Spencer May’s Wood & Water brewing up something special
Published:Thursday | July 6, 2023 | 12:10 AMShanel Lemmie/Gleaner Writer
Blazing his own trail in the western end of the island, Spencer May is creating a culture of craft beer in Jamaica through his venture, Wood and Water Jamaica Brew Works.
Under the glow of his booth at Kingston Kitchen’s Night Market last Saturday he told Food, “It’s been one of my aspirations since returning to Jamaica in 2018. I worked in the wine and spirits business of the last four years doing distribution and sales, and I thought, you know, there’s a real lack of craft beer culture in Jamaica, especially on the island’s western side. Kingston has a couple of options, but MoBay has none. I am that option for MoBay.”
Launched officially in 2023, May’s offering includes ciders, India pale ales (IPA), German-style ales, and stouts, all served in recycled Prosecco and Champagne bottles.
May explained that while sustainability and keeping the bottles out of the landfill played a large part in his move to recycle, he also did not want to do away with the luxurious vessels.
“Primarily, I started recycling the Prosecco bottles because they were available. It’s a luxurious bottle, and it’s absolutely going to be able to withhold the carbonation of whatever beer or cider that I put inside it so I don’t have to worry about an explosion or anything like that,” he said, gesturing to the array of glass containers.
While varying in flavour, he says beer novices can be treated to a wide range of tropical flavours like tangerine, passionfruit, guava, and even coffee.
“Everyone has a different flavour profile, right? My personal favourite beers tend to be on the lighter, fruitier sides, drier, citrusy, those types of flavours. Beer is something I like to drink when I’m out sailing or after a long ride, so it needs to be refreshing to me.”
While not equipped with all his offerings at the festival, he did have samples of two draft beers – a draft IPA and a draft tangerine pale ale.
While hoping to maintain and build on the strong beer culture that Jamaica has, May says it is time to expand our horizons, describing it as “an explosion of flavour’”.
“You have to be ready for all of the offerings that a new craft beer can bring, including the dark rich coffee notes. I’ve done a really delicious Blue Mountain Coffee stout and it has very nice malty, ‘chocolaty’ notes that you don’t normally get out of any Jamaican beer. Be ready for the unexpected.”
He continued: “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel, and in the US, craft beer is a major part of any town, city. It’s a part of a lot of different places around the world, and then for whatever reason Jamaica just falls flat in that department. We have beer, people drink beer. They drink their darks and their Guinness and their Dragon Stout and Spitfire. So knowing that those types of beers have made it in the Jamaican market, it always struck me as odd that we don’t have more of a culture for craft beer, so my goal is really to build the craft beer appreciation. That’s what it comes down to.”
Evoking nostalgic cultural imagery through his logo of an “old-timey bridge”, May says the name ‘Wood and Water’ is an ode to the rich history of Jamaica.
“Wood and water pays homage to the fact that this island has been known by many different people over an extended period of time. You see the logo is actually an old bridge. It’s not a bridge that exists, but everyone knows that bridge. It exists in our mind. Whether you know it in Porty or St Thomas or St Ann or Spanish Town, it’s a bridge that exists to all of us, and I wanted to evoke the thought process of jumping into that cool river water underneath that bridge. Refreshing, bright, [rejuvenating].”