If you don't know who Foxy is, either you just arrived in the Virgin Islands, or you ought to be ashamed. If you don't know what Foxy's Lager Beer is, you can be forgiven — for now, anyhow.
The St. Croix-based Virgin Islands Brewing Co. came out with its first beer, Blackbeard Ale, two years ago. Now, after a year of developmental work in collaboration with Jost Van Dyke's most celebrated socializer, Foxy Callwood, the company is about introduce brew No. 2 — yes, folks, it's true: Foxy's Lager Beer.
The beer is being marketed in bottles bearing a label created by St. John artist Les Anderson that depicts the 23-foot traditional wooden Tortola sloop the artist is in the process of building for Foxy in Coral Bay. The official uncappings are Saturday night June 5, from 9 p.m. to midnight, at the Old Mill, and Sunday June 6 from 2 to 6 p.m. on the sand at Bluebeard's Beach Resort (the former Limetree).
Nobody's going to be giving away free beer, but at both venues, there will be introductory prices on the product plus merchandise freebies and live music featuring Foxy himself. Plus, at Limetree, don't be surprised to see a wooden boatload of pirates come sailing up to shore.
The brewing company and distributor West Indies Corp. describe the beer, available initially only in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, as "a flavorful, light-bodied premium" and an "easy-drinking light lager." It was previewed at the annual Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta in Jost last month, where, it was reliably reported that demand exceeded supply.
Both Blackbeard Ale and Foxy's are produced in keg only on St. Croix, with the bottling currently being done on the mainland for economic reasons.
Company president Matt Razook said he expects the brewery will expand and add a bottling line in 2002 "to serve the USVI, VI, Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean."