TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums Southern Caribbean American Beer, CUR

Traveling down to Curacao at the end of the month, and was wondering if American beer was available on the island? If so, where? Thanks for the info in advance! Come on Irish, help us out! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

REALLY, NO ONE?

I guess we'll have to discover this for ourselves. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> I have found that this forum is not anywhere near as active as the SXM one. I know we're all used to an influx of immediate answers on that one. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

OMG, Balashi is the locally brewed beer and our favorite of any beer. Only brewed on Curacao, not even exported to Aruba. And try their new brand, Hapi Bon. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Balashi (most of the brands) has been available on Aruba for years.

Not American but Grolsch, (sp?) is fantastic served in a bucket of ice on Bucuti's beach with salt on your lips. Ahhh. Nothing to compare.

I saw on an old (2102) post on tripadvisor that Coors light and Budweiser are (were?) available in the grocery stores in Curacao. We'll see.

Thanks Irish, me and the wife can handle Coors Light! We normally drink the over the age of 40 beer ( Michelob ultra ), we are fairly sure that will not be available in the island, but we will try our best to find it. And yes, I guess we will just have to find it, new adventure!

We have never heard of Balashi. Can you possibly describe the flavor, and what American beer it would come close too? We will try it, always up to try new flavors!

While in the ABC islands try Amstel Bright (no, not light). It was originally brewed in Curacao and it is now brewed in the Netherlands. It is not available in the USA. It's only imported to the Caribbean. It's a smooth beer, not too bitter, very similar to Corona. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/drinking.gif" alt="" />

Well we are here in CUR! And to answer my own question, bud light in small bottles, and cleaned the grocery store out the other day, a whole 12 pack! Well we’re off to train our taste buds to a new flavor!

Please do post a report upon your return.

Mentioned in prior post, try Amstel Bright. Anxious to hear how you liked or disliked Curacao.

I also much prefer to drink light beers (Miller Lite), so much so that I will bring as much as I can with me when I'm going somewhere where I know they're hard to find

didn't know how hard they were to find in Curaçao when we went a few years ago...I got really tired drinking Presidente, so was so happy when I eventually did find some light beers in a small convenience store in downtown Willemstad, (can't remember if they were Miller, Bud, or Coors), so I cleared them out

another island where I never found any light beers, except for a few Red Stripe Lights, is Barbados, where we're now going for end of Dec/Jan, so I already have plans to carry a couple cases of Miller Lite down <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

luckily over the past 10 years or so, light beers are much easier to find in the caribbean, usually at least Coors Lite

What about Corona? Don't they make a light? (Says the person who hates beer, so I may not know what I'm talking about.....<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />)

yeah, there are some non-american brands that make a "light" version, but the light isn't always available everywhere...(ie. Heineken Light, Corona Light, Presidente Light, Carib Light,etc)

it's been a few years since we were in Barbados, and i was hoping some light options had made their way down there by now, but forum posts on various message boards seem to say otherwise <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sick.gif" alt="" />

Hello Carol, I will try to post a trip report when we arrive home. This is like a new penny, but NOT St. Maarten! In some ways good and some ways bad. It takes a little getting use to.

Hello Bob, the beer selection here is really bad, if your like us. We love our American beer! We have tried all the beer as mentioned above, and have struck to two, Corona and Presidente Light. That is as close as it gets, even the supermarkets have only have 6 to 7 selections to chose from, some in cases but most in singles. In fact the one isle for beer only has about half dedicated to the beer! Boy if we only liked Hiniken, we would be in hog heaven! More later!

Oh, I forgot to mention, we’re staying in a villa in Coral EST. Just north of Blue Bay. It is Villa Brillante, you can look it up on line if you wish. Thought that might help some.

Does the supermarket also carry wine and liquor like in SXM?

Yes, in ABUNDANCE! You will have no worries finding what you need in that department! Only wish we drank from those two categories!

We went downtown today and it was absolutely gorgeous! Very clean and extremely huge compared to St Maarten. NOT putting down St Maarten downtown, because we love it there, but just something different. We really enjoyed it! Food was great and the locals are very nice!

Thanks for that! We're Club O people and except from the immediate Orient area, we stopped venturing out many years ago. Too much crap to deal with. I look forward to getting out and about in CUR.

Look forward to your reports. We're down there early next week so please don't delay! We're staying at The Natural. It looks nice but I think we will want to be out and about a bit more than in SXM. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/thanks.gif" alt="" />

Beevly, seen us a PM and we will give you some quick tips and helpful info to help you out.

We're here at the moment too, staying at Avila Beach Resort (lovely!). It took a couple of days to adjust, but we are loving our time here. We've visited several beaches so far including Cas Abou, Grote Knip, and the Mango strand. The beaches on the west end are gorgeous. We also spent part of the day downtown yesterday and had a great time. Very clean. We had a nice lunch at Governeur de Rouville restaurant. People are very friendly here. We had parked on the street and were attempting to use our chip credit card in the parking machine (the kind where you have to put in your parking space number and get a receipt). The machine wasn't reading our card and we didn’t have the necessary change. A very kind woman noted our dilemma and put 2 of her own guilders in for us, explained how the system worked, and asked us if this was our first time here. When we told her it was, she thanked us for coming to Curaçao and told us to have a wonderful time. We feel very safe here. While we miss SXM, we are finding that it is a really nice second option for us. We will write a more thorough trip report upon our return.

Hello Robin & Ed, yes we have had a good time here also. We were also downtown yesterday as well. We had a great lunch at Steak and Ribs overlooking the cruise ship. Food was great! And yes the people here are very nice and friendly, we have not felt unsafe one minute. We leave out in the morning, so we are just taking it easy around the villa today. Enjoy! One other thing I forgot to mention about parking downtown. We saw those parking meters also but didn’t use them as I had already thought a chipped card would probably not work. We park in the above ground parking lot at the Renaissance on the water by the fort, in front of the cruise dock. It’s FREE, try it out! You can walk to everything from there!

Gary & Catherine

Curacao never disappoints!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Gary and Catherine, we hope you had a safe trip home! Vacations always go too fast. We are here until Tuesday, so trying to make the most of it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> We look forward to your trip report and will write one of our own upon our return.

It certainly hasn’t disappointed us in any way so far. It is a lovely island with gorgeous beaches. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> We weren’t sure what to expect as we didn’t care for Aruba all that much when we visited there for the first time last year. Curaçao has been a completely different trip in all ways good.

Even though the ABC islands are all Dutch and so close, Curacao stands out best. (JMO)

Totally agree! We were worried it would be too much like Aruba, but it's not. (Nothing wrong with Aruba, mind you, it just wasn't for us. We know lots of folks enjoy it). Curacao isn't 'americanized', which is one thing we didn't like in Aruba. We didn't hate Aruba, we just wanted something other than what we could find in Florida. Curacao is greener than Aruba (though not as green as SXM, but we didn't expect it to be). We actually liked the landscape in Curacao -- it was like being in 2 different states at once. Beaches were much prettier than anything in Aruba and - at least while we were there - it was much less windy. JMHO too. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We were in Aruba for 3 weeks each of the last 2 years. Stayed in 2 distinct parts of the island. Couldn't find Balashi anywhere. Where did you get it? Even the man at the brewery said they don't export to Aruba? Send me the right way to the beer!

Found Bud Light in the Centrum SuperMarket last week in Curacao.

Balashi has a brewery in Aruba that you can tour. We found Balashi in every supermarket, bar, restaurant and hotel. It's also available at the airport in the gift shops to purchase. We have been hoping to Aruba every year for over 30 years and have always found Balashi.

Where did you stay in Aruba that you couldn't find it?