Virgin Islands Ale Brewing Company - Blackbeard Ale

Virgin Islands’ flagship beer is Blackbeard Ale, a full-bodied English style Amber Ale. Weary Willie uses both 6-row pale malts and the balance a combination of varied caramel malts. The beer is hopped both with Cascade and Cluster hops. Blackbeard is somewhat of a "historically correct" style for this region as it represents the same style once consumed centuries ago by English sailors and adventurers of the area. The notorious Blackbeard himself lived on St. Thomas for years and no doubt slammed back a cask or two of a similar beer while he pillaged, plundered, swaggered and performed other pirate-like duties. We encourage you to kick back with your favorite salty dogs and fire up the Barbecue when enjoying this tasty treat from the Caribbean.

When traveling abroad, most people tend to delve into foreign soil by experiencing the local "flavor" through observing local customs and indulging the varied unique foods, drinks, and narcotics the native land has to offer. Such was the case with Matt Razook and his brother, Chris (except the narcotics, of course!). In the Spring of 1994, the brothers took a trip to the Virgin Islands for a week of scuba diving in the pristine waters of the Caribbean. While the lads were indeed fired up to be in an exotic place, the absence of a truly descent local beer left them feeling unsatisfied and disappointed, not to mention, damn thirsty. Although, the fact that they were forced to partake in a great number of colorful rum fruity drinks served with mini umbrellas by scantly clad cocktail waitresses, somewhat eased their pains. All of the bars on the islands seemed to be limited to a couple of American mainstream light beers and either Red Stripe from Jamaica or Caribe from Trinidad, neither of which offer much more than a repackaged Bud Light kind of an experience. It was then that the Razooks decided to take matters into their own hands. A couple of years and a hurricane or two later, they founded the Virgin Islands Brewing Company.

The U.S. Virgin Islands (VI), located about 1,500 miles southeast of Florida, are a U.S. Territory. The main islands in the group are comprised of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The entire population of the territory is only around 100,000 people or roughly the equivalent of a strip mall in L.A., but the VI gets about 2 million thirsty tourists a year. So, in September of 1997, the Virgin Islands Ale Company opened the only craft brewery in the Caribbean, on the island of St. Croix.

The initial search for a location centered on the islands of Tortola, St. Thomas and St. Croix. The important factors to be considered included availability of good municipal water, high visibility and sufficient space. At one point, St. Thomas had been chosen, but hurricane Marilyn created too many complications. From the time the beer was launched, it quickly became the unofficial "National Beer of the Virgin Islands," replacing other Caribbean beers in many local watering holes’ coolers. The Government House even serves the breweries beers at varied official functions, social gatherings or simply when it’s really hot outside.

The initial search for a location centered on the islands of Tortola, St. Thomas and St. Croix. The important factors to be considered included availability of good municipal water, high visibility and sufficient space. At one point, St. Thomas had been chosen, but hurricane Marilyn created too many complications. From the time the beer was launched, it quickly became the unofficial "National Beer of the Virgin Islands," replacing other Caribbean beers in many local watering holes’ coolers. The Government House even serves the breweries beers at varied official functions, social gatherings or simply when it’s really hot outside.