Caybrew - Cayman's Locally Produced Premium Lager Beer

Caybrew
Cayman's Superb Locally Produced Premium Lager Beer

Forget what you've seen in the movies. Caybrew is the local beer of the Cayman Islands!

Having recently undergone a complete overhaul of their former brewery, Caybrew employed the services of Brewtech GmbH, a German consultancy firm that specializes in the design, construction and modernization of breweries. They assisted Caybrew in modernizing their new brewery on 12,000sf and situated on a 3 acre site. The result is an eco-friendly, cost effective medium production facility, producing of the most affordable, finest and distinct tasting beers ever produced.

Caybrew is a refreshingly smooth, full-bodied premium lager, with a crisp, clean hop character, proudly brewed and bottled to the highest international standards of quality and consistency.

The secret of Caybrew involves some of the most ancient brewing manufacturing arts known to man. All beer can be classified as either an ale or a lager. The differences begin during the brewing process, as defined by the type of yeast used in the brew and the temperature at which fermentation takes place. Lagers are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast which ferments more slowly and at colder temperatures.

Traditionally bottom yeast will ferment at cold temperatures less than 10 deg C. Caybrew fermentation takes place at 12 to 18 deg C. This cold or deep fermentation allows the malt and hops to assert their fine flavors. Lager tends to be paler, drier and less alcoholic than ales.

It takes nearly three weeks to produce Caybrew. That’s seven days in fermentation, ten days lagering and one day in the bottling tank.

The 6 steps to brewing a refreshing Caybrew are:

1. Brewing

2. Fermentation

3. Storage

4. Filtration

5. Pasteurization

6. Packaging

Caybrew works hard to ensure their customers receive the freshest beer available being produced locally, it is always the most fresh and affordable beer on the island. Fresh Caybrew is crisp, clean and refreshing. To maintain freshness Caybrew should always be stored in a cool location away from excessive light.

Caybrew is passionate about preserving the environment and has adopted internationally accepted environmental practices that contribute to the preservation and protection of the local environment. This is not by any means a cost saving measure; they do this because they genuinely care about the local community and assume responsible stewardship for its environmental well being. By effectively managing precious resources and recycling bottles, spent grains, yeast and water, they have effectively established a new standard for environmentally sensitive brewing. You can help them preserve the environment by returning a case of empty Caybrew bottles to the Brewery and receive CI$2.

Caybrew is located in Prospect, noted as a star attraction on our main island map. Be sure to stop by the brewery on your next visit and bring the Activity Guide coupon for free samples of their delicious brew.

Ask for Caybrew wherever you dine or drink throughout your vacation and if you find any Activity Guide recommended establishment not offering Caybrew, please let us know and we will make every effort to have it made available to our members.

You can contact Kate at the brewery for more information:

Phone: 1 (345) 947-6699

Fax: 1 (345) 6652

Location:
366 Shamrock Road
Prospect, Map 1

Postal address:
PO Box 32329
Grand Cayman KY1-1209
Cayman Islands

Newbie Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Minnesota

Does anyone know if Caybrew offers a brewery tour to the public or know a place to buy Caybrew merchandise?

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:42 am Post subject:

Well Joe...Are'nt you the Brewmeister!!! clapping

Love the part about free samples!! BouncingLaugh

As Homer Simpson would say...."mmmmmmmmmm beer!"

Frequent Flyer Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 30

i have the same question. do they offer public tours to the cayman brewery? if so, how much? times/days of operation? thanks!

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 3:52 pm Post subject:

Caybrew is not yet offering complete tours but you can use the coupon in Activity Guide to visit the brewery and sample their beers for free. Wink

From: Cayman Net News:

The Cayman Islands Brewery (CIB) has been awarded a top international accolade for beer quality with their product Caybrew.

The Brewery entered the beer into the Monde Selection Awards 2008, (International Institute for Quality Selections) an internationally recognised and leading global standard, and the beer came out on top with a gold medal. In order to achieve this award those entering must achieve very high standards which is why Oliver Wesseloh, CIB's Technical Manager was so delighted with the gold medal.

This is such an important award for us to have received and it confirms the quality of Caybrew beyond doubt. We at CIB knew we had created a high quality beer and the people of Cayman knew they had a great beer, but now the world knows we have a great beer, he said.

This really does mean a lot to us and it underscores the fact that Caybrew really is an exceptional product.

The quality and taste of Caybrew has been extremely important to CIB from the very beginning. The team always sought to create a top quality beer for the islands. The beer that would stand up on the market as a premium product and one the islands could be proud of, the CIB said.

The beer is described as a refreshingly smooth, full-bodied premium lager, with a crisp, clean hop character and because it is brewed here on island it is an exceptionally fresh product.

Mr Wesseloh explained that the intention was to create a beer that would suit the local climate, be easy to drink and at the same time have a full bodied taste.

We wanted to create a beer that would go down easily but that had a full flavour with an acceptable alcohol content, he said.

The beer is a fusion of the best European ingredients blended with a touch of the Caribbean. Mr Wesseloh said that the ingredients used in Caybrew are some of the best in the world, which he says contributed in no small measure to achieving a gold medal.

Although the CIB is small compared to other breweries around the world, it is a state of the art facility, which has helped the team create this award winning beer and then, most importantly of all, maintain its quality. This award clearly justifies the investment in the superior facilities, according to a press release from the company.

Winning such an important international industry accolade and getting the recognition the product deserves is wonderful, said Allen Chu Fook, the brewery's General Manager.

We are incredibly proud to have received this medal and we congratulate our technical team for making such an outstanding beer. Moreover, it underlines our commitment towards maintaining the quality of Caybrew and providing our customers with the best and freshest beer on islands.

Having opened the brewery in March 2007, to have gained this international industry recognition so quickly speaks volumes for the quality of Caybrew and the standards of production at the brewery, the CIB said in a press release.

With outstanding green credentials for its recycling or bottles and the water used in the brewing process, CIB is also demonstrating that being a good corporate citizen pays dividends in many ways.

Caybrew's new piece of branding, Made Fresh Made Local is likened to a quality seal of approval which will now accompany all advertising of Caybrew to reflect the local beer's uniqueness to Cayman, Mr Chu Fook said. The Gold medal for quality now adds to the recognition that Caybrew is a high quality fresh beer and it is brewed right here in Cayman, locally.

Monde Selection is an Independent International Institute founded in 1961 on a Belgian initiative in Brussels. It is the oldest and most representative organization in the field of Quality Selections in the world.

Each year an average of over 1,500 products are presented to the Institute from more than 70 different countries in order to assess their quality standards an.

The mission of the organisation is to assess and ascertain over time the quality of worldwide products. It considers a number of criteria including organoleptic tasting, labelling, conformity verification and laboratory analysis.

Newbie Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Minnesota

Does anyone know the hours of Caybrew Brewery? Is Caybrew open for samples on Sunday? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:41 am Post subject: caybrew

Hi, we visited Caybrew this past April, we were given a sample then a tour. Nothing was operating but it was interesting. After the tour we were able to serve ourselves more samples. We bought beer and caybrew glasses also. Not sure of the hours though.

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:01 am Post subject:

Caybrew wins gold for Cayman!

The Cayman Islands Brewery (CIB) team is proud to announce that they have been awarded a top international accolade for beer quality with their product Caybrew. The Brewery entered the beer into the Monde Selection Awards 2008, (International Institute for Quality Selections) an internationally recognised and leading global standard, and the beer came out on top with a Gold Medal. In order to achieve this award those entering must achieve very high standards which is why Oliver Wesseloh, CIB’s technical Manger was so delighted with the gold medal.

“This is such an important award for us to have received and it confirms the quality of Caybrew beyond doubt. We at CIB knew we had created a high quality beer and the people of Cayman knew they had a great beer, but now the world knows we have a great beer! He exclaimed. “This really does mean a lot to us and it underscores the fact that Caybrew really is an exceptional product.”

The quality and taste of Caybrew has been extremely important to CIB from the very beginning. The team always sought to create a top quality beer for the islands. The beer that would stand up on the market as a premium product and one the islands could be proud of.

The beer is described as a refreshingly smooth, full-bodied premium lager, with a crisp, clean hop character and because it is brewed here on island it is an exceptionally fresh product. Wesseloh explained that the intention was to create a beer that would suit the local climate, be easy to drink and at the same time have a full bodied taste.

“We wanted to create a beer that would go down easily but that had a full flavour with an acceptable alcohol content.” The beer is a fusion of the best European ingredients blended with a touch of the Caribbean. Wesseloh said that the ingredients used in Caybrew are some of the best in the world, which he says contributed in no small measure to achieving a gold medal.

Although the CIB is small compared to other breweries around the world, it is a state of the art facility which has helped the team create this award winning beer and then, most importantly of all, maintain its quality. This award clearly justifies the investment in the superior facilities.

“Winning such an important international industry accolade and getting the recognition the product deserves is wonderful,” said Allen Chu Fook, the brewery’s general manager. “We are incredibly proud to have received this medal and we congratulate our technical team for making such an outstanding beer. Moreover, it underlines our commitment towards maintaining the quality of Caybrew and providing our customers with the best and freshest beer on islands."

Having opened the brewery in March 2007, to have gained this international industry recognition so quickly speaks volumes for the quality of Caybrew and the standards of production at the brewery. Caybrew is available right across all three Cayman Islands in bars, restaurants and liquour stores and it will now be able to display its gold medal so customers will know they are buying a product which has excelled on the international stage. With outstanding green credentials for its recycling or bottles and the water used in the brewing process, CIB is also demonstrating that being a good corporate citizen pays dividends in many ways.

“Caybrew’s new piece of branding, Made Fresh Made Local is likened to a quality seal of approval which will now accompany all advertising of Caybrew to reflect the local beer’s uniqueness to Cayman,” continued Chu Fook, “the Gold medal for quality now adds to the recognition that Caybrew is a high quality fresh beer and it is brewed right here in Cayman, locally”.

About the award: Monde Selection is an Independent International Institute founded in 1961 on a Belgian initiative in Brussels. It is the oldest and most representative organization in the field of Quality Selections in the world. Each year an average of over 1500 products are presented to the Institute from more than 70 different countries in order to assess their quality standards an. The mission of the organisation is to assess and ascertain over time the quality of worldwide products. It considers a number of criteria including organoleptic tasting, labeling, conformity verification and laboratory analysis.

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:16 pm Post subject:

So, since it was brought up in the press release, what is the alcohol content of Caybrew? More toward the British leels or more along the American brewing industry standards?

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject:

Caybrew contains 5% alcohol.

An interesting unrelated fact is that Heineken sold in the Cayman Islands contains 5% alcohol, whereas in the US it contains 3.2%. The reason has something to do with US classifications of beer and Heineken does not want to be branded as a malt liquor or ale, which it would have to be if it contained 5% alcohol. Caybrew and Heineken are the most highly valued beers in the Cayman Islands since they contain similar distinct flavors and rich boutiques with the highest alcohol content, while costing about the same or less than other brands.

Most visitors are either not aware of these facts or do not care because the top selling beers in the Cayman Islands among visitors are Corona and Red Stripe; the latter being a cheap Jamaican beer with its claim to fame primarily being misleading Hollywood movies; the former because they spend billions of dollars on extremely effective ad campaigns specifically targeting visitors to tropical destinations.

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:58 pm Post subject:

Joe -

Last time I was down there (12 years ago or so) Guiness was rolling over my gums at a pretty decent rate. According to the can, the alcohol % was 7.6%. Then, after I got cutoff from the Guiness, I switched to Amstel Light and poured through several of those at 6.5% alcohol.

Have things changed that much with British imports?

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject:

Hi Tim: About 70% of our visitors are from the US so except for true beer connoisseurs, it’s mostly the Europeans that consume the “imports’. You can still get Guinness, Bass, and dozens of other European beers. Considering the relatively high price of liquor in the Cayman Islands it’s amazing how much beer and other liquors are consumed here. I’ve had several meetings in the last couple weeks with some of our largest liquor importers and many of the stores and establishments they distribute to. The numbers and statistics were staggering and I learned more about beer, wine and liquors in the Cayman Islands in the last couple weeks than in the entire fifteen years I’ve lived here.

There is a huge difference between the local and visitor consumer markets, with the locals mostly drinking American beers and the visitors drinking mostly Corona and Red Stripe; although the visitors are quickly becoming aware of what a bargain Caybrew is and finally realizing that Red Stripe is a Jamaican beer.

When we first moved here, I quickly realized that the cost of beer was going to be a problem. I was younger then and working for a dive company so spending the US equivalent of almost $40 for a case of beer came as a rather unpleasant surprise. The good news came from discovering that almost all brands of beer cost the same, plus or minus a few dollars a case. So we soon became accustomed to drinking the most expensive European beers, since they cost about the same. No way was I going to spend that kind of money for Bud! Then Stingray came along and now Caybrew, which cost less because they are made locally and not subject to duty. Stingray was a good beer but it was a 3.2% beer and many of the locals and even visitors considered it to be more of a light beer, certainly not in the league with any European beers with their hefty 5% alcohol content. Then Caybrew came along and changed all that by producing one of the best tasting 5% content beers ever produced. They spent over a year working with the most prestigious European beer manufacturers in developing a product that could compete with the best beers in the world. And according to their most recent first place international award, they have accomplished just that.

Caybrew does not have the marketing resources like Corona and Budweiser so I wouldn’t plan on seeing it on the shelves of your local supermarket any time soon but while you are visiting the Cayman Islands, don’t pass up the opportunity to sample one of the finest beers ever produced. Wink

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:41 pm Post subject:

Good info Joe! I'm looking forward to not only trying Caybrew, but also getting my lips wrapped around a full-strength Guiness again. My how I've missed it. Smile

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