Carnival Cruise Line brings aboard its own brewery

March 30, 2016Chris Crowell

Carnival Cruise beers — Where are you brewing your beer? On land? Pfft.

The true pioneers in world history were those who threw caution to the wind and took to the sea, voyaging to destinations unknown. Well, add Carnival Cruise Line to that list of sea-faring heroes. Its newest ship, Carnival Vista, will be home to Red Frog Pub & Brewery, which will brew its own beers right on board. That’s right, this is the first brewery at sea in North America. Take that, Magellan.

Carnival Vista’s RedFrog Pub & Brewery is the result of a unique collaboration between Carnival and Boston Beer Co.’s Alchemy & Science brand subsidiary. Miami-based Alchemy brand Concrete Beach Brewer worked closely with Carnival to create original recipes and source and select the finest ingredients to produce three distinctive craft beers that will be brewed and served on board Carnival Vista. Those beers will include ThirstyFrog Port Hoppin’ IPA, ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat and FriskyFrog Java Stout.

“We’ve been working for months with these talented partners who have helped us create three exciting and unique craft beers for Carnival Vista, and we anticipate our guests are going to absolutely love them,” said Eddie Allen, Carnival’s vice president of beverage operations.

Allen noted that the brews were specifically designed with Carnival Vista guests in mind. ThirstyFrog Port Hoppin’ IPA offers aromatic, floral and hoppy notes with passion fruit and citrus overtones while ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat is an unfiltered lager with aromas of bananas and spices. The third beer, FriskyFrog Java Stout, is a take on a traditional stout, rich and creamy with hints of coffee.

“It was an honor to be a part of this one-of-a-kind project, and we feel like we created a great variety that is sure to please guests,” said Jon Carpenter, Concrete Beach Brewery brewmaster. “It’s common for vacationers to want to test out the local beer and Carnival Vista has taken the concept of local and applied it to the decks of their ship.”

The beers to be featured on Carnival Vista further build upon a greatly expanded selection of Alchemy & Science craft beers across the entire Carnival fleet. U.S.-based Carnival ships already serve Concrete Beach Brewery’s Rica Wheat IPA, Angel City Brewery’s Pilsner, Coney Island’s Hard Root Beer and 1609 Amber. On a regional basis, Carnival ships sailing from Miami feature Concrete Beach Stiltsville Miami-style Pilsner, while Long Beach, California–based ships offer Angel City Brewery IPA and cruises departing from New York City are stocked with Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner.

The line also offers beers brewed either locally in homeports or within the homeport state on ships sailing from New Orleans, Galveston, Baltimore and Tampa, as well as ships that sail to Alaska and Hawaii.