The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
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The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 153 - How A Bahamas Brewery Survived, Innovated, And Won Fans
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A sun‑soaked taproom in Nassau, a flight that stretches from bright shandy to bold porter, and a brewer with a story that won’t quit. We drop anchor at Rip Tyd Brewing to taste through a lineup crafted by Christine, the co‑founder who turned a brutal March 2020 launch into a resilience playbook. What starts as a simple vacation detour becomes a masterclass in process, patience, and the kind of balance that keeps glasses emptying and conversations going.
We open with the Mermaid Shandy, a crisp blend of blonde ale and locally made pineapple soda that proves “refreshing” doesn’t have to mean “sweet.” The blonde follows with a late, tidy hop finish that elevates a style many write off as plain. Then comes the lemongrass blonde—fever grass bulbs blistered and tinctured before dosing—an herbal lift that shows how thoughtful technique can add character without shouting. Christine’s “naked” German pilsner reveals the heart of her craft: few grains, a month of cold conditioning, nowhere to hide and nothing to fear. That clean base becomes a canvas for the watermelon pilsner, built with twelve gallons of fresh juice, offering aroma and nuance rather than syrup and stickiness.
We head into malt and hop contrasts with an English pale ale that finishes like a conversation—returns, lingers, and leaves you nodding—before meeting an IPA tempered by Citra and Cascade. It’s sessionable, aromatic, and refreshingly unabrasive, a gateway for IPA skeptics. The closer is the star: a porter layered with chocolate and coffee that avoids harsh roast and stays beautifully drinkable at 7.7% ABV. Between sips, Christine shares how the brewery shut its doors before opening day, fought through months of uncertainty, and found new partners from their own barstools. It’s grit, community, and craft in one continuous pour.
Join us for tasting notes, style talk, and scores you can compare to your own. If you love clean lagers, balanced IPAs, and dark beers that deliver depth without heaviness, you’ll find a new favorite here. Tap play, subscribe for more field tastings and brewer stories, and leave a review with your pick: shandy, pilsner, EPA, IPA, or porter?
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Welcome To Riptide Brewing In Nassau
SPEAKER_01Hey ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwest Bear Guy Podcast. This is Mike the Northwest Bear Guy. This week we are not in the Northwoods. We're not even in Wisconsin. We're kind of as far south as we've probably been in a long time. We're actually in Mass Bahamas. And we are at Riptide Brewing. And we're pretty excited. We've got a number of viewers here that we're going to try. But the thing that's really cool is uh Bob is here. Hello, this is Bob. Rob is here. He's a newbie, his first time on the podcast. But we're excited, not because of Rob. No. Per se. We're excited because we have Christine with us. Hello everyone. I'm Christine. And she is the master brewer and one of the co-founders, original co-founders, correct?
SPEAKER_03Yes.
Meet Christine, Co‑Founder And Brewer
Beer Lineup Overview
SPEAKER_01And she is going to describe these beers, let us know about the beers, and then we're going to, you know, drink them and see what they think. Yeah. Sound good to you guys? Sounds good. I'm pretty sure. Excellent day. Christina, please tell us what we're doing.
Mermaid Shandy Tasting And Scores
SPEAKER_04Okay, so in our lineup, we have our mermaid shandy. It is made with a locally made soda here in Nassau, pineapple and flavor. It's over iced usually and with a blonde ale. It's very refreshing. And then we have a blonde. I don't like to not hop anything, so you're gonna have a little bit of hot finish on that, but again, very refreshing. And lemongrass. So I had a local farmer bring me two bushels of um we call it fever grass down here with the lemongrass, and I removed the grass portion and kept the bulb. And I blistered it with a um a conch tenderizer, which is like a meat tenderizer, and put it in a couple bottles of vodka and let it sit there. And then I put it in a bat of blonde. It's very refreshing. I didn't get as much citra from it as I wanted, but it's it's got a wonderful flavor. Then we have a German Hilsner. It is my worst nightmare to brew. I always say it's my naked beer because it only has a couple of grains, and uh, it's a slow process, one month cold and slow, so I have to make sure the glide falls up and running properly. Oh, sure. And I'm checking on it like a child every single day. But I'm quite pleased with it. And then I have the watermelon pilsner. I juice that one's a labor of love. I juice 12 gallons of fresh watermelon juice at home, pasteurized it, and then put it in a bat of the German Pilsner. It is it is so surprising, it's very refreshing, it's not sweet, and the style of beer is not compromised with the fruit in it. So and then it's one of our best sellers, and then we have the English pale ale. It is, I think, a realistic nod to traditional London ale or English ale. Um it's very full flavor from the beginning through to the end. Uh the IPA is has citra and cascade hops, very sessional, very refreshing. And then the star of the show is our porter. It is chocolate and coffee notes. Um, it's I feel very well balanced, and it's our highest ABB, which is 7.7.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_04The ales are six and a half, and the blonde is uh 4.2, and the Shin D as well.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_04Uh the Pilsner is just over five.
SPEAKER_01Nice years. Now, how long have you guys been open?
SPEAKER_04We're actually we've turned the corner on our fifth anniversary last year, so we're going on year six. We are a COVID company.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really?
SPEAKER_04It was a disaster.
SPEAKER_01I suppose.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so we were supposed to open in March uh 2020, and Prime Minister came on like every other world leader at the same time. So tidy up your affairs, and I thought, oh my gosh. We had a training happening with folks from AVE, American Brewing Equipment in Nebraska, and they came down a train, filled up the bats, and we had to shut the door before the door even opened. Um so fast forward three months, uh it was an uphill battle for two and a half years. I really should have closed 100 times. I used to pray to God a customer walked through the door. Um and then just about a year and a half ago, um, two of one of our original uh customers popped in one day for a beer and said, How's everything going? I'm like, You want to buy into our brewery? Because my business, my original business partner, um, he wanted out, and uh they're like, uh yeah, and they were American living here and working here. And a year later the paperwork got tidied up, and it's the rest is history. So I'm blessed beyond belief.
SPEAKER_01There you go. Well, awesome.
SPEAKER_04Well, hey, we can't wait to try these, so we're gonna jump in and let you guys um sample everything and cheers, and thanks so much for having me on your podcast.
SPEAKER_01Definitely, thank you. All right, guys, here comes a real hard part. Yeah, I'm gonna slide that over, Rob. Start with the left, yeah. I am going to take a picture again so we have them in the right order so everybody will be able to see. We'll post pictures of the brewery and the flights. Alright. So let's kick her off with the uh mermaid shandy. Yes, interesting. That definitely looks like a shandy, you know, kind of that uh really light in color. Yes, exactly. But it's got kind of that hazy you know look to it. Oh merma. What was that mixed with? What did she say? Uh you're gonna ask me the tough question.
SPEAKER_00It's real sweet. Pineapple.
Blonde Ale And Hop Finish Reactions
SPEAKER_01Is it a pineapple? Yeah, got that. Oh wow. That's not bad. No, I mean that's that's got a good flavor to it. That's uh a good sit in your boat and ice cold fishing around in your hand and kick back and have a that's a good beer. I like it. And like you said, you know it's gonna be a lower ABV. Oh, sure. Yeah, uh that's good. Like you said, that'd be have a cooler of it in your boat and just putting around the lake. That'd be fun. Yeah, so hot August dog day day to have a nice, refreshing beer like this. Oh, yeah, absolutely. So, Rob, you uh you know the the scoring from zero to five stars by tenth of a point. So you're gonna let me start up the score. We can start it off if you want. I just want to letting you know what the the scale is. Yeah, so it's a one to five, zero to five, but we don't give anything a zero. No, no. So I guess Bob, what what do you think? We'll let Rob think on it. I'm thinking. I'll give it a shot. Okay. I'm gonna give a three eight. Nice. Yeah, that's a that's a high score. That's a good score. That's a soul score. I think he pretty much told us what he thought already. Like he's really like what did you think, Bob? I like it too. I thought I thought I would give it a 3-5. Why not? The best beer I've had today. Well, you can taste the, like you said, the pineapple. You can definitely taste that. Yeah, that's really good. Yeah, myself on it. Yeah, I think myself, I'm gonna go like a 3-1 just because I'm not a huge shandy guy, but that is a very good one. I think that's better than a lot of the big name shandies by the way.
SPEAKER_02You know, if you got your wife or girlfriend in a boat, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. Well, we're gonna keep this party train moving. So the next one was a the blonde ale. Now, this you know it definitely looks more like you know, not quite as as hazy as that the shandy was. No. So we're gonna do smells like a blonde ale. I think it's I think it's blonde. Blonde. Uh trademark there. You can't say that. Maybe blonde better. That's what I meant to say. This would be because typically I've always been under the impression that blonde ales don't have a lot of flavor. You know, and same with brown ales and red ales, honestly. You know, and this is this is one of those that I would say would be a decent lawnmower beer. You get done mowing if that's ice cold, you could you can drink it. Yeah. Uh very good stuff uh representation of that style. Yes. But it has a back-after taste to this style. Yes, because remember, Christina said that she we're gonna get a little hot. She likes hops. Doesn't not like the hot, you know. So you definitely get that on the aftertaste a little bit. It sneaks up on you, and then all of a sudden it's like bam. Yeah, very apparent. Yeah. Bob, what did you think of that one? Well, I like the mermaid a little better just because it was uh so unique. I like the pineapple. I don't really like fruit and beer is not one of my favorite. But I'd give that one. I'll give it a 2.8. Okay. You gave it a what?
SPEAKER_02A 2.8. 2.8. 2.8? Well, I'm like I said, I'm kind of new to this game in judging beer, so but yeah. Whatever you think. I'd give it 2.5.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's kind of just a little funky back taste I got on it.
Lemongrass Blonde Process And Tasting
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna I'm gonna go with 2.5 as well. But most of the time it's because most of the blonde ales, I think I give a 2.5 because they're just they're kind of average. They don't have a lot of flavor. This one does have that hop taste at the end. So you do get that a little bit. Now the next one is the lemongrass blonde. So this should be interesting. This should be interesting because they take their blonde and then they added the lemongrass. Yeah, it sounds like it's for medicinal purposes. It could be, it looks similar. Yeah, the lemongrass blonde. That is a different aroma to it, there, boys.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she really had to treat the lemongrass and put it in there. Yeah. Yeah, what she said. She peeled the grass back and kept the bulb. Yeah, and then it didn't a conclusion. Yeah, meat tender. Yeah. Boy, that's got a different flavor to it. Yeah, that is real different. Definitely the smell. Wait till he gets the that one there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_01That that has way more flavor than the the base did. Right. So, so anyway, I guess with the lemongrass, that definitely changes the flavor on it. Oh, it does. So first thing I'm gonna go I do like it because it does have flavor. Yeah. I'm trying to think. I'm gonna I'll go like a two six because there there is flavor, and I just said don't be afraid of flavor. So I'll go with that.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah. I uh I thought it was for some reason it didn't strike me. I didn't like it quite as well as the regular blonde. I don't know why, but I should like lemongrass. Sure. I'll give it a two-six also. Okay, but that's fine.
SPEAKER_02Well you read it in flavor, but it's not for my palate.
German Pilsner Challenges And Review
SPEAKER_01Now remember, there's no wrong answers. Uh I'm just because some answers are more valuable than others. I'm gonna sit back at 2.1 on this one. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not a problem. Not a problem. Better like this one better for some reason. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, so we're gonna keep as you can hear, there's there's more people came in, so it's getting a little louder, so we're gonna try as best we can here. So this is their German Pilsner. Definitely looks like a German Pilsner for me for sure. Do I record? Yes. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Well, the thing's the beer. That tastes like a German Pilsner. It's actually pretty smooth though. Yeah, some of them have had that. And I like the Pilsner there. Yeah. Yeah. Because the German Files has a little different flavor. Yeah, but that's really smooth. It is. I was a really cool. Some of the German filters have a stronger flavor. It doesn't have any bad after it's got just a real nice beer. Yeah. Boy, glorious. Score-wise, Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_02Put that one in a fulfill. I'd say a 2.9 for the 10 years. All right, Bob. Uh I'll give it a three.
SPEAKER_01What the heck? Yeah, but it put it on there. Okay. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go a 2.9 as well. I read I did think it was good. I could you could drink it. That's a problem. The next one is gonna be interesting because this is the watermelon pilsner. She took the watermelon juice, added it to that German pilsner.
SPEAKER_00How many gallons of juice did she have?
SPEAKER_0112 gallons? Like 12 gallons or something like that. Yeah, pass her out and then added it to the base. So put a lot of work into this beer. You got that right. You know, I've had I've had other beers with watermelon in it, and that flavor can be hard to detect. So it'll be interesting to see how much you know it stands out. Right.
unknownOh, yeah.
Watermelon Pilsner: Labor And Payoff
SPEAKER_01You can taste uh you can taste it. I can smell it. Yeah, that is that's I kind of like that. Uh oh. You got another personal favorite there? I don't know. That's uh She said that was her best seller, didn't you? Yes. Oh yeah, you can taste the watermelon for sure. That is kind of wild. That's interesting. It almost to me, it kind of had like a uh oh, what's that? Like a cantaloupe-y, almost like kind of that flavor a little bit. But but I noticed the carbonation is really not that high in it either. Right. It's got a lower carbonation. Yeah, that's a really good flavor though. I'm I'm impressed. Yeah, I would definitely take that over just the normal German pills in there. Oh yeah. That's that's a it's not overpowering, you know, the watermelon. So that's that's really nice. But what do you think? That's a lot of good flavor. I think those um mermaid shandy are my two favorites so far. And uh three one. Okay. Why not? Rob? I'm gonna give that one a 2-9 also. Okay. Personally, I think I'd go with a three, a solid three on that. I mean, that's I like that. Maybe a three-one, because you almost you almost sitting there thinking a little salt on the rim might be an interesting thing to it for some reason, but yeah. Interesting.
SPEAKER_02And maybe if it held a little bit of carbonation and fire, it was just a little flat for me.
SPEAKER_01Sure, okay. All right, so we're gonna move on to it. Rooted in beer. Good thing Ron's not here. Oh boy, he would be upset. He would be upset. So we're moving on to our next one, and this is the English pale ale EPA. So it's a little darker than like your most you know, pale ale cut in color. Looks nice. Yeah, it looks very nice. So we'll see. Almost looks like a slighter than an ad, but it's nice looking. Aroma-wise, it's not a whole lot of aroma. It's pretty small you know, pretty mellow on the room.
SPEAKER_04How are you guys enjoying it?
SPEAKER_01Very nice, it's good. I like that one. That was good. I also I I kind of like the lemongrass. Oh, I like that one and the watermelon one. The watermelon one is good too. Yeah, they're both good. That water is good. The watermelon one was really good. Which I usually don't like fruit and beer too much, but that was good.
SPEAKER_04No, but it's because it's fresh, uh, fresh fruit, fresh juice, it's very different than juice.
SPEAKER_01It's very good, thank you. Yeah, it's really good.
SPEAKER_04And we're going drink for the steak.
SPEAKER_01Quality control. There you go. So this one is the English pale ale, so it's a little different flavor, like it'll be a good comparison between the next one, which is the IPA. That's a solid EPA. Yeah, I like EPAs. Yeah, you know, they're it doesn't have the height of the IPA. It's kind of at times they remind me a little bit of the American pale ale where it's not as hoppy. A little more smooth, kind of, you know, you don't get that real grapefruity or that that bitter hop as much. I love the way this one finishes out at the end.
SPEAKER_02Goes down smooth when it kind of rests a little bit and then it pops back in and then slowly mellows out. Very good flavor beer. I like it.
SPEAKER_01I like it. Or score-wise, what would you give it? I'll do a 3.4 on that. Oh, yeah. Uh I'd give it a 3-1. I think I'm gonna do a 3.2. I I thought it was very good. I thought it was very mellow, and like you said, Rob, it does have the hop initially, it kind of goes away and then it kind of comes back a little bit at the end. That's it's kind of an interesting drink. So all right, we're down to our last two there, boys. So the next one is their India pale ale. So I'm expecting this to be hoppier than the last one. So not quite as dark as that EPA was. It looks like an idea. Again, the aroma is pretty melty. That's interesting. It's not the hop bite, it's not nearly what I was thinking it was gonna be, but it's got a kind of an interesting flavor. Yeah. And it lingers. It does linger the hoplingers like like it should in an IPA. It's not a real fruity hop or a fruity IPA or anything at all.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's just real melted. What am I getting at? I mean, I got the IPA, and then afterwards it pops back almost like a little molasses taste to it. Possibly. I get more of definitely that grape fruity from the hop.
SPEAKER_02But I I'm getting sweetness out of it.
English Pale Ale Depth And Scores
SPEAKER_01Sure. Oh, yeah. Let me resample. All right, well, yes, make sure your taste buds. Go back to the way the truth. And I'm really not an IPA drinker. And that is not overpowering like some of the IPAs. You know, because we've all had IPAs and some of them are very, very hot forward. That's the one thing with this one. I don't think it's quite like that. No, God, no. It's actually kind of a nice change. It's a real mellow IPA. It's got it goes this way, where you got a little bit of the grapefruit there at the end. Very smooth. Yeah. Very, very smooth. Exactly. Yeah, I like that one too. Score-wise, what are you thinking, Bob?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I like IPAs. That's real unusual, flavorful, not too bad.
SPEAKER_013-2. Okay. I'll agree with Bob on that. Alright. I said I'm gonna go with the same. I'll go with 3-2 on that as well. Because that's I really think that's a kind of a unique idea. It is, it's really different than a lot of them we've had in a good way, I guess. I think so. Alright, so this last one we have is their porter, and if I remember right, she said this was the star of the show. Yes. So I'm really excited for this because I I like porters and stouts and things like that. So I think this one's called the Farmer's Daughter Port. Okay. And that's what the name of the place came from. The farmer's daughter was a fellow in the ocean and became a mermaid. They have a picture, I'll take a picture of it and post it that told the story of kind of the it's like a mermaid theme. It's a different farmer's daughter's story. Yes, a different, yes. It's not the one you thank you for that. Yes, yes, it's different. That's a different story.
SPEAKER_00That's a whole different story.
SPEAKER_01Here we go with peak burger. Okay, delicious.
SPEAKER_03Awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's a that's a good porter. Yeah, it's a good dark really good porter.
SPEAKER_03It's water, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, of porters. Yes, it's very dark, looks like uh coffee. Yep. But that's and it's still got a partial phony head on it after sitting here all this time, too. Yeah, that tastes like that's a solid porter. Yeah, nice coffee. Some, you know, I know like Jim always says when he has a porter, or or Brian BK, he always says that uh he likes to have that little bit of that, I always call it a burnt flavor, you know, the malted flavor. And you do get that, but it's it's a little bit muted, but in a good way. I really I really like that. That's one that you could sit and drink a pint of it and not have an issue, you know.
IPA Smooth Hop Profile
SPEAKER_02That's very good. It's it's not that far away from the good chocolate holding stout. Oh, yeah. That's right there next to it. And I love porters and I love stouts. Yep. I've had some porters that almost taste like green. Yep. And I'm not getting that on this.
COVID Era Origin And Ownership Shift
SPEAKER_01No, this is and like you said, Bobby. You do have a little bit of a coffee flavor to it, which a good porter should. I like that. I I think that's very good. Score-wise, I think I'm going with a 3-5. I like it. Yeah, I was gonna say I was gonna say three five. That's how I'll give it a 3-6. One of the better porters I've ever had. So, Bob, I guess what were your favorite? Uh the porter, and uh I like the watermelon, and the uh made Robert. I'm uh the first one we drink, the mermaid one, and this porter here. Okay. I said I like the porter, I like the watermelon goat, and that was really good. And for me, the lemon dress was different enough to be interesting. It was interesting, but it wasn't bad. Speaking of Interesting. Uh their kind of little tagline is uh tap the tail or tap some tail or something here. Oh yeah, that's their what's on their stickers. It's the mermaid thing. Yeah. Well there you go. Hey Bob, thanks so much for uh I know it was hard to get you to come to the brewery now here. Drink beer. Exactly. Rob, thank you for being on here. I'm sure we'll have you on again. Thanks for inviting me to do this with you. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for for listening. I know it's a little bit loud, but this is a working camp house and brewery. So we will uh we're doing the best we can here.
SPEAKER_03We do, we we draw tens and tens of well hey ladies and gentlemen, thanks a lot.
Porter Spotlight And High Marks
SPEAKER_01And like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beer is always cold. See ya. Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, a comment, or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're on Untapped, look up the Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beers are cold.
