Summer is a thirsty time of year, so there can be no better timing when it comes to launching a new beer. Trust the folks down at the Cayman Islands Brewery to have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to selecting a new beer to add to their current three beer line-up, composed of Caybrew, CayLight, and Ironshore Bock. Their latest offering, dubbed White Tip Lager, is definitely a beer for summer. With a greater percentage of aromatic hops than Caybrew, as well as a longer brewing and maturing time, it goes down smooth without the distinct and somewhat bitter hops aftertaste that characterises Caybrew. Not that that is a bad thing – some definitely prefer their beer with a bit of bite – but the new offering is certainly easier drinking, and in hot summer weather that is a sure fire winner. In fact, the response to the first test offering of the beer has been so overwhelming that the brewery felt compelled to push production along in order to keep the momentum going.

However, White Tip Lager brings various other new innovations along as well. For one, a portion of sales will go to the Department of Environment to support their shark and cetacean research. The beer is named for the oceanic white tip shark, one of the more endangered shark species out there, and with the brewery boasting a stack of environmental credentials already (from bottle recycling to waste water purification) this project adds another string to their bow.

During their interaction with the Department of Environment, it became clear that there was a lot of information on sharks to be shared – way more than could ever fit onto a beer can. So the White Tip Lager cans will also be the first local beers to boast a scanable code that, when scanned with a smartphone, will take White Tip Lager drinkers to a site where they can learn more about the beer’s namesake and the efforts to protect it.

“Around the world, shark populations are crashing due to the decline of reef habitat and over-exploitation by global fisheries, with 70-100 million sharks caught annually. Population declines of 90% have been reported for many species, largely as a result of unregulated fishing for shark fins to meet the demand of the south-east Asian restaurant trade. The Cayman Islands is one place where there is a chance to conserve shark biodiversity and use these feared and misunderstood animals to promote sustainable tourism,” says Matt Cottam of the Department of Environment.

DoE needs your help with sightings, strandings and catch information.
Call the DoE 949-8469.