Story by Liz and Dave Jensen

Kevin Brown, the brewer and founder of Frenchtown Brewing Company, has the best answer to the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” His answer, “make beer and fireworks.” He is a man of many talents: a marine researcher and analytical chemist by day, craft brewer on the weekends, and international fireworks technician in his spare time. We visited him in St. Thomas, USVI during the last week of 2016 as he was preparing for his weekend brew and the local New Year’s firework show off of a barge. When you visit, ask him about setting up the fireworks show in Dubai. But let’s talk about the brewery.

Frenchtown Brewing is located in the Frenchtown area of St. Thomas, which is a popular destination with several restaurants and bars. Before opening in August 2015, they spent months renovating a former commercial kitchen, located behind Pie Whole Pizzeria, and setting up their tasting room and 3 barrel brewhouse. The brewhouse is a custom steam boiler system utilizing used dairy equipment and a mash tun from 1952. Kevin decided on a steam system because they lacked the proper electrical setup and he was concerned that direct fire would be problematic. Luckily, Kevin’s friend at Brugge & Outliers also runs a steam system so he was able get some great advice on how to set it up. Recently, they added a crowler machine to fill 32 oz. cans so that you can take some beer to go.

When Frenchtown Brewing started, they thought they would simply supply beer to a few local bars and restaurants, operate a small tap room, and enjoy a fun retirement project. Now, 18 months after they opened, Frenchtown Brewing is already expanding. They didn’t expect their beer to be so popular and now demand has outstripped their current 150 barrel per year capacity. In 2017, Kevin is retiring from his day job and will focus on Frenchtown Brewing full time. The brewery is upgrading to a 15 barrel steam brewhouse at a larger location, which will also include a new tap room. They are hoping to move into a nearby 6000 square-foot space that is located across from one of the cruise ship docks. Since bottles are not recyclable on the islands and cans are more beach friendly, the expansion roadmap also includes a canning system. When the new location is ready, the original location will stay open as a pilot brewery.

Challenges of Brewing in the Virgin Islands

Brewing in the islands comes with complications. In most breweries around the world, you expect basics such as water, electricity, and carbon dioxide (for carbonation) to be cheap and plentiful. Water is one of the bigger problems. Water in the neighborhood is reverse osmosis seawater which is then filtered. The water comes out of the tap at a warm 85°F so some water has to go into a tank in cold storage before use. Water and electricity on the island is more expensive than on the mainland at 2 cents per gallon and 35 cents per kilowatt hour, respectively. The brewery also needs backup power and the new facility will have a generator. It’s these kinds of challenges that explain why Frenchtown is the only locally-brewed craft beer in the Virgin Islands.

The Beer

While discussing the brewery, fireworks, and more, we had an opportunity to try a few of the Frenchtown beers.

Rooster Brown Ale

Rooster is hybrid English and American brown ale with a nice light brown color. It’s not as light as a Newcastle but not as dark as a typical American Brown ale. The aroma is nutty, malty, slightly chocolatey, roasty. The flavor is sweet with a little earthy bitterness. It is, however, not overly sweet because it is light enough to enjoy in the humid island heat. The grain bill for this beer is Marris Otter, crystal, chocolate malt, and biscuit malt. Rooster is bittered with Warrior hops and finished with East Kent Goldings.

Frenchie Farmhouse Saison

Frenchie a saison has warrior hops for bittering, and Saaz plus Styrian Golding for aroma.The aroma has the typical banana esters and clove phenol characteristics with a few earthy hop notes. The flavor has a nice bitterness to balance the sweetness. It works really well in the tropics.

86° and Sunny

This beer uses the exact same base beer as Frenchie, but instead it is fermented with a pale ale yeast, and then dry hopped with Falconer’s Flight. This beer is citrusy and floral with tropical fruit note. It is nice and crisp and quite refreshing. Despite having the same base, it seems to be a little less sweet than the saison. This is a great all-around beer for a visit to the Virgin Islands, we left with a crowler of this beer and it didn’t last long. Even the name of the beer, which describes the daily weather, reminds you that you are in a tropical paradise. (86° F is 30°C).

Hop Alley IPA

Hop Alley is the nickname for the location of the brewery. To get there you walk down a short alley, Hop Alley, to the back of the building and up the stairs. This IPA uses Warrior for bittering, Columbus in the kettle, and then whirlpooled and dry hopped with Citra, Simcoe, and Amarillo. The grain bill is 2-row with a touch of victory and carapils. The aroma is fruity with notes of tropical fruit, grapefruit, passionfruit, and breadfruit. It is also slightly grassy with hints of pineapple and pine. It is a very well balanced IPA that is not over aggressively hopped with a smooth, not sharp, bitterness. Frenchtown wanted an IPA that was accessible to many type of beer drinkers and it turns out to be a crowd-pleaser.

Labor of Love

I’m glad that Kevin is the person who is representing craft beer on the island because he has such a long-standing passion for it. He started home-brewing because there wasn’t very good beer on the island. (I spent a week in the Virgin Islands. I concur.) He expanded on his passion to bringing craft beer to the area by becoming a craft beer distributor about five years ago. You can thank him for bringing you Ommegang to paradise. He even named his dog Chouffe. His previous dogs were Pivo and Chimay. This man is consumed by the beer business.

Terri, Kevin’s wife, is the other half of what is driving this brewery. She is the impressive marketing and branding engine behind Frenchtown Brewing. As I walked to their back alley facility, I asked in disbelief, “This is a 3 barrel brewery?” I was struck by the creative polish and branding that made me feel like I was in a much bigger and more established brewery. It’s moments like this that remind me to dream big and execute accordingly. If you need professional advice on beer packaging design, Terri posted tips on Craft Brewing Business. I also highly recommend her article about how to brand your craft brew to women. After all, Nielsen research reported in 2014 that women consume almost 32 percent of craft beer produced in the U.S. To ignore or alienate this much of the market is leaving money on the table. From island beer to beautiful design to strategic marketing, Frenchtown Brewing is a company culture to admire and take inspiration from.

Special thanks to Kevin and Terri for being great hosts and showing us around their brewery.