Beer tasting on Disney Cruise Line

Details about the beer tasting on Disney Cruise Line!

With my crazy busy life (and so much of my time spent planning trips for other people), I actually missed our date to book events on board the Disney Wish when we sailed. Everything filled up quickly… but because you don’t have to pay up front, people end up canceling or moving things around all the time. I checked the app a lot on board to see what might open up, and there was constantly stuff coming and going.

I really enjoy doing the drink seminars on the Disney cruises, as it’s a good way to try new things and to learn as well. “Fun + educational” is pretty much my sweet spot! I managed to grab a reservation for the beer tasting for 1 person. Since Jason isn’t really into beer I figured he wouldn’t mind (don’t worry, I was right!). 

You can find the Beer Tasting on Disney Cruise Line on all of their ships, and for the Disney Wish it was held in Keg and Compass. This is a neat space and the place where you can go if you want to get some decent beers on tap.

I wouldn’t say I’m a beer expert, but I definitely try a bunch of things and have learned a lot along the way. I was excited to hopefully learn a bit more and to see how much I already knew.

Our instructor was very good for this class and I thought it was an excellent mix of some of the basics I was familiar with, and more detailed information that was new to me. 

Types of beer

We got some information and fun facts on beer in general, as well as its history. In terms of the different types of beer, he gave a quick overview:

• Beers and ales are grains, herbs, hops, yeast, and water
• Mead is grains, herbs, honey, fruit, and water
• Hazy beer is typically a non-filtered blend of two different grains – barley and wheat
• A tripel has three times the grains

Fun facts about beer

Then there were some “fun facts”. I knew most of these, but it’s still fun to hear them again! For instance, IPAs were invented by the British when they were sending beer over to India (hence the name IPA – Indian pale ale). It would sour along the journey, so they added more hops to mask the sourness with bitterness. (Side note – this is why I always tease people who love IPAs. They basically use a lot of hops to cover up the bad taste! I’m kidding a bit. There are plenty of IPAs I enjoy, they just aren’t my favorite).

You know how a bottle of Corona is always served with a lime on top? You might think that’s just to add flavor, but it actually started for another reason. When Coronas were being enjoyed outside in Mexico, it tended to attract a lot of flies. Apparently flies don’t like limes, so people started sticking a slice of lime in the bottle to keep the flies out. They realized this tasted pretty good too, so they kept doing it! On the other hand, Blue Moon did just add the orange to their beer for flavor. That was apparently more appealing to the American market. 

He started by talking about the best way to taste beer – paying attention to the nose, look, and mouth feel. We were instructed to smell it first, then do a small sip, and then a big sip.

For each beer we tried he had us guess what style of beer it was. You might think you know your beers pretty well, but this can be harder than you realize! Especially with so many of the twists and interpretations on types of beer. 

He also went around he room and asked everyone what their favorite style of beer is. A number of people did say IPA, or lager, or wheat. I swear I’m not a beer snob, but I was the only person to say saison. Really I just like trying a lot of different things so I’ve had a lot of different beers!

The beer tasting on Disney Cruise Line

The first one we tried was pretty light and basic. It turned out to be Stella Artois, which is basically my go-to beer in places that only have a typical selection. It’s a light lager, clear, with no real smell coming in at 4.8%.

This was followed up by something that had a lot more flavor. We learned it was a pale ale called the Twisted Tentacle. It’s made by a brewery in Oregon, but the beer itself is exclusively made for the Disney Wish. The recipe is a secret, but our bartender was guessing that it uses chinook hops. It had a strong smell like an IPA but not as strong tasting, and a hazy appearance with 5.2%.

Up next was a different kind of beer – a red ale. It was the Petrus red ale, which is one that had been aged for awhile. There were notes of cherry, caramel, and roasted grains. Now you’re getting a much higher alcohol content at 8.5%. I found this one to very rich, and not one that I could drink a lot of at one time. It was great to try as a tasting though!

The fourth beer was one I was familiar with and I have had it a few different places. It was Le Fin Du Monde, a Canadian beer that at least used to be available in Epcot’s Canada pavilion. The name directly translates to “the end of the world” – perhaps it’s so good that if the world is ending, you can drink one of these and forget your troubles? That may also work because it’s a very strong beer, like most Tripels, with an ABV of 9%.

The final beer in our tasting was a rather special one, as it was a Trappist ale. To be considered a true Belgian Trappist beer, it has to actually be made by monks in a monastery. The monastery that produced this beer (Abbaye D’Orval) only makes this one kind of beer, but that’s all it needs to do as it’s one of the most popular. It’s a very complex beer with a lot of different flavors, and a strength of 6%.

Although the five beers set out for our tasting were gone, we actually weren’t done yet! We had a sample of one more item to try. 

A beer cocktail

Beer cocktails have started to show up in more places, and while some people think the idea is odd, I think it’s great. I’ve tried a few different ones and they can be really good. So we got to try a very tasty beer cocktail, which was a mix of a wheat ale, orange juice, and Grand Marnier. This tasting was happening around 10am by the way, so it was a good “breakfast” beer!

In fact, I enjoyed the idea of a beer cocktail so much that I hung around after the tasting was over and ordered a different one they had on the menu at Keg and Compass. This one was called the “Skall Sangria” and it was made with Lindeman’s Framboise, the Twisted Tentacle ale, and Lillet rose. I liked this a lot! The pale ale cut the sweetness of the raspberry in the framboise and made for some really interesting flavors.

All in all I was very pleased with the beer tasting on the Disney Wish. I was worried it might be too basic and I’d already know a lot of it, but there was plenty I didn’t know. And an opportunity to try different beers and really learn about them is always welcome.

Like all drink tastings I’ve done on Disney cruises, I’d definitely recommend this one if you enjoy trying different beers and want to learn more about them!

Would you try this beer tasting on Disney Cruise Line? Which beer do you think you would enjoy the most?