and warm and the view can change every morning .    i could easily live on one of these  boats 

 

 

Many people do.  I can spend hours watching the narrowboats go through locks, tying the boat up in a new location for the night etc. 

[lyndarra]

20 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Narrowboating would be a wonderful way to see England, but it would be a working holiday.  One March, we walked alongside two guys in a narrowboat (yes it is that slow).  Their wives stayed home because they thought it would be too wet.  It was so warm and sunny, both guys were sunburnt as you can spend a lot of time outside with a small narrowboat.  

My wife loved the social interaction with other boats' ladies, usually at the locks. They would all pitch in to get boats through and have a good old chat as well.

The boats travel at, and some times less than, walking speed depending on how fast one walks. My wife was an avid walker and this suited her. I would arrive at a lock to find she had it already set up up.

The boats we hired (from Black Prince Holidays) are fully self contained, even central heating. All you need to take on board is food, as there is a proper kitchen, if you don't want pub grub.