Yes, Brewing Beer On A Cruise Ship Is Everyone's Dream Job. But It's Not All Suds And Sunshine.

You could theoretically call Colin Presby a “gypsy brewer,” one who travels the world brewing craft beer. Though the term would be accurate, it wouldn’t be entirely complete. In the traditional sense, a gypsy brewer journeys from brewery to brewery, making beer as she goes. Presby, on the other hand, brings his brewery with him.

“Within a month of accepting (the job) I was on a plane to the shipyard in Italy,” says the 32-year-old Reading, PA, native.

Since setting sail on her maiden voyage one year ago this month, Presby has brewed beer on Carnival Vista, which houses the only North American-flagged onboard brewhouse. One of Carnival Corporation's German subsidiaries also equips some of its vessels with breweries, and Carnival itself is looking to outfit its next four ships. But in terms of what’s currently at sea, that’s it so far.

I caught up with Presby (whom I know through Philly’s regional beer scene), on Tuesday to talk about his first year at sea. He spoke from a satellite phone in his cabin while docked in Jamaica.

TN: Colin, for starters, how did you land everybody’s dream job?

CP: I’d been brewing professionally for seven years and I’d helped a brewery start up in my hometown. I saw this opportunity advertised; I sent my resume and cover letter, went through interviews, and things came together quite quickly.

TN: What are the brewery specs? Did you help design it?

CP: (After answering with metric numbers, he remembers his audience and converts.) It’s a three-barrel brewhouse (1 barrel = 31 gallons) with eight six-barrel fermenters so I brew two batches in one day or on subsequent days to fill the vessels. Funny, most of the people I work with consider a vessel to be a ship and I consider it to be a tank. I was able to work pretty closely with our manufacturer doing a lot of troubleshooting and commissioning. The company’s designed and installed 20 of these brewhouses worldwide but none in the States.

TN: You work on a system that's made from glass, right?

CP: Yes, sometimes I’ll brew in the evenings when more people are aboard. Sometimes I’ll get people hanging out and watching an entire brew day but it’s more common for people to come by to see the different steps. I do offer full hour-and-a-half brewery tours on sea days. I’m always open for questions and conversations.

TN: What kind of interest are you getting from passengers?

CP: On every cruise I have guests who tell me they chose this ship because we’re making great strides into the beer world, and the brewery on board is a great selling point. (Ed. note: A few of Carnival’s ships boast the beer-centric RedFrog Pub; the only other U.S.-based line making deep inroads into craft beer is Norwegian.) I always hear, “We chose to cruise because of the brewery,” or, “I was able to talk my partner into cruising because of the brewery.” I get professional brewers here, and a couple from Bell’s (Brewery) had their wedding onboard.

TN: What do you brew and where can people buy it?

CP: We have three flagships on all the time: Port Hoppin’ IPA, ThirstyFrog Carribbean Wheat and FriskyFrog Java Stout, which were partially designed by Miami’s Concrete Beach Brewery. We do some seasonals; most recently I did a Miami-style guava wheat because Miami is our home port. Right now almost everything I brew is served in the pub but I do have a handful of kegs so I’m able to put my beer in some other bars onboard. We are starting to take our beer onto other ships when we cross paths. We’ve gotten a really good response from that. I’ve gotten a great degree of free reign on what I brew and my boss has been very supportive. And we’re able to respond to guest requests. When we did the last cruise of our European season last October we had over 1,000 back-to-back guests for a total of 23 days. The idea of a pumpkin beer came up with them and I was able to source the ingredients and brew a pumpkin beer that they could watch me make then drink on tap.

TN: So how is brewing different on the water?

CP: My main concern is for a safe and secure operation so when we have heavy sea warnings I have enough flexibility to reschedule my brew day. I don’t want 100 gallons of boiling liquid rolling around as the ship rocks. When serving on rough seas we’ll get a little bit of cloudiness from the motion but generally we get good results regardless of weather.

TN: What kind of water do you use to brew?

CP: Our brewing water comes from our shipboard potable water system, and Carnival Vista has the capacity to make all of its own drinking water by way of a large desalination and reverse osmosis facility. So my brewing water starts as sea water! That lets me have a nice, consistent chemical profile.

TN: What about ingredient sourcing and other issues?

CP: For most of our ingredients we work with a U.S. supplier but for more specific things I’ve been pretty much able to get what I need from the kitchen manager. On one hand we’re a tiny brewpub and on the other hand we’re a massive operation. For instance, I’m in the beverage department. The beverage department doesn’t own a wrench. That was something we discovered very quickly because as a brewer I need access to tools. Yes, at this point I have my own toolbox but at the beginning that was an awkward transition.

TN: Speaking of the kitchen, are those folks jazzed about the potential for collaboration?

CP: We’ve had conversations about bringing beer up to the level of wine and spirits. I was standing around tasting the java stout with some of the ship’s top food and beverage managers and they said, “Wow, we could do a pairing lunch or use the coffee stout in sorbet.” I’m getting good interest from the company but implementation on this scale takes time.

TN: A lot of your job is education both giving and receiving, isn’t it?

CP: Yes, one of my biggest adjustments has been cultural. The American craft beer industry is pretty big and offers a lot of variety, so I’ve also found myself teaching the (international) staff about beer. I realized that in most of the world beer is still yellow lager. I got to interact with some small breweries in the Mediterranean and they’re in the early, early stages of craft beer.

TN: That’s an adjustment, huh?

CP: I’ve learned an immense amount about working and living with the same people. It’s a unique situation but it’s also very rewarding working with people from all different cultures. It is long hours and there’s a good amount of manual work. I’m still doing technical brewing and lots of cleaning, which also has its own set of challenges.

TN: What’s your favorite part of the job?

CP: It’s been a fantastic experience learning and sharing what I’m passionate about with people for whom it’s something new. Every week I’ve got 4,000 new people to meet, and we’ve got some fantastic guests.

TN: Is yours a prestigious position on the ship?

CP:  That’s a big thing. It’s not entirely clear so we’re figuring it out. It’s not an easy fit because things on the ship are very regimented and hierarchical.

TN: But pretty soon you’re going to command a literal fleet of on-board breweries.

CP: We’re looking at including breweries on four ships that’ve been announced for the next five years: two 133,500-ton Vista-class ships coming out in April of next year and in 2019 and the 180,000-ton ships coming out in 2020 and 2022. As we’re planning farther out I’m getting a little bit more input into the layout and operational aspects. I’ll be headed to the shipyard to commission the new Carnival Horizon in February (set to debut April 2, 2018). I’ll get that going, we’ll hire a brewer and my assistant will run things here mostly solo while I’ll be maintaining consistency and quality fleet-wide. Last year, I honestly didn’t know what (this job) would be like. I wondered, “How am I going to fit into this?” but very quickly I realized we’re growing the beer program around me, which is really freaking cool.

TN: That sounds like a long-term proposition. You had a serious girlfriend when you left. Are you able to maintain relationships back home?

CP: We’re working on things, and Carnival has made very good strides with our wi-fi availability so I can stay in touch. The biggest challenge has been my dad because he doesn’t do any electronic communication so when we’re in port I get cellular service and give him an old-fashioned phone call.

TN: Though I’m sure lots of people would do your job for free, how’s the pay?

CP: Salary-wise it’s competitive with what I’d be making with a craft brewery on land but it’s a little different because I’m able to save a lot. I’m not putting gas in my car to get to work, I’m not buying coffee … okay, I’m occasionally buying coffee. But my salary stretches a lot farther.