Pirate Republic Brewing, the country's first craft beer brewery, is set to capitalize on the "ripe" beer drinkers market as it opens its doors in the heart of downtown. CEO Susan Holowesko Larson told Guardian Business that Pirate Republic's craft beer offers a distinct product in a local beer market long dominated by only a handful of brands, most of which are pilsner-centered.
The business, situated near Woodes Rogers Wharf, currently employs an 11-member staff with plans to grow. The renovated property includes a taproom, onsite brewery and retail outlet sourcing products from Gregory Town, Eleuthera. The brewery launched daily activities last week, including tours of the site and tastings, with a grand opening slated for early summer.
Larson said part of the goal of Pirate
Republic's downtown site was to celebrate the history and culture of The Bahamas' pirate era in a way that catered to both locals and tourists.
"The Bahamian palette is ripe for new beer styles and one thing about us is that with our 10-barrel system we're quite nimble," she said.
While Pirate Republic is currently offering four styles ranging from a familiar pilsner to oatmeal stout through its taproom, the brewery has been set up to continually supplement is standard variety with one-offs or seasonal brews.
The Beer
Pirate Republic got its start through contract brewing -- wherein one brewery hires another to brew some or all of its beer -- with Ipswich Ale Brewery in Massachusetts. Now, however, it brews all of its varieties on site and plans to have all of its bottling done locally in the coming weeks. American brewer James Beauvais, director of brewing operations, heads the brewing team along with local brewer Lamar Cancino.
"Contract brewing is a very common practice in startup craft breweries, which can be capital intensive. All of our beers now are brewed here on this property and is being served as draft beer on tap in here. Our bottling line is sitting in Fort Lauderdale and it'll be arriving in a few weeks time and then we'll complete the whole process here," she said.
After 16 months of renovations, Larson said that the brewery had already cultivated a following through festivals and other small-scale tastings. Given the strong response, Pirate Republic has been at work forming partnerships with a growing number of local restaurants and distributors.
"We have this great following and it's growing. It's a fun place to be in now that we're firing up our own brew house and the enthusiasm for our beer is already there. It certainly takes some of the risk out of it," said Larson.
The State of Downtown
"We're excited to see other great things going [happening] on Woodes Rogers Wharf itself. I think we've already turned the corner on the revitalization of downtown Nassau but certainly there's still so much more to be done.
"We do know from cruise ship executives that they're very excited that we're here. They've toured our place, they've had our beer, they're very excited, and that's all great news, but from our perspective as a company, when I look across this taproom and see that it's filled with Bahamians I really smile because the revitalization of downtown Nassau will only truly happen and be sustained if Bahamians come back downtown," said Larson.
Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) officials have recently cited both Pirate Republic and Lukka Kairi as evidence of downtown's revitalization.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
