Azamara beer choices could be improved

My wife and I just returned from our first Azamara cruise, an 11 night cruise of the West Indies. We thought everything was great!

My only disappointment was with the beer selection. I like India Pale Ale (IPA) which is the fastest growing craft beer in the US. There were no IPA's available at all. I suggest adding at least one IPA to the inventory especially for cruises leaving the US. The best choice would be Stone IPA. Stone IPA is ranked in the top one or two in the US and is widely available in bottles. The Stone Brewing Co. is headquartered in San Diego Ca. I'm hoping to see an IPA choice for our next Azamara cruise in Feb 2017 leaving from San Diego.

http://www.stonebrewing.com/

I agree. The "included free" beer choices are Budweiser, Bud Light and Becks...I would have thought Becks would be the choice, but to my surprise, Bud was better? Anyway, I would think that with the growing popularity and market share of IPA's across this industry, that Azamara would be a step ahead of the rest in offering one or two. Especially as Azamara increases its North America presence in cruise offerings. Please bring at least ONE IPA to the offering...I think you will be surprised at the reaction. Stone is a great idea!! :-)

I agree about an IPA, and Stone would be OK. But there are other great choices too. My favorite is Dogfish Head 90 Minute. Victory makes several super-hoppy choices. But for wide distribution and name recognition (without going to one of the formerly craft brewers who has sold out to the majors), I would suggest Sierra Nevada.

I would also raise my hand ( or glass) to a wider included beer selection even one of the other international larger name brands .Perhaps it could be a regional choice.

Regional choices were poor on our Australia and NZ cruise. Off the top of my head I can only recall two nights when they were the "house" wines.

I agree, I agree, I agree! Especially regarding the all-inclusive, extremely restrictive beer menu. We do at time enjoy a beer with lunch and the inclusive choices were not acceptable. Happily we had a lot of OBC, so we had no problem paying for Guinness. But only 3 choices on the inclusive, emphasis on American? I think AZ could do better in this area.

I'm not a beer drinker, but would have liked some cider options for our cruise in August. I can't see that there are any options, even for purchase.

We are likewise disappointed with the beer choices (we live in NC, and my husband is a homebrewer - we love good beer!) The worst is that our cruise will be Asia, so it's not like we can bring interesting options on board that we pick up in port;)

But c'est la vie. We'll drink wine & cocktails for a couple weeks instead. We'll survive:D

Hear, hear! The OP is correct on the popularity of IPAs. Please add at least one, and Stone would be a great choice (but there are many great options that would fit Az distributor lists.) Also, it would be nice to offer a good non-alcoholic such as Beck or St Pauli Girl on the "included" list.

We have just returned from the same cruise as the OP and would have liked to see Prosecco on the included list. It's not expensive, generally speaking and if they poured the gin and tonics slightly weaker they could afford the Prosecco! Also, the G&T's were always flat. How do they do that when pouring from small cans?!

On the ships of the german cruise line TUI, every ship is called "Mein Schiff", they start offering prosecco already for breakfast. I like to have to wake up (I don´t drink coffee) and I like it before the dinner. Like many others, especially women do.

It´s very common also in European hotels, to start offering Prosecco the whole day and it´s included in the basic complimentary drink list on "Mein Schiff".

And margbem is right, the price for a bootle of Prosecco must not be expensive.

I agree with everything posted! I just posted a question to Bonnie on this on the "What's really included" thread. Better beer and a sparkling wine option -- both so refreshing during the day, especially if its hot (which it won't be on my British Open cruise but I will drink beer and sparkling wine anyway:) Also a brandy option in the included beverage package.

Which Sierra Nevada IPA would you recommend?

Which Sierra Nevada IPA would you recommend?

Depends on what you like - try them all (Costco in NC has a multipack of Sierra IPAs- 4way IPA -Five Hop, Ruthless Rye, Torpedo & Hop Hunter) My husband likes them all, but Torpedo is probably his "go to". Possibly because it's more easily/often available.

(as a non-hop head - I'm thrilled that the craft beer movement in NC the past couple years has been heavily focused on farmhouse, saisons & sours - my favorite beers. My husband - the devoted hop-head - is still able to find LOTS he enjoys drinking, however)

Which Sierra Nevada IPA would you recommend?

I was thinking of their original Pale Ale, which would probably be the best common-denominator for a cruise ship. But I would happily go with Hoyaheel's DH on Torpedo.

Sorry -I thought that was a request for a personal recommendation for a new IPA to try, not for a beer that Azamara should stock :p.

I'm sure that supply is an issue for cruise lines, though Azamara would be smaller than most in terms of what they'd need....And like wine, there's no reason you'd need to have the same every day or every cruise. When we sailed Alaska on Pacific Princess a few years back, they stocked Alaskan Amber (Alaskan Brewing Co) and it was nice to have a local beer. And it was a good beer, too:D (which is to say, a beer I enjoyed - taste is subjective, as we all recognize)

Hoyaheel,

No problem. I would just like to see at least one American IPA available on cruises leaving from the US. And why not one of the highest rated? If the link works, here are the highest rated at this time according to this widely used and respected web site.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/116/?sort=brosD

Hoyaheel,

 

No problem. I would just like to see at least one American IPA available on cruises leaving from the US. And why not one of the highest rated? If the link works, here are the highest rated at this time according to this widely used and respected web site.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/116/?sort=brosD

Sadly, I suspect that if this decision is made at all it will be heavily biased by distribution channels. The following "micro breweries" are all owned by Anheuser Busch: 10 Barrel Brewing Co, Blue Point, Elysian, Goose Island, Kona Brewing Co, Red Hook, Widmer Brothers. I suspect the IPA of choice will come from one of them.

Jazzbeau,

Elysian Immortal IPA is great! Not a fan of the others though but have not tried a 10 Barrel Brewing IPA

Red Hook ESB was great -- but only before Bud bought them. Back then the label said ESB stood for "Extra Special Bitter" -- now under Bud it says "Extra Special Beer" and they have obviously cut down on the use of [expensive] hops. So I'm expecting all these brews to end up with rice in the recipe once the corporate bean-counters get down. [PS - ESB isn't beer anyway, it's ale!]

Thanks for the insight on Redhook. Their brewery is a 15 min. drive from my home. We used to go there often. I agree their ESB was great and their Long Hammer IPA was excellent too. Went down hill and we stopped buying. Didn't know the AB connection

Hoyaheel,

 

No problem. I would just like to see at least one American IPA available on cruises leaving from the US. And why not one of the highest rated? If the link works, here are the highest rated at this time according to this widely used and respected web site.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/116/?sort=brosD

I am not a big beer drinker, but my DH is. His favorite is IPA. We don't have any Bud, Bud Light, or Becks in our beer fridge. We haven't been offered one at any of our friends houses for a long time either. I know my DH would be thrilled to see an IPA offered.

I was looking at cruise options on Celebrity and noticed that they seem to have a craft beer area on certain ships perhaps similar to a wine bar? Anyone experienced this? I would not suggest that Azamara do this, but I do think they would find that offering a couple high end IPA's would be well received. Bonnie, do you know if this has ever been discussed at Azamara?

The worst is that our cruise will be Asia, so it's not like we can bring interesting options on board that we pick up in port;)

Maybe you can:

http://craftbeerasia.com/

I was thinking of their original Pale Ale, which would probably be the best common-denominator for a cruise ship. But I would happily go with Hoyaheel's DH on Torpedo.

Yes, yes, yes! My husband drinks Torpedo at home, but happily drinks the Pale Ale on our Celebrity cruises. Seems like if it's already on board X (and I assume RCI) then it shouldn't be too hard to put it aboard AZ? Sometimes you just want an IPA with your burger at the grill. You just do. :)