Sands Beer: Even More ‘Truly Bahamian’ Than Kalik Beer?
Continuing our profiles of the surprising home-grown beers of Grand Bahama, let’s turn our focus to the island’s #1 brew. This is the story of the aptly named Sands Beer.
Sands Beer: Truly Bahamian Beer
First poured in December 2007, Sands Beer is the best-selling of the local beers (High Rock, Bush Crack, Strong Back, Sands Light Beer) produced by Grand Bahama’s Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company. It’s a light, golden lager. One that epitomizes the grand tradition of under-appreciated Caribbean beers. You know, beers ideally suited to quench the thirst brought on by the region’s warm, sunny days. You may notice that on the label, Sands carries the tagline “Truly Bahamian Beer.” This is for good and somewhat controversial reasons.
Like Balashi in Aruba, the name for Sands was selected by a popular local vote. The state-of-the-art US$15 million brewery where it’s made was also planned and built on the backs of a 100% Bahamian crew of architects and construction workers. Sands is also brewed with natural spring water found in Grand Bahama. The “Truly Bahamian” backstory of this beer, though, goes further than all this.
Family History Rooted in Bahamian Sand
The brewery’s owner, Jimmy Sands, has deep family history in The Bahamas. Sands family roots in The Bahamas, in fact, go back some 350 years! These roots also extend to the country’s alcohol industry.
See the little guy in the boat on the Sands label? When I visited the Bahamian Brewery, I was told that the figure represents Jimmy’s dad, Everette. The elder Sands was a founding partner of a local wine and spirits distributor. Its name: Butler & Sands.
From its base in Nassau, Butler & Sands was the largest liquor distributor in The Bahamas. In the days before massive marine terminals were built to accommodate on-shore dockage of the largest cruise ships, distributors like Jimmy’s dad would row out to the boats anchored off-shore. They carried rum in straw baskets to sell to the sea-going tourists.
In this way, the logo is a beautiful homage to the Sands family history. There exists, however, yet another reason for the “Truly Bahamian” moniker.
Sands vs Kalik
The brewing world is ultra-competitive. As such, it’s really no surprise that Sands’ Truly Bahamian tag is a swipe at its biggest competitor. I’m referring, of course, to Kalik, The Bahamas’ veritable King of Beers.
It’s not that Kalik isn’t Bahamian, per se. It’s just that for locals like Jimmy, it’s not Bahamian enough. As Jimmy was quoted as saying in a recent article in Southern Boating…
There is a beer made in the Bahamas, but it’s a Dutch beer made by a Dutch company. I had this idea to brew beer by Bahamians for Bahamians…
I mean, Kalik was designed by Heineken. They established the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau and began offering Kalik in 1988. So yeah, I guess Jimmy does have a bit of a point.
For his part, though, Jimmy did have to enlist the aid of Germany’s largest brewing supply company, Brewtech, to get Sands off the ground in the first place. So, there’s also that.
Either way, when you’re sitting on the beach, as I was when I enjoyed the Sands pictured above, all the arguments drift away with the tide. In line with its name (and tagline), Sands is an excellent companion for any day on an amazing Grand Bahama beach.
Cheers!
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