CRAFT BEER LOVERS - How do we get NCL to stock our beers?

[weltek]

it would be nice if they carried some beer from the victory brewing company

 

Sure, but Victory is expensive and more of a cult beer lover genre. I think you need to find the more well-know/widely available American micros/crafts to make it work. The kinds of beers a "moderate" beer lover will try instead of a Heinekin or Guinness. That is why I suggested just adding more interesting varieties of Sam Adams and others suggested Sierra Nevada. The brewers can offer the quantity to offer a good bulk discount to the ship and everyone is happy.

[spacewoman]

I pulled up my picture I took of the beer display in the buffet area on Jewel last year.

 

I see Sam Adams, Bass, Foster's and a Boddington's it looks like

 

How's that?

[jonbgd]

There is a rumor that a RCCL ship is setting up a brewpub.

I havnt heard that but would be nice... I do know Carnival has a new pub on the Magic which has something called Thirsty Frog Red on tap but rumour is it is made but BUD

[Single Cruiser]

I pulled up my picture I took of the beer display in the buffet area on Jewel last year.

 

I see Sam Adams, Bass, Foster's and a Boddington's it looks like

 

How's that?

 

But only two of those are Beers.. Foster and Sam are Lagers..

 

I was disappointed with the lack of beers on Epic, Ok so we had Newcastle, Boddies and Bass.. but on RCI last year they had a lot more bottled beers - Although I drank the Dog and Badger out of its stock of Spitfire lol :)

[nkellerot]

I would love to have craft beers on the Dawn. The fiance and I both know that it's just the crap like bud, coors and miller and we refuse to buy it, when you're really just drinking water. we'll drink the guisness and stella, but not our favs. I'm in agreement with some magic hat, victory, dogfish head. and abita. I think it would be a really great marketing campaign for them. They should test it out on a ship for a month or so and see how it does. it would be great to enjoy a doghfish ipa while cruising in the caribbean, oh how i dream!

 

niki:)

[luddite]

I havnt heard that but would be nice... I do know Carnival has a new pub on the Magic which has something called Thirsty Frog Red on tap but rumour is it is made but BUD

 

Rumor is that it is Bud's American Ale with a new name. If so, it would be.........pretty nasty.

[luddite]

I pulled up my picture I took of the beer display in the buffet area on Jewel last year.

 

I see Sam Adams, Bass, Foster's and a Boddington's it looks like

 

How's that?

 

Run-of-the-mill average. Rumor is that Aussie beer geeks don't drink Foster's. Boddington's doesn't translate in a can......

Sam's is decent enough but isn't the best offering from Jim Koch. Here's the nexus of the problem: Samuel Adams is the largest American brewery and they have 1% of the market. When TV ads show people having fun with chicks and the store sells a 30 pack of swill that'll get ya drunk for 14 bucks.... well, anyway.....

 

They stock LOTS of what a LOT of people who only drink American Light styles run to the store and buy 'cause it's cheap. Which is a pretty awful style of beer.

[spacewoman]

You might have to remember as well that there are storage constraints.

 

We were given a behind the scenes tour with the executive chef and they had cases of beer in the cooler with produce. He said they hadn't sold the budgeted amount the cruise before and had excess to contend with that they didn't have storage space for.

 

Yes, I know........ throw out the bud, coors, miller and then they'll have room for your requests......:D

[weltek]

I pulled up my picture I took of the beer display in the buffet area on Jewel last year.

 

I see Sam Adams, Bass, Foster's and a Boddington's it looks like

 

How's that?

 

Boring. Repetitious. We usually drink Sam Adams when on ships, as that's sort of the best-of-the-average selection. Bass isn't bad, it's just boring. Foster's is terrible and Aussie's don't even barely drink it (as someone mentioned), and Boddington's is another "ok" choice. There is just so little variety in style. Plain old lagers and ales along with Guiness. That's why the dopplebock excited me on the Spirit (or Star?). Beer has so much more to offer in terms of styles. It's not even the brands that I'm geeked out about, just give me a bigger selection in styles. Belgians and IPAs are wildly popular in the states. I'd prefer a brown ale or even a good APA. I don't even care that much about the brand. My tastebuds just want some variety in flavor.

[spacewoman]

Which could easily be said about wine choices on board as well.

[Elde]

I explain some simple facts for the OP. There is no market for craft beer on the ships.

 

That's an assumption, not a fact. There is a difference.

 

That being said, given the size of the craft beer market in the US (huge and growing) I would find it very hard indeed to believe that there would be no market. Nor would it be difficult to serve as there are several brands of higher end beer nationally available - Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada both come immediately to mind.

 

Nor can I see budget as being anything but a weak excuse to avoid the issue. Look at the size of the wine cellar. Look at the variety (and expense!) available in Malting's.

 

I suspect the reason is actually quite simple - beer, like tea, is generally treated as a second class beverage. NCL is just staying in the middle of the pack like everyone else.

[weltek]

If anyone is friends with the F&B directors, could you ask them about possibly doing a survey among bar patrons on ships? Maybe listing the options from their distributors that fit in the price range available and asking cruisers to pick up to five beers they would drink?

 

I feel like now it's similar to offering 10 brands of plain vodka from different countries and 1 brand of whiskey as the entire selection of liquor. Sorry, no gin, bourbon, scotch or rum for you!

[weltek]

Which could easily be said about wine choices on board as well.

 

At least you can get a merlot, shiraz/syrah, cabernet, reisling, chardonay, pinot grigio, port, pinot noir, zinfandel, etc. Everyone's varietal taste can find something, even if not their favorite brand.

 

And I guarantee our bar bill would increase by at least a third if there were even two U.S. craft brews available that were a pale ale, stout, IPA, APA, bock, porter, or brown.

[RYMOMA]

can only imagine what the price of a dogfish would be on board

they are very expensive in western mass, if a store carriers them at all.

 

i refuse to drink american or mexican piss water

[spacewoman]

At least you can get a merlot, shiraz/syrah, cabernet, reisling, chardonay, pinot grigio, port, pinot noir, zinfandel, etc. Everyone's varietal taste can find something, even if not their favorite brand.

 

And I guarantee our bar bill would increase by at least a third if there were even two U.S. craft brews available that were a pale ale, stout, IPA, APA, bock, porter, or brown.

 

Yes, agree with what you're saying but there are also WINE SNOBS out there who prefer one over the other sort of thing. Like many of you are posting that within ale and lager offerings there are those you like and those you dislike.

 

I'm just giving a comparison here, not complaining as I will always find something I like whether it is a Merlot, an ale, a lager, a martini..........:D

[spacewoman]

Maltings on the Jewel did offer a beer tasting. I should have checked it out. Then I would have known if there was a variety of beers offered there that I just didn't see.

 

 

I'd do a beer tasting with different micro brews, etc. offered. It would be a great way to try new beers without the expense of buying a whole bottle/glass that I may or may not like.

 

 

I have to say though, here in Orange County you're going to be hard pressed to find anything but the "swill" beers as you call them. Our beverage stores are few and far between now thanks to the grocery stores selling the beer below the beverage stores own cost of it. I own a small mom and pop and the only beers I'm selling now are 24 oz cans of MGD, Coors, Miller Lite and Keystone Light. People are buying on the "cheap." Bud sales went down for the count after INBEV bought them. BUT--- you go 30 miles north of us into New Paltz and you've got places like the guilded otter who not only sell the types of beer you folks are looking for but make their own. The finger lakes are noted for wine but they, too, are getting into the micro brew business.

 

I think a lot of it is demographics. For instance - on St. Thomas you'll pretty much see what I have here - American beers and Corona. You go to Puerto Rico and they're pushing their own beer Medallia (not sure of spelling). When we went to Tortolla they were selling El Presidente which comes from the Dominican Republic.

[spacewoman]

At least you can get a merlot, shiraz/syrah, cabernet, reisling, chardonay, pinot grigio, port, pinot noir, zinfandel, etc. Everyone's varietal taste can find something, even if not their favorite brand.

 

And I guarantee our bar bill would increase by at least a third if there were even two U.S. craft brews available that were a pale ale, stout, IPA, APA, bock, porter, or brown.

 

From what I've seen on the boards you'll find a lot of wine drinkers who won't touch what's on board. They'll gladly pay the corkage and bring their own $50 or $60 bottle of wine. Would be nice if they offered something similar for you beer lovers

[SteveH2508]

At least you can get a merlot, shiraz/syrah, cabernet, reisling, chardonay, pinot grigio, port, pinot noir, zinfandel, etc. Everyone's varietal taste can find something, even if not their favorite brand.

 

And I guarantee our bar bill would increase by at least a third if there were even two U.S. craft brews available that were a pale ale, stout, IPA, APA, bock, porter, or brown.

 

Interestingly you do not mention Gewurztraminer. This is one of my favourite grape varieties (particularly good wth duck and goose BTW). It was on the NCL wine list for our Baltics cruise at a VERY reasonable price (it probably was not selling) - we made hay while the sun shined!

 

It seems that the US lines (NCL, Princess in our experience) charge premium prices for US wines but some European wines are a steal (e.g. Princess doing Mouton Cadet at about $25 a bottle :eek::D:D)

 

Cote du Rhone is usually quite reasonably priced as well.

 

My bar bill would probably go down if they had decent beers on board. I tend to go with DW on to the cocktails/martinis as the beer is not exciting (the only downside I've found to marrying a US lady who does not like beer! :D)

[luddite]

That's an assumption, not a fact. There is a difference.

 

That being said, given the size of the craft beer market in the US (huge and growing) I would find it very hard indeed to believe that there would be no market. Nor would it be difficult to serve as there are several brands of higher end beer nationally available - Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada both come immediately to mind.

 

Nor can I see budget as being anything but a weak excuse to avoid the issue. Look at the size of the wine cellar. Look at the variety (and expense!) available in Malting's.

 

I suspect the reason is actually quite simple - beer, like tea, is generally treated as a second class beverage. NCL is just staying in the middle of the pack like everyone else.

 

Fair enough.

Beer certainly gets treated as a second-class beverage in a lot of places.

I don't see them adding a bunch of craft or non-swill beers to their list. Face it, they'd be taking a chance onracking some items that could sit for a long time. Us beer geeks are really a voice in the darkness when they see pax after pax ordering up buckets of BLeah and Silver Bullets ( now with a 2 zone color changing label to let you when the taste is masked and when it only just make you sick). Chicks not included.

 

The note about what it would cost for good beer is on point. Dogfish Head or a Hooker would be pricey. I cannot imagine what they'd charge for a Hardy's Old Ale or maybe a barrel aged quad.... :eek:

[luddite]

From what I've seen on the boards you'll find a lot of wine drinkers who won't touch what's on board. They'll gladly pay the corkage and bring their own $50 or $60 bottle of wine. Would be nice if they offered something similar for you beer lovers

 

True that, but the wine list isn't all Reislings with one Cab and a Merlot thrown in as a sop. That's essentially what the beer list is.

Ah well. Say "la Vee".:)

[luddite]

Interestingly you do not mention Gewurztraminer. This is one of my favourite grape varieties (particularly good wth duck and goose BTW). It was on the NCL wine list for our Baltics cruise at a VERY reasonable price (it probably was not selling) - we made hay while the sun shined!

 

It seems that the US lines (NCL, Princess in our experience) charge premium prices for US wines but some European wines are a steal (e.g. Princess doing Mouton Cadet at about $25 a bottle :eek::D:D)

 

Cote du Rhone is usually quite reasonably priced as well.

 

My bar bill would probably go down if they had decent beers on board. I tend to go with DW on to the cocktails/martinis as the beer is not exciting (the only downside I've found to marrying a US lady who does not like beer! :D)

 

Find that lady a milk stout. Mackeson's XXX was my wife's gateway into appreciating,nay,loving beer. What she discovered was the she just didn't like crappy stuff like BLeh and Coor's Light. OK, she doesn't regular Bud or Miller either. Stouts and Porters are her vice.....And a Thomas Hardy Old Ale which I'm not such a fan of...

[collectingcoke]

A nice pale ale would be a welcome addition. I really don't see them putting an IPA on board.

 

I got some Coal Porter on a NCL ship out of Houston ( years ago). I was pretty amazed that they would have something like that. About a year later we sailed out of Houston again, on a different ship. I was excited about the prospect of glomming onto some more Coal Porter. Alas and alack, 'twas not to be. BTW, that was the only Porter we ever saw on a ship.

 

The bartender in the pub explained how the Coal Porter came to be on the other ship. It was left over from the ship's prior itinerary up the east US coast. (Coal Porter comes from Maine) He told me that the ships will bring on ONE local beer. In Texas, it was Shiner Bock. Alaska trips have seen a beer from Alaska or Oregon. Out of Miami, we had Presidente' :eek:, an odd choice I must say.

 

Bottom line? If ya don't like light lagers, the beer selection for a beer geek on a ship is real dismal. I didn't even see a Celebrator Dopplebock on the Spirit in February. It is tough being a beer geek in a world of beer snobs who like a particular brand of swill.

 

There is a rumor that a RCCL ship is setting up a brewpub. With a ship's motion, I'm having a hard time envisioning a lot of success.

 

It would be nice then if out Boston we found Sam Adams Cherry Wheat or the like.

[SteveH2508]

Find that lady a milk stout. Mackeson's XXX was my wife's gateway into appreciating,nay,loving beer. What she discovered was the she just didn't like crappy stuff like BLeh and Coor's Light. OK, she doesn't regular Bud or Miller either. Stouts and Porters are her vice.....And a Thomas Hardy Old Ale which I'm not such a fan of...

 

Belgian Kriek (cherry beer) and Guinness at the brewery in Dublin have both met with qualified approval from DW. Proper cider/perry is also on the Yes list.

 

Hoppy beers (my favourites e.g. Hop Back Summer Lightning, Youngs bitter, Fullers London Pride etc.) are still a step too far but I'm on a long term education program which involves lots of sampling :D:D:D.

 

When we get to a beer festival again (GBBF keeps clashing with our cruises :() I intend to try her with some mild and porter as an educational exercise ;).

[quercus alba]

It would be nice then if out Boston we found Sam Adams Cherry Wheat or the like.

 

Or Alaskan Brewing products on Alaska cruises...

[rikatine]

Wow! Glad to see we are not the only ones craving a better beer selection on NCL. A lot of good points have been made.

 

If anyone is interested in more about the monopoly the macro companies have on the US beer market, check out Beer Inc. a documentary I caught on Netflix.

 

If anyone knows how to contact the food and beverage manager by individual ship, I would like to know. I know it is crazy, but if you don't ask....

 

I read in another thread that there is an unofficial 1 six pack limit that could be brought on board. Wish it were true.