Tap Handle #238: St. John - Disney's Polynesian Resort

This is not really a rare tap, but it does have something that makes it a little more special than the standard St. John tap. St. John Brewery distributes all over Florida, including Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. When the tap was first listed I was skeptical that it was real, so I went to St. John's site and looked at their distribution map (Disney's Dolphin Resort is a distribution point for bottled beer), then talked to a manager on the phone at the Polynesian Resort, who confirmed they once served a few varieties of St. John on tap, but since they no longer served it there, explains why the tap was available. Whether Disney or St. John had the "label" made (it's really a magnet), and whether it was on tap in the Tambu Lounge or the Barefoot Pool Bar isn't clear. The standard 3 varieties of the "label" magnet are in the photo on the right.

St. John Brewery was founded on the island of St. John, Virgin Islands in 2005, by Chirag Vyas and Kevin Chipman. The two men were friends and former roommates at the University of Vermont, but became frustrated by the 9-5 lifestyle, so they quit their jobs and moved to St. John. For their first month on the unfamiliar island, Vyas and Chipman bused tables and paid a local $250 a month to sleep on an old sailboat. They missed the craft beers they had sampled in college, so they had ordered a $50 beer-making kit. Their hobby soon turned into a side business; since they had no bottling facility, they sterilized large, glass water bottles that they collected from restaurants and used them to house the variety of beers they were creating. As the demand for their beer outgrew their ability to produce locally, the two teamed up with Shipyard Brewing for contract brewing and bottling. The first batch of more than 1,300 cases of Tropical Mango Pale Ale arrived on a 40-foot container.

St. John Brewery presently brews 6 varieties of beer, as well as a root beer and an energy drink. Their products are sold throughout the Virgin Islands as well as in several states in the U.S. Additionally, Vyas and Chipman own and operate The Tap Room, the flagship brewpub of St. John Brewers located in the heart of Cruz Bay, St. John.

Tropical Mango is St. John's flagship brew, a fruit beer with a subtle exotic fruit nose and mild hop finish. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.53 out of 5.

St. John Brewing Official Website