A Cayce brewery is partnering with a group that directs money to University of South Carolina student-athletes.

Garnet Trust and Steel Hands Brewing recently announced the brewery will release the Sandstorm Game Day Lager, with proceeds set to go to help entice student-athletes to come play and learn in Columbia.

The beer, which will be available in garnet-and-black six-pack cans at retailers across the state and on draft at the brewery, is set to be released Aug. 19.

Proceeds from the beer will go to USC student-athletes through Garnet Trust, established to help USC take advantage of the NCAA’s new allowances for players to profit from their name, image and likeness (or NIL).

“This opportunity allows us to support our community of student-athletes who are building a positive impact through their NIL opportunities and developing a culture of giving back by raising awareness for charitable causes,” Steel Hands posted to Facebook, promising that Sandstorm will be “the next big game day brew.”

A beer brewed to help pay student-athletes is a creative wrinkle in the evolving efforts to take advantage of NIL opportunities. 

And USC athletes won’t be the only ones benefiting from such an arrangement. West Virginia NIL group Country Roads Trust and nearby brewery Big Timber announced their own beer to benefit student-athletes just a couple days before Garnet Trust and Steel Hands.

Securing this kind of revenue for USC student-athletes is exactly what Garnet Trust was set up to do.

“Garnet Trust was launched in November 2021 as the first NIL collective for the University of South Carolina,” the group’s website states. “Our goal was, and still is, to connect the Gamecocks fan base with USC student-athletes through legal and compliant NIL opportunities.

“USC student-athletes are legally compensated to provide deliverables to Garnet Trust members. Those supporters then get access to digital content, autographed items, events, and other exclusive experiences based on membership level.”

Boosting the Gamecocks is nothing new for Steel Hands. For the past couple years, the brewery has served as the home for the annual football season kickoff parties hosted by the USC sports news website Gamecock Central.

The brewery is also no stranger to brewing a beer for a cause.

Through its Steel Paws initiative and namesake wheat ale, the brewery raises money to help fund the canine programs at local law enforcement agencies, both near its Cayce mothership and the Greensboro, N.C. location it opened last year.