Good beer in Hawaii?

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Soma

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I'm Canadian and will be visiting Kona, Hawaii next week. Being a huge fan of the American craft beer movement, I'm excited to try as much stuff as I can. Any recommendations/suggestions on where I'll be able to find a decent selection on the island? Any help greatly appreciated.

If I could find a dozen or so Ruination's... I'd be a very happy man.
 
I don't know what Hawaii has for microbrew selection though Kona Brewing Co.'s beers are damn good!
 
+1 on Kona brewing company.

They have a passion fruit wheat that I really want to try and clone but I can't find passion fruit extract anywhere. Their other stuff (longboard lager and another one whose name escapes me right now) are good too.
 
When I was in Hawaii last July for my buddy's wedding I tried all the local beers I could find: Kona, Maui, Mehana, and a brewpub on Maui I can't recall. Kona was best, Maui had some really good stuff, but Mehana sucked IMO.
 
When I was in Hawaii last July for my buddy's wedding I tried all the local beers I could find: Kona, Maui, Mehana, and a brewpub on Maui I can't recall. Kona was best, Maui had some really good stuff, but Mehana sucked IMO.

Interensting, I thought the Mehana stuff I tried was pretty good. I got a 6 pack each of their lager and their pale ale. Obviously Maui's Big Wave IPA is awesome, got a 6 pack of that too. The Kona brewpub in Kona is excellent as well.

If you're looking for a beer bar, I found an awesome place called 'Humpy's On the Beach' in Kona that was excellent. They had 36 taps with a lot of interesting stuff I had never tried being from NC, plus the view is amazing. Look them up while you're there if you can.
 
Interensting, I thought the Mehana stuff I tried was pretty good. I got a 6 pack each of their lager and their pale ale. Obviously Maui's Big Wave IPA is awesome, got a 6 pack of that too. The Kona brewpub in Kona is excellent as well.

I remember the guy at the brewpub said that Mehana was bought out or had new ownership or whatever and he said he thought the quality fell when the happened.

Big Wave is good stuff!
 
I don't recall the brewery, but one of the guys in my hbc brought some canned Pineapple or Citra IPA back from hawaii that was suprisingly tasty. Just can't remember the details, we all got a bit sloshed that meeting >.<
 
I don't recall the brewery, but one of the guys in my hbc brought some canned Pineapple or Citra IPA back from hawaii that was suprisingly tasty. Just can't remember the details, we all got a bit sloshed that meeting >.<

If it was in a can it was most likely Big Wave IPA.
 
+1 on Kona brewing company.

They have a passion fruit wheat that I really want to try and clone but I can't find passion fruit extract anywhere. Their other stuff (longboard lager and another one whose name escapes me right now) are good too.

Are you thinking of Wailua Wheat?

I remember the guy at the brewpub said that Mehana was bought out or had new ownership or whatever and he said he thought the quality fell when the happened.

Yep, they are now combined with Hawai'i Nui brewing. I actually visited the brewery tasting room in Hilo and some of their stuff wasn't too bad.

As has been mentioned, the Kona Brewery is a good place to have lunch and they have a lot on tap that you can't get elsewhere. They also do a tour with tasting, more tasting than tour, which was fine with me. Different island, but, again, as has already been mentioned, Maui Brewing makes some good stuff. I'm a big fan of the coconut porter. There is also Primo lager. It sounded like a basic American lager to me, but I never tried it.

EDIT: While you're over there, see if you can convince Kona to make the Pipeline Porter a year round beer and not a seasonal.
 
There is also Primo lager. It sounded like a basic American lager to me, but I never tried it.

I also had a 6 pack of that while I was there (I think I got a 6 of every local beer they had at Safeway, hahaha) and to me it tasted more like a steam beer, which was nice since, like you, I was expecting a basic American lager.
 
The Kona brewpub's on the Big Island and Oahu are both great. Be sure to try the Oceanic Saison.

Drinking Maui Big Wave IPAs in cans on the beach is my favorite way to enjoy Hawai'i every time I go there.

If you ever go to Kaua&#699;i, the Waimea Brewing Company is the "World's Westernmost Brewery" and has some decent stuff.
 
Kona Brewing Co will have the best selection both there and in the stores. It depends on where you are staying in the Kona area if you're at the resorts it's a bit of a hike to town but you can find all of the beers mentioned at the local super markets. If I remember correctly Primo is actually brewed here in Cali but until recently was only marketed/sold in HI.
 
I love Kona's Pipeline Porter.

+1 although their other beers leave something to be desired. Longboard Lager and their Fire Rock Pale ale are both very bland (not malty enough to be an english style pale ale and not hoppy enough to be an american style) and taste like macro brew to me.

But pipeline along with SA's holiday porter are two beers i look forward to every year.
 
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