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Brews cruises go upscale
If cruise ships serve fine wines, can artisanal beers be far behind?
Well no, actually. Crystal Cruises is pouring a new Connoisseur beverage list on its European cruises, with brews from Belgium, Austria, Germany, Holland and the U.K.
It starts at about $8 a bottle and runs up to the rare Samuel Adams Utopias, which mixes caramel, Vienna malts and a yeast variety found in champagne, for a beer that tastes like a fine port wine. It’s priced at about $300 a bottle.
The beer-pairing menu will change as the ships move around the globe, but always include about a dozen artisanal beers.
Crystal already serves Scotland’s Ola Dubh 12, Gaelic for "black oil," which is aged in the same oak casks as Highland Park 12-year-old single malt whisky, and other high-end microbrews.
The drinks on the list are not "high-priced," a Crystal spokesperson told TravelMole, but simply rare. Most are priced far below what an average restaurant would charge.
Also likely to be on the list are Samichlaus from Austria, with its notes of brown sugar and chocolate; the dark-fruity Rochefort Trappistes 10 from Belgium, and Thornbridge Bracia, with its hints of chocolate, coffee, licorice and hazelnuts.
Crystal is not the only ship to appeal to the beer connoisseur. Carnival serves ThirstyFrog Red as its house beer on some ships, and Royal Caribbean serves two dozen beers.
Microbrew-themed cruises, already available on small ships in many port cities, are coming to the major lines, too.
Crystal is offering a 14-day microbrew cruise from New York to Miami departing November 5, 2014.
Celebrity Cruises’ Samuel Adams Craft Beer Cruise on the Reflection in April and the 2014 Samuel Adams cruise to the Caribbean on the Silhouette over St. Patrick’s Day, which both included Utopias, sold out.
On a smaller scale, Maple Leaf Adventures is offering a five-day Tall Sails & Ales Tour in the Gulf Islands in October on a sailing ship featuring 50 diverse craft beers from British Columbia.
Included is the chance to have a beer with historian Greg Evan and chat about brew types, brewing history, pairing food and beers, and the "unbuttoned social history of drinking on Vancouver Island."
By Cheryl Rosen
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