The British Virgin Islands Have One Brewery and It’s Only Accessible by Boat

If you’re craving a cold beer while working on your tan in the British Virgin Islands, it’s easy enough to reach for a Carib or Red Stripe, popular Caribbean beers that are brewed in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica respectively. However, if you want to sip a lager or IPA that’s locally brewed in the BVI, then you’ll need to get off the beach and head out to sea — it’ll be worth the trip.

The Cooper Island microbrewery is one-of-a-kind in the British Virgin Islands, located at the Cooper Island Beach Club, a private eco-resort that can only be reached by boat, whether a chartered or private yacht. The trip takes about two to three hours from Tortola, the BVI’s largest island.

Owned by Colin Harris, one of the founders of Harrows Darts, the world’s leading darts manufacturer, the tiny craft brewery was added to his family’s resort in 2015. Custom-built equipment is powered by the ever-present Caribbean sun and the brewery uses rainwater collected on-site and filtered for purity at the self-sufficient resort. A range of at least four beers is available on draft every day, as well as rotating seasonal options, all made by the lead — and only — brewer Marco Biga.

“I like to make light and refreshing beer, something that you can drink under the sun,” says Biga. “When I come up with ideas for new beers, I think about what I would want to drink after work while sitting on the beach.”

The scaled-down sustainable brewing operation overlooks the turquoise waters of Manchioneel Bay, where dozens of boats bob at anchor on any given day while Biga makes the Everyday Lager — arguably the bestseller, with its crisp, slightly bitter flavor — as well as the lightly yeasty Sunset Pilsner and two IPAs, including the popular Turtle IPA, with notes of grapefruit and pine. (One dollar of every sale of the Turtle IPA goes to support the work of the Turtle Foundation saving sea turtle populations.)

Biga often leans into a range of other styles, including kolsch, hefeweizen, and stout. A recent favorite was a tart and deeply colored raspberry sour. During the hurricane season, when the resort shuts down from August to October, Biga thinks ahead to new styles he might want to try — maybe a crisp rice lager or a hazy IPA.

The five fermentation tanks brew up to 2,000 liters at a time, all in a room the size of a decent walk-in closet. Biga, who first learned how to brew beer in his hometown of Giaveno, Italy, plans production about four months in advance, because supplies, such as barley, hops, and yeast, have to be ordered and delivered from the mainland United States. “Sometimes it takes a while for things to get to us,” he says. “So I have to plan ahead to make sure that we can serve beer.” The IPAs typically take about 30 days until they are ready to drink, while the lager and pilsner take somewhat longer. “The lager is very easy to drink, but also the most difficult to make because it has a very low quantity of hops, so you can’t hide behind any mistakes.”

When he’s not working with the tanks, you might find Biga hanging out incognito at the bar, striking up conversations with patrons to find out which beers they are enjoying most as the evening trade winds blow through. “It’s kind of a social experiment,” he laughs. “If you tell someone that you’re the brewer, they might not be as honest with their feedback, and I honestly just want to make beer that everyone really enjoys.”

What to drink: There are four beers on draft daily: Everyday Lager, Sunset Pilsner, Turtle IPA, and Suppin IPA. There is often at least one seasonal beer on draft, as well as a fruit-forward hard seltzer. Get a tasting flight at the bar to try all the varieties, and growlers are available to take back on the boat with you.

How to get there: Overnight guests traveling to Cooper Island Beach Club can be collected in Road Town, Tortola, to travel there by boat. Visitors can also charter boats for day or overnight sail to Cooper Island, where there are anchorages in the bay that can be reserved in advance or are available on a first-come, first-served basis.