Brouwerij Nacional Balashi was founed in 1996 by one of Aruba’s largest companies, MetaCorp. Construction started in 1998 and the first beer was brewed eight months later in May 1999. In 2001, Balashi, the flagship beer for the company, won a gold medal in the prestigious “Monde Selection” in Brussels. Balashi was the brewery’s first uniquely Aruban product, with malt imported from Scotland, hops from Germany, and made using the island’s water. Balashi contains no artificial additives, and is now being exported to Curaçao and Bonaire.