St. John Brewers
St. John, Virgin Islands
Available: FL, MA, RI, VI
St. John Brewers is located in the in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Owners Kevin Chipman and Chirag Vyas created island-inspired ales at their local brewery and pub, The Tap Room.
ABV: 6.2
ABW: 4.94
Color: 16.8
Bitterness: 53
Original gravity: 1062
I welcome a characterful beer from anywhere in the Caribbean, rather than the ubiquitous uninspiring offerings. (Although, the label states this beer was actually made in Maine.) There’s honeyed citrus, melon and caramel in this copper-colored beer. It’s a little thin on the palate, and brandishes a somewhat astringent, tannic, grapefruit rind finish that lingers. Warren Zevon once sang “I’d rather feel pain than feel nothing at all.” I’m beginning to wonder if he was right.
This deep copper, almost amber ale is a bit of a mystery to me. My first two bottles were marked by an unmistakable whiff of buttered popcorn, something almost entirely absent from my second two. Instead, alongside faintly butterscotchy toffee notes were aromas of toasted walnut, dried fruit and hint of nutmeg. In the body, this is full-on IPA, more British than American in style, with assertive hopping that’s more nutty than citrusy, underpinned by prune and raisin notes. By the end I’m thinking much more about a good cheeseburger than I am popcorn.
John Hansell writes about beer, wine and spirits. He is the creator, publisher and editor of Malt Advocate, a magazine for the whisky enthusiast.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
