What's Good Hawaii?

[fogindex]

J Wakefield collab release party this Saturday at INU in Kaneohe...
Tape Rock & Big Poppa plus Bake Kujira charity raffle:

 

[TheFarmBoy3]

TheFarmBoy3 We drank more rum than beer in Kauai last month. Koloa distillery has free tastings every hour or so (one per person per day), and their rums can be found in the local stores too. Grab some POG, Koloa coconut rum and their dark rum for a floater. WIN.

As for beer, we brought a ton with us, but my friend Dave runs Kauai Island Brewing (already mentioned). They make some good IPAs, nothing off the charts, but solid. He also has Hawaii's largest pinball machine collection (in a business) upstairs. He's also an all around good guy. Stop in and tell him Chris from Rip Current Brewing sent you. He also loves BA beers if you have any to share.
Have fun & Aloha!

stawn POG / Rum is legit good! Perfect for island weather! Great recommendation.

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[jmgrub]

stawn POG / Rum is legit good! Perfect for island weather! Great recommendation.

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I, I mean my wife, thinks that banana daiquiris are also very good in this weather.

 

[rcubed1]

Gin and tonic, mai tais, and liliquoi magaritas are usually my go-to cocktails but that sounds great stawn .

What's a good POG juice to buy? Most are only a small percentage actual juice from what I've seen in the markets.

 

[fogindex]

Gin and tonic, mai tais, and liliquoi magaritas are usually my go-to cocktails but that sounds great stawn .

What's a good POG juice to buy? Most are only a small percentage actual juice from what I've seen in the markets.

Buy lilikoi & guava nectar plus a decent orange juice @ 1:1:1 ratios

 

[rcubed1]

Buy lilikoi & guava nectar plus a decent orange juice @ 1:1:1 ratios

Sounds like a lot of work!

 

[fogindex]

Sounds like a lot of work!

 

[FoudreGuy]

Gin and tonic, mai tais, and liliquoi magaritas are usually my go-to cocktails but that sounds great stawn .

What's a good POG juice to buy? Most are only a small percentage actual juice from what I've seen in the markets.

You’re overthinking it. Just enjoy your vacation.

 

[rcubed1]

Visited Ola Brew Co. Beers were okay to good, ciders were good to great. A cool spot though, nice tasting room with A/C.

 

[davemont]

The rambutan/jabuticaba cider was delicious.

 

[TheFarmBoy3]

Made it to the Inu Island Ales release and barely missed out on Tape Rock. Minor shitlording going on with mules (likely for non-locals from what I could tell) but overall a great experience waiting in line (got there 2 hours before) and the locals were very generous with sharing many beers with everyone waiting. The beers at Inu were also great...the IPA were great, guava sour was solid, and the stouts (bake/it was all a dream/tape pop/big poppa) were pretty hype worthy...luckily they were sharing them with the attendees. Event was with price of admission.

Tl;dr - Inu Island Ales is worth visiting.

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[jmgrub]

Visited Ola Brew Co. Beers were okay to good, ciders were good to great. A cool spot though, nice tasting room with A/C.

You should come to trivia at Ola tomorrow night. We took the crown last week, and are looking for our 3rd consecutive top 2 finish this week.

I agree on the rambutan jaboticaba cider, and really like the dragonfruit one as well.

 

[rcubed1]

You should come to trivia at Ola tomorrow night. We took the crown last week, and are looking for our 3rd consecutive top 2 finish this week.

I agree on the rambutan jaboticaba cider, and really like the dragonfruit one as well.

Had other plans,hope you did well.

 

[fogindex]

We had a pretty epic share the night before the INU release, so much so that I spent the morning at the pool instead of at the brewery.

 

[brokensail1]

Heading to Oahu at the end of June and appreciate all the information in this thread! I have a question regarding growlers for the locals.

Do places in Hawaii/on Oahu fill growlers other than their own (e.g., blank or random other brewery with label obscured)? I was considering just tossing a couple empties in my luggage so I don't come home with even more growlers that I do not need.

 

[fogindex]

Do places in Hawaii/on Oahu fill growlers other than their own (e.g., blank or random other brewery with label obscured)? I was considering just tossing a couple empties in my luggage so I don't come home with even more growlers that I do not need.

INU has a crowler machine so you shouldn't worry about bringing empties. I'm not sure the policies of the other breweries, but I can find out... which other breweries were you stopping by?

 

[rcubed1]

Kona has crowlers too. In my past experience they have filled any growler on the Big Island. I would recommend taping over logos though. But I don’t know if this has changed.

 

[brokensail1]

Good to know about the crowlers at Inu, that itself probably allows me to avoid the issue as I'm not sure where else I'd necessarily want to get fills. The breweries we'll definitely hit:

Beer Lab
Honolulu Beerworks
Inu

Lower on the list, but we may end up visiting anyway: Kona, Lanikai, Maui, and Waikiki. Staying in a condo in Waikiki, so I'd imagine that Maui Brewing and Waikiki Brewing will be visited out of convenience at some point or another.

 

[fogindex]

BeerLabHI has a crowler machine too.
Beerkworks has cans, but not sure what the selection is, you should bring growlers for takeaway.

Never been to any of the others. Kona is omnipresent (brewed in mainland).

 

[rcubed1]

Kona has a very respectable barleywine on right now. #BiL

 

[HaoleToYouToo]

Good to know about the crowlers at Inu, that itself probably allows me to avoid the issue as I'm not sure where else I'd necessarily want to get fills. The breweries we'll definitely hit:

Beer Lab
Honolulu Beerworks
Inu

Lower on the list, but we may end up visiting anyway: Kona, Lanikai, Maui, and Waikiki. Staying in a condo in Waikiki, so I'd imagine that Maui Brewing and Waikiki Brewing will be visited out of convenience at some point or another.

Not to sound like a snob, But you'd be best to leave your growlers on da mainland & make room to take crowlers home. Inu & BeerLabHI are worth hauling back, Honolulu Beerworks is borderline. The others you listed are like wearing socks & shoes to da beach.

Kona's location in Hawaii Kai is more of a pub than brewery & there's maybe 1-2 beers you can't get on da mainland.

Maui on da Strip is overpriced & a full-on kook tourist trap. Solid place to sit, drink & try their beers if you're a fan one time. But keep an eye on those food & pour prices as you order otherwise you'll feel like a Barney in & out of da water leaving there.

Lanikai sells bottles at da ABC Store. They are everywhere. Save your receipts, you can take a 2019 Hawaiian Girls Topless or Scenic Hawaii Calendar back to da mainland as souvenir if you spend over $100. Maybe Hello Kitty Hula Coffee Mug. You choice.

Waikiki Brewing is a complete pass in my opinion. You'd be better off going to these spots:

Village Bottle Shop & Taproom - They have draft & have the best selection of cans, bottles in Kaka'ako/Waikiki on Oahu

Brew'd - Nice Pub, solid grinds & good in-house bottle list

Tamura's - They even have a decent amount of cans & bottles, plus poke

 

[fogindex]

Maui on da Strip is overpriced & a full-on kook tourist trap. Solid place to sit, drink & try their beers if you're a fan one time. But keep an eye on those food & pour prices as you order otherwise you'll feel like a Barney in & out of da water leaving there.

Lanikai sells bottles at da ABC Store. They are everywhere. Save your receipts, you can take a 2019 Hawaiian Girls Topless or Scenic Hawaii Calendar back to da mainland as souvenir if you spend over $100. Maybe Hello Kitty Hula Coffee Mug. You choice.

Waikiki Brewing is a complete pass in my opinion.

Yeah brah, don't be there!

Also want to send a shout out to islandboi8204 who I DM'd on TalkBeer a few years ago asking naively "Do you guys share beer on O'ahu?" shortly before discovering those guys are the deepest craft beer serious-knowers I've come across. Aloha to you JL, missed you immensely but in the evergreen and immortal words of JBoog "Let's do it again..."

 

[brokensail1]

HaoleToYouToo thanks for the tips, brah. The growlers would have been filled with Inu or BeerLab stuff, but crowlers are better for hauling back (in my opinion, at least).

Brew'd, Village, and Tamura's are definitely on the list. I was really just talking strictly breweries/brewpubs in my last post.


Not sure if the other half would appreciate the topless calendar, but I'm sure she'd love to know that ABC is offering an insulated tote bag if we buy a bunch of Mauna Loa nuts. What a deal!

 

[rcubed1]

Whatever it takes to get those Mahalo Rewards points

 

[FoudreGuy]

Lilikoi and Pineapple Hi-Chew.

 

[fogindex]

Lilikoi and Pineapple Hi-Chew.

ISO

 

[yabu]

There are two breweries on Kauai: Kauai Island Brewery (Port Allen) and Kauai Beer Company (Lihue). They're both good but I liked Kauai Beer Company better. I don't really like mead but I still thought Nani Moon was worth my time.

Merriman's down in Popipu has a pretty solid taplist as does Street Burger in Kapaa.

Oh! You should get a reservation for dinner at Kauai Ono, definitely the best food we had. It's BYOB so bring something fancy from home with you. A buddy and I brought de Garde and Ale Apothecary bottles with us.

http://www.kauaiono.com

I went on a whim on your recommendation of Kauai Ono.....and our group confirmed that it was the best dinner during our trip. All 5 courses...WOW!

I brought a few ipa's, port & Scotch for my trip. Didn't even open up the scotch. With warm day & nights, drinking uigeadail wasn't ideal. Lesson learned.

Paid visits at the 2 breweries on Kauai...and I was content with a few tasters. Was pretty average, but that's okay. I didn't go to Kauai for their beer.

On a side note - Kauai was amazing!!!

 

[jmgrub]

Arctic Devil is on for growler fills at Kona Wine Market in case anyone else lives here or is visiting the Big Island anytime soon.

 

[rcubed1]

Arctic Devil is on for growler fills at Kona Wine Market in case anyone else lives here or is visiting the Big Island anytime soon.

#BiL

 

[brokensail1]

In keeping with the Hawaiian #BiL movement: I brought home a bottle of Lanikai's Mahina barrel aged barleywine against my better judgement. Beer Lab was great (those crowler prices tho, yikes) and Inu was good but not amazing.

Lilikoi Hi-Chew was legit.