Good Hawaiian Beers?

Go.

Kona koko brown ale

Kona is made by Budweiser and are all gimmicky. Their beer is terrible IMO

No kona brewery is a craft brewery. They have access to the AB distribution network but are not brewed by them. Even if they where that wouldn't change my taste buds!

Fire Rock Pale Ale - Kona Brewing Company

Kona Koko Brown is delicious! And Kona isn't owned by AB-InBev (well not completely). Kona is part of the Craft Brewers Alliance (with Redhook & Widmer) and AB-InBev owns I believe 30% of the CBA. Most Kona you get on the mainland is brewed by Redhook or Widmer.

Maui Brewing Co.

kona is ok... I poured at their booth for a fest and nothing was all that good.

Maui Brewing Co.

We have at least one active member from the islands, where the heck is he? He should be weighing in on this... Come on C-rider...

Revvy said:

We have at least one active member from the islands, where the heck is he? He should be weighing in on this... Come on C-rider...

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Yeah, I kinda figured if I put this out he would respond. Will be going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. Wanted to taste the local brew. I have heard Fire rock is pretty good. Interested in trying Maui Brewing as well. Not sure how much selection they have on the smaller islands. Might need to pack some over from Oahu.

bluemoose said:

Yeah, I kinda figured if I put this out he would respond. Will be going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. Wanted to taste the local brew. I have heard Fire rock is pretty good. Interested in trying Maui Brewing as well. Not sure how much selection they have on the smaller islands. Might need to pack some over from Oahu.

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Yeah, I'm hoping he pipes up about the stuff we don't hear about, like the brewpubs and micros that don't distribute yet.

Tried several when the fam and I were there lst summer and didn't find one I really liked. Quite disappointing.

Busted!!!!! LOL

To tell the truth I don't drink much of any commercial beers, I like mine better so I can't really add much.

A lot of restaurants have Kona Long Board Lager and that's usually what I get out of the house.

Sorry can't add much to this talk, someone beat me w/a bag of used grains. LOL

Maybe I should go buy some over the next few months and take notes. LOL

I'm polling the members of the West Oahu Brew Club lets see what they offer.

From Kona Brewing I've had the Fire Rock Pale Ale, Longboard Lager, and Big Wave Golden Ale. I really like all the three of them but I like the Fire Rock the best. Next time I see the Koko Brown I'm going to buy a sixer to try out.

I've got BierMuncher's Fire Rock clone on my list of beers to brew.

C-rider, I'm headed to lanai. Anything I have to do while I'm there? I'll be on Oahu for two days, but mostly to see Pearl Harbor, et al.

C-Rider said:

I'm polling the members of the West Oahu Brew Club lets see what they offer.

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Good to hear that there is a brew club on Oahu! I will be moving there at the end of the year. Gotta be sure to look them up once I get all settled in.

bluemoose said:

C-rider, I'm headed to lanai. Anything I have to do while I'm there? I'll be on Oahu for two days, but mostly to see Pearl Harbor, et al.

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Not much to do on Lanai cept relaxing. There is some private hunting for Axes Deer and Muflon Sheep. Most likely golf and swimming/snorkeling. Haven't been there in 10 years of more.

Be prepared for PH. You can't carry any bags to the memorial or the battle ship Mighty Mo. There is a place to check in bags just off the parking area.

Got this from one guy
Kona's Pipeline Porter
Maui's Coconut Porter
Any thing you get will be way better than BMC and perhaps equal to Dechutes (sp) and Sierra N.

C-Rider said:

Not much to do on Lanai cept relaxing. There is some private hunting for Axes Deer and Muflon Sheep. Most likely golf and swimming/snorkeling. Haven't been there in 10 years of more.

Be prepared for PH. You can't carry any bags to the memorial or the battle ship Mighty Mo. There is a place to check in bags just off the parking area.

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Good to know! Thanks. Will be golfing the Mandele course. Probably do some fishing as well. I'll have to find out about hunting, that sounds like a good time, I saw they had skeet shooting, but it doesn't seem worth it to drag a shotgun halfway across the world. But for sheep hunting...

I like all of Maui Brewing Co's stuff, especially the coconut porter. I wouldn't have thought a porter would be good poolside, but that ended up my favorite.

Kmonaiwannalaia makes a good ham and pineapple porter

I lived on Lanai for 3 months years ago. The Manele Bay Beach is georgeous! The coral reef is very close to the water surface and hundreds of fish will swim around you. As far as food, if you want to go all out there's the Lodge at Koele or the Manele Bay Hotel. If you want fish just as fresh but more affordable, try the dining room at Hotel Lanai.

DrHops said:

I lived on Lanai for 3 months years ago. The Manele Bay Beach is georgeous! The coral reef is very close to the water surface and hundreds of fish will swim around you. As far as food, if you want to go all out there's the Lodge at Koele or the Manele Bay Hotel. If you want fish just as fresh but more affordable, try the dining room at Hotel Lanai.

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Thanks Doc. We are staying at the four seasons at Mandele. I will surely eat there. It doesn't look like there is much else around. I will have to call the hotel to find out what is on tap.

I lived Maui for years. Maui brew co is good, coconut porter, strawberry blond. I used to buy what was on sale, island living after all. Locals like 'green bottles and bud lights' again when the price is right and the sun is hot. Local bars would have decent west coast (main land) taps, but an iipa is a difficult sell on a 90* day, IMO

I'm headed to Oahu on Saturday with my family. Not planning much in advance other than relaxing. My daughter just turned 1. I'm sure she'll eat sand and have a good time. We're staying within walking distance of the zoo so will probably go there too.

Thanks for the tip on PH and no bags. I hope to be able to go there on this trip.

I'll post again about any good beers I find.

Kona's stuff is good- I had koko brown at the brewpub years before it went into bottles. Awesome. Maui, though, is where the real great stuff is. Their coconut porter is amazing- perfectly subtle, and their other beers are just tops.

Konas pipeline porter is awesome, but the others are ok, I guess

I just returned from two weeks on Oahu. I tried a lot of Kona's offerings and wasn't all that impressed. So, by the time I tried the Koko Brown, I was pleasantly surprised as it was pretty good.

As mentioned, Maui Brewing is good. I enjoyed their coconut porter and Big Swell IPA.

I also had the Hawaii Nui Hapa Ale and the Mehana Mauna Kea Pale Ale. I don't remember enjoying the Hapa Ale and the Mehana was alright.

Jonny

From what I've heard, kona has an ipa at there restaurant in Hawaii Kai. You can only get it on the island. Also, I was told there is a new brew pub near wakiki on Nimitz near lowes.

And I'm also on the island. Will be deploying in April, but will be back around sep Oct time frame.

mathin said:

I'm headed to Oahu on Saturday with my family. Not planning much in advance other than relaxing. My daughter just turned 1. I'm sure she'll eat sand and have a good time. We're staying within walking distance of the zoo so will probably go there too.

Thanks for the tip on PH and no bags. I hope to be able to go there on this trip.

I'll post again about any good beers I find.

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Another Tip. You may be in Paradise, but we still have crooks. Don't leave ANYTHING of value in y our car as you drive around the island and stop to look at the sights or go in for a swim.

C-Rider said:

Another Tip. You may be in Paradise, but we still have crooks. Don't leave ANYTHING of value in y our car as you drive around the island and stop to look at the sights or go in for a swim.

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Yeah, no joke. My rental I had was broken into when I first got here. Wasn't even a week. I thought my stuff would be ok in the trunk since it was out of sight. Nope, them meth heads target rental cars. From what I was told by HPD, the dodge charger is the most broken into car here.

Ok just bought a 6 pack of Kona's Coconut Porter and I don't like it. It's not bad, just not my type of porter.

I has lots of mouth feel, almost "thick". Color is reddish. My taste buds are shot so I only know if I like something or not. Can't describe it at all. But what the heck do I know? I'm just an almost 70 year old. LOL..

After getting deeper into the glass I decided I don't like it at all. Poured the last half down the drain. What can I say?

Note: I haven't read the thread through... yet. I've spent a lot of time in Hawai'i recently.

My absolute favorite island beer is Maui Mana Wheat. Light pineapple flavor makes it taste really Hawaiian. All the Maui offerings are pretty good, and they do a lot of great collaborations. Hawai'i doesn't seem to have a great IPA, IMO, but some are pretty good.

Mehana is meh. They're OK, but that's about it. I had one . . . interesting . . . beer that tasted like Tomato: Mehana / Hawai'i Nui Sunset Amber.

Bottles of Kona are not Hawaiian. On tap, it is local. They're pretty good, better than Mehana, but not too exciting. Maui's where it's at.

Primo? Ha!

Yea Primo has not been a Hawaiian beer for decades. On tap at the brewery on the shore of Pearl Harbor it was pretty good.

The best I've had so far is Maui brewing's Big Swell IPA. I may try to find their wheat ... Sounds interesting. The Kona I've tried were ok, but not great.

Big Swell kind of reminds me of Ninkasi Total Domination IPA.

Big swell isn't too bad. Tried the golden alw and the lager as well.

mathin said:

The best I've had so far is Maui brewing's Big Swell IPA. I may try to find their wheat ... Sounds interesting. The Kona I've tried were ok, but not great.

Big Swell kind of reminds me of Ninkasi Total Domination IPA.

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Of all the breweries in the islands I'd have to say Maui is the best. While Kona may have the farthest reach with "good" beer, Maui dominates them in every category.

The big issue I see here in Hawaii is that many, if not all breweries try to capitalize on "Hawaii" by adding a taste of the islands to their beers. Even Maui is guilty of this.

I have to agree though, the big swell is quite possibly the BEST commercial beer in Hawaii. I am a huge huge fan of Ninkasi's Total Domination and Tricerahops. Big Swell is vary similar to Total Domination and stands beside it in awesomeness as an IPA.