Changes to Thirsty Frog draft beer

[Scotto97]

My wife and I just finished up a 5 day cruise on the Miracle and always loved Carnival's private branded "Thirsty Frog" Red Ale.

 

It was very smooth, slightly sweet and in the Irish Red Ale style.

 

But we tried it again after a 2 year hiatus  and it had changed significantly in taste. I would now describe it as a Sour-Style beer with a chalky Alkaline aftertaste.

 

Not good at all in our opinion. We tried it at 2 different bars just in case one of the kegs were old/ bad.

 

Has anyone else notice such a dramatic change to this beer's taste? 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

45 minutes ago, Scotto97 said:

My wife and I just finished up a 5 day cruise on the Miracle and always loved Carnival's private branded "Thirsty Frog" Red Ale.

 

It was very smooth, slightly sweet and in the Irish Red Ale style.

 

But we tried it again after a 2 year hiatus  and it had changed significantly in taste. I would now describe it as a Sour-Style beer with a chalky Alkaline aftertaste.

 

Not good at all in our opinion. We tried it at 2 different bars just in case one of the kegs were old/ bad.

 

Has anyone else notice such a dramatic change to this beer's taste? 

 

Tried it on the Liberty on our 3/11 sailing. I literally could not drink it. Your description of it is about right. I thought it was just me though (because, how else would people be drinking this stuff)!

 

I'll give it a go again this coming weekend - just to satisfy my curiosity. I'll have CHEERS, so I've got nothing to lose !

 

Tom

[mz-s]

It's so different now I thought the bartender gave me the wrong beer by mistake. I loved it before, it was a very drinkable and enjoyable beer. Do not like the new version. I ordered Miller Lite for the duration of my cruise when I wanted a beer.

[JeanieTheMom]

We've have been on the Breeze and on the Horizon since the restart. My husband is the beer drinker of the family. He says he did not notice any difference from before. But on the Horizon, he mostly drank the West Coast IPA. He really liked that.

[Virga]

I really believed that my not liking it in the Sunrise in September was due to very old kegs, or (maybe) the fact that I'd drank very little beer for over 18 months.  I wonder if they actually changed to to match 'current' tastes?  It was always more of an American red than an Irish/English red to me (a little more hoppy) but it was distasteful enough to me that I wasn't overly unhappy that the pub was out of growlers - that first (only) pitcher went down so slowly! 

 

I do like sours, for what it's worth, but I like a good malty beer best!

[Fla Mike]

This is sad to hear as I have really enjoyed it in the past and am looking forward to it on my upcoming Freedom cruise.

 

I didn't notice a change when I was on the Magic in September, but maybe the quantity consumed had something to do with it 😇

 

Perhaps AB-InBev is no longer producing it?

[crewsweeper]

35 minutes ago, Fla Mike said:

This is sad to hear as I have really enjoyed it in the past and am looking forward to it on my upcoming Freedom cruise.

 

I didn't notice a change when I was on the Magic in September, but maybe the quantity consumed had something to do with it 😇

 

Perhaps AB-InBev is no longer producing it?

Mardi Gras, Vista and Horizon have their own on board breweries, so their beers would most likely stay the same.  But they don't brew for other ships.  I would also wonder if AB _InBev is no longer producing it.  Not even sure they make a red/amber ale anymore.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'll add (my tasting notes), that it seemed as if I was drinking from a rusty can...

 

Tom

[brilliantseas]

My understanding is that ThirstyFrog Red was originally a private label beer brewed by MillerCoors that was similar to if not exactly Killians Irish Red. 

 

With the expansion of the ThirstyFrog and Parched Pig brands, Carnival has shifted brewing to a company called Brew Hub in Lakeland, FL. I'm sure the Vista class ships still do some brewing at Pig & Anchor, but ThirstyFrog is now coming out of Brew Hub. 

[crewsweeper]

Maybe Carnival switched at one time to Miller-Coors but original Thirsty Red frog was brewed in Jacksonville by AB-InBev.

 Brew Hub contracts out to make a wide variety of special beers (wouldn't exactly call them "craft") for lots of restaurants and others.  They do brew BJ' Brewhouse's Jeremiah Red and their own Diver Down (not the Van Halen version) plus a number of beers for other Florida breweries which helps in those breweries expansion of products.  I don't go to BJ's as service is terrible.  But I had a sixer of Diver Down a couple of weeks ago and  it tasted like a decent ale, nothing sour about it.  Lately Brew Hub has focused on sours and fruity beers, so perhaps they got some wrong feed into Thirsty Red Frog or tried to change it.

Edited March 22, 2022 by crewsweeper

[IrritatedEllipses]

4 hours ago, brilliantseas said:

My understanding is that ThirstyFrog Red was originally a private label beer brewed by MillerCoors that was similar to if not exactly Killians Irish Red. 

 

It's been awhile since I did ordering for a restaurant that sold it, but private label marketing for things adjacent to Killians Red was a big thing back in the day, though as the previous poster said I believe it was A-B that had the biggest red ale (Or, you know... Just ale) that was a private label. 

 

That being said, (red) ales in general have gone by the wayside in the past five to ten years and do not sell well at all. At my last gig I ended up dumping almost a quarter of a keg, and this was a bar where going through two kegs a day for most everything we had on tap was normal. In general folks are looking for a wider variety when they venture away from American (pale) lagers (Which still reign king as far as mass consumption in the states, though not by purchase or dollar) and production on things like (red) Ales and even straight lagers has slowed considerably as the mass breweries adjust to produce what sells.

 

It would be completely understandable for A-B or MillerCoors or whoever created the original Thirsty Red to have switched production away and not be able to meet Carnivals demands. 

EDIT: Immediately after posting this I looked through my old, old email for a pricing sheet and, judging from the beers it's listed near, I believe it was A-B that had the private label. Also this is a really, really old price sheet as it's listed as $49 for a half barrel lol

Edited March 22, 2022 by IrritatedEllipses