Beers in Paradise

With the bottling line broken the beer is only available on draught at tourist hotels. We were lucky enough to be given a tour by the reluctant brewmaster, who is the only employee of the brewery housed anonymously in the back of Bonds Liquor Store. No indication of its presence is visible, although four other beer-hounds managed to find out about the tour and accompanied us. The six of us shared a pitcher of Cook's Lager provided at the end of the tour, as well as some cherished labels from the defunct bottling line. This was a bit of an awakening because I had purchased a can of "Raro -- Cook Islands Beer" in another liquor store. Upon closer inspection I discovered the beer had been brewed and canned in New Zealand.

Discovering the Savusavu brewery in the port city of the same name was a pleasant surprise. We had no idea it existed until we saw it on tap in our hotel. And even better the brewery was located at the bottom of the hotel driveway (we believe owned by the same people). There was no tour available and the two brewery workers were not very forthcoming. They did tell us that they had been in business for about a year and produced 1500 liters of Savusavu natural beer a week that is only available on draught locally. They were not inclined to give us a sample, so we had to have some back at the hotel. It was drinkable, but suffered from a lack of hops. Besides the sign at the brewery the only advertising we saw was on the tap at the hotel and at the Planters Club.

Tonga has had it's own brewery since 1987. It produces Ikale and Royal in bottles and Royal on draught. Ikale (eagle) is by far the most widely consumed beer on the 171 islands, 50 of which are inhabited. Not all of the bottles in Tonga get back to the brewery. Like all of the Polynesian islands Tonga is very Christian. The missionaries having converted them many years ago. People go to church every day and all day on Sunday. There are no taxis, all the stores are closed and the airline is grounded on the Sabbath. However their burial practices are a very different blend of traditional and Christian ways. People are buried in mounds with banners and flags marking the graves for a 100-day period of mourning. The mounds are of sand that could easily be blown away, so beer bottles are filled with sand and placed around the grave to contain the mound. A very novel recycling method.

When I went to the Royal Brewery to take my photo it was difficult to get all of the things I wanted into the cameras lens. So I painstakingly moved a large sign saying "The Taste of Tonga" into position. I made one final adjustment, and then a truck pulled directly in front of the sign. I like the graveyard picture better.

Samoa's Vailima Brewery makes beer in 335 and 750-ml bottles as well as draught. It is the beer of the two main islands that make up the country. Vailima means water from the hand and is from an ancient legend of someone carrying water in his hand to save another's life.

American Samoa sadly has no brewery. However Vailima Export is available there and not in it's country of origin, so I adopted it as the local beer. Coming in at 6.7% alcohol compared to the domestic versions 4.6% doesn't allow for over consumption, so we drank a lot of Stein Lager, which was the most popular beer in the American possession, despite a clutter of Budweiser and Coors signs.

Niue, yes, it is a country composed of one island, and having only 1700 residents has no brewery. It sells mainly New Zealand brews. I have an idle desire to return and open the world's smallest national brewery. Niue has become the answer to the question we are most commonly asked. "What is your favorite country?" We loved it, being so different from all the other islands we visited. With it's chasms, caves, arches and snorkeling pools, it's like no where else.

Al wonders what they do about Olde can collectors...