A Craft Beer Aruba Beer Guide
I used to poke fun at tourists who would complain about local beer when traveling. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “I love going to the Caribbean, but the beer… Can’t they just serve Coors Light?” Statements like that would to get my blood boiling. If you’re that married to your precious domestic cans and can’t taste the local flavors, then go to Florida. They have beaches, sunshine, and all the fizzy yellow stuff you can drink (which tastes the same anyway).
Then the craft beer movement hit and my palate become sophisticated to the nuances of good beer (not the fizzy yellow stuff referenced above). I became one of those people complaining about the local beers. Can’t someone just bring me an IPA?
Which got me thinking about the craft beer movement in general. Has it hit Caribbean sun spots? Let’s take a look at Aruba beer, for example, as it’s arguably one of the best Caribbean destinations in terms of a culinary scene.
Has craft beer hit Aruba?
Not really. The Aruba beer market focuses heavily around the three offerings from Balashi, Pilsner, Light, and Chill, which are brewed on the island. Balashi is as close as you’ll get to a Caribbean craft beer as the grain bill is 100% malts with no rice fillers. The Pilsner is the heaviest of the three in terms mouthfeel and flavor, and Chill is the lightest resembling more of an “island” beer.
Other popular beers imported from surrounding tropical destinations include Amstel Bright from Curaçao and Polar from Venezuela. Both also fill that “island” lager niche. Since Aruba is a Dutch island, Heineken, Amstel, and Amstel Light are also available.
But there are a few bright spots!
Up until recently, there were only restaurants with beer menus beyond those mentioned above, but they focused solely Belgium or Germany. Taste of Belgium is a favorite of tourists and locals alike with a rotating selection of Belgian beers on the menu and some of the best food in Aruba. Think Belgian treats like mussels and frites or steak and frites. The restaurant also hosts beer tasting dinners on occasion teaching guests about both ideal beer and food pairings and proper glassware. Bavaria, as its namesake indicates, specializes in German food and beers, boasting quite an extensive menu of each. There’s over 100 beers available, ranging from Belgian beers to hoppy IPAs.
For a sports bar atmosphere, head to Bros & Beer at the King Plaza Mall. The bar has multiple TVs to watch your favorite sports team while you enjoy their speciality craft beer. They have a large selection to choose from, and are constantly adding new beers to the lineup.
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Madame Janette has the largest variety of American craft beer on the island. While the restaurant has been around since 1999, they didn’t start serving craft beer until two years ago when the owner was awoken to the trend after a visit to the United States. The beer menu goes quite deep offering a few brews hard to come by in the U.S., let alone on a Caribbean island. Also new to the craft beer scene is Local Store Aruba which has a decent selection of rotating American craft beers.
Go head craft beer lovers, plan a vacation in Aruba and enjoy that well deserved week of relaxation. Aruba has enough craft beer to please anyone but a fan of fizzy yellow light beers.
Additional Aruba travel planning resources
Check out one of my other Aruba travel guides to help make your Aruba vacation the vacation of a lifetime!
- Top 3 Adults Only Resorts in Aruba – Adults only resorts in Aruba are hard to find. Here are three that will meet your child free vacation needs.
- Your Guide to the Best Aruba Family Resorts and Restaurants – A guide to the best Aruba family resorts and restaurants, covering all budgets and travel styles. Start planning your Aruba family vacation!
Great post, tks Ryan.
I’m glad you found my post useful. Thank you for your comment.
thanks so much, I´m really excited for my honeymoon at Aruba, also to have some IPA or something from a decent brewing place, but now I can see that it was just a dream. Maybe, I can grab some belgian stuff, but not that tasty.
Bye
You’re still in Aruba and on your honeymoon! Just enjoy the local lagers, the beach, and your new wife!
I’m heading to Aruba in a couple weeks for my honeymoon. Any chance they have Guinness flowing down there? I’m a craft snob, but Caribbean Guinness is exceptional.
You should have no problem finding it. Enjoy your honeymoon!
This is so helpful! We will definitely be hitting up Local Store. Did you have any success buying beer at any of the local stores? We will have a fridge, and our hotel supplies coolers to take to the beach. Kind of thinking about packing some cans, but that seems a bit extreme 🙂
The local stores will carry some imports from Germany or Belgium. There’s a good chance they’re skunked though. I wouldn’t recommend packing cans. My philosophy is “when in Rome,” or, in your case, “when in Aruba.” Drink Balashi. It’s a good island beer. 100% malts and no additives like rice.
Have a great time!
I own a brewery in New England and own a time share in Aruba.Id like to bring an American style brew pub to Aruba. Do you know if there are any planned for any?
I do not, but I like where your head’s at. A brainstorm of mine has been to start a brewery in the Caribbean. Aruba would be a good choice with its cuisine. St Lucia would be awesome as well with its focus on natural and local. Even Bonaire with it’s scuba dive crowd. They can be hearty drinkers. If you ever want to brainstorm, let me know!
Wow a place to get IPA’s.. So hitting up Local Store!
Do it!
Check out Bros & Beer Aruba. New place in the King Plaza Mall.
Feel free to tell readers a little more about it. Thanks!
It is a new Bar with a sports bar atmosphere and the main theme of the bar is Specialty beer bar. The bar has lots of screens to watch sport while you enjoy food and beer. they have a very large selection of beer and also keep adding more beer to there beer menu. Check out their website, instagram and facebook page:
http://www.brosandbeeraruba.com
https://www.facebook.com/Bros-Beer-Aruba-171585209847438/
https://www.instagram.com/brosbeeraruba/
Thanks
Hi Brian, Thanks for your blog and spreading the word ! In the meantime we have increased our beer menu and have around a 100 beers available now . Besides all the good German stuff we have many nice Belgian beers and a handful of IPA’s or Amer. Pale Ales. Check out http://www.bavaria-aruba.com Hope to see you again on our Happy Island !
Thanks for the update! I hope to make another trip their soon. I’ll stopped by when I do.
Hi Brian! Nice article. Since you last visited there has been a nice craft beer movement on the island. We were feeling the same way you did and last year we started a distributing company for American Craft Beer, Craft Beer Lovers Aruba. Now you can find it in nice bars like Bros & Beer, Shon Gecko, The West Deck, On The Rocks Cafe, Rum Reef, Hooters, Sidebar, to name a few. You can even find it at the biggest supermarket on the island, Super Food and also high end restaurants like Papiamento Restaurant, The kitchen Table by White and Texas de Brazil. it definitely has been a great year for craft beer in Aruba. On May 21st we hosted Aruba’s First Craft Beer festival and their was a variety of about 80 craft beers to taste from. Next year we expect it to get bigger! Hope to see you here soon!
Thanks for adding to this list. I’m glad to hear craft beer is gaining such momentum in Aruba. Sadly, I reached out to the tourist board for coverage on Aruba beer, but they aren’t interested. I guess they aren’t aware that tourists are picking destinations more and more on not only availability of great food but good beer, too. I can’t keep up with demand for coverage right now! I wish Aruba was among those interested as I would love to return and give the island the coverage it deserves.
Great beer info. Heading to Aruba in February and coming from Canada we LOVE our beer and our craft beer market is exploding! Thanks for the tips and recommendations…Hmm Balashi and the warm sun -can’t wait
Have an awesome time and enjoy some Balashi for me!
Bryan, Thanks for all this info! I’m going to Aruba in a few day and for this Argentinian IPA lover this information is really important. Can’t wait for go to all this places. PS: Here in Buenos Aires the craft beer scene explode in 2014 and it’s incredible how fast and big is growing! So much bars and breweries. If you come to Buenos Aires try the beers of “Juguetes Perdidos”, “Cheverry”, “Berlina”, “Filidoro”. There is SO MUCH MORE… really.
Thanks for the comment, Yampa! I’m glad to hear craft beer is growing strong in Buenos Aires. I haven’t been since 2000 but need to plan a visit soon. I have a lot of family there in BA and Escobar.
When will these beer “gourmets” realize that there are other flavors to look for besides bitter? Anymore the IPA-only crowd are getting worse than the Bud-lovers. If you put in enough hops you can hide the fact you’re making a crappy beer because all you can taste is hops.
Ron, I’m not sure what your comment has to do with Aruba, but I can agree. There is a point where hop heads can take things a bit too far, and some brewers are hiding blemishes by over hopping. However, I encourage you to try more IPAs as the majority are not just about the bitter. In fact, hops add many different dimensions like citrus, tropical fruit, earth, and pine notes.
Ron, if you think American beer drinkers want bitter in their IPAs, you appear to be mistaken. Hahaha. New England style IPAs are hazy, fruity, hoppy and anything but bitter. In fact, they are now making IPAs (Veil – I don’t ever wanna BU) with 0 IBUs that put no hops in the boil so there won’t be any bitterness. That is the way the taste is moving. But “Oh won’t those stupid IPA lovers ever learn?” Hahaha.
Well put. IPAs aren’t only about over bitter hops. There are some out there, but more and more offer drink-ability. The problem is the sheer spectrum of IPAs. If a non-craft beer drinker orders a Hop Drop and Roll from NoDa Brewing (here in Charlotte), they’ll be turned off from the style forever. But, if they order a Northeast IPA, they’ll have a completely different experience.
Let me throw an update out there that I hope is hopeful. First, Local Store is probably the best craft beer location. They get lots of MIA canned beers, including Mega Mix and other IPAs. They have Dogfish Head IPAs. They have the Belgian stuff. Almost all in coolers rather than on draft. Plus they are very good dudes. Very solid USA style chicken wings and the burgers are awesome. The guy that owns/runs it is also now a beer distributor. He is attempting to get some homebrew stuff going, but not yet. There is one home brewer on the island down near San Nicholas and he makes more stouts than anything else. Another spot called Bros and Beer is near the Tropicana and La Cabana near Eagle Beach (low rise). They have a bunch of craft beer on tap and in bottles. Second best on the island. Also good wings. TVs for sports. good spot for sure. Taste of Belgium is very good selection of Belgians and 2 for 1 for happy hour. Craft Beer is catching on big. Need another year or two to get there, but they are trying.
Great additions. Thank yo so much for adding them. I need to return to the island and check out the latest changes.
Heading there in March – good info and I’ll check out the scene.
I’ll be there in February and will update the guide when I return. Check back before you leave.
Hi Bryan, Have you ever visited Costa Rica? If you don not, you should because here there is at least 60 breweries and all have good beers! PD: sorry for my english but i`m a venezuelan in Costa Rica and I work in a Brewering Co. named La Cofradía, if you come to Costa Rica visit us.