CRAFT: Hawaii’s Only 100% Local Beer Festival

Just a few short years ago on Oahu there was only a sporadic festival, and even then they featured a lot of mainland offerings as the state simply didn’t support that many breweries. Flash forward to this month and the (hopefully) first annual CRAFT Beer Festival. Essentially a celebration of Hawaii-brewed beer and local adjunct ingredients, this beer festival truly stood out.

CRAFT was planned and implemented primarily by Cindy Goldstein of the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild, an organization of breweries in Hawaii that meet a number of requirements including being certified Independent and brewing 100% of their offerings in the islands. With the advent of big beer taking over more and more breweries each day, it’s important to highlight the amazing things our local breweries are doing with the added hurdles of geographic isolation and shipping costs. HCBG seeks to educate local beer drinkers and encourage more people to “drink local.”

CRAFT was held Saturday, February 23, 2019 at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Their great lawn was the perfect open-air setting and was further aided by perfect weather including just the right amount of clouds to block a hot sun, but no rain. An army of volunteers aided in set up, helping the participating breweries to their tents and tapping kegs. Each brewery brought two to four selections, with many bringing free swag and information about their products. Non-beer highlights were a selection of free Maui Brewing sodas, Ola Brew’s kiawe bean producer bringing two types of fresh kiawa brownies, and stickers, hats, and other giveaways.

The $55 entry fee included ten tasters in the included commemorative beerglass that featured the fest’s logo designed by Vince Gallo. The glass was larger and despite having a fill line, most breweries filled it to the brim. Even the ten tasting tickets ended up being largely ignored by the pourers; people were just enjoying sharing their beer with people that appreciated it. Many breweries brought limited kegs and Waikiki even brought a gravity keg variant of their Skinny Jeans IPA with fresh whole cone Mosaic hops added. There ended up being more new beers to Oahu that I realized, and I personally missed a few I was hoping to try! Inu Island Ales and Lanikai Brewing Co. each used the festival to debut new beers, which are now available at their respective breweries. For those who don’t travel to the outer islands, Kauai Beer Co., Kauai Island Brewing Co., Kohola Brewery, Ola Brew Co., and Big Island Brewhaus all brought fresh selections not usually seen on Oahu.

The highlight for me beyond the beer was the ability to talk story with the brewers themselves. Each brewery had representatives who knew about the beer, the work that went into it, and the breweries themselves. Most other beer fests seem to cater to the get drunk quick crowd and there’s no one around to ask questions and be proud of their product. This different dynamic was also easy to see in the makeup of the crowd: people were happy to be drinking local beer, and were friendly. I’ve never seen so many people I’ve known personally at a single beer event. Here’s hoping for an annual gathering!

The Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild & Tap Takeover Event!

 For any fan of locally produced beer, it's important to know how difficult an industry it is. Craft brewers are constantly competing with large entrenched macro breweries, many of which own controlling shares in distributors, which makes it hard or impossible to find shelf space at retail or access to quality ingredients.  To combat the 'big guy,' many small breweries band together in associations to the benefit of all.

Guilds started in the Middle Ages in Europe as a formal association of artists or craftsman to oversee the quality and function of a particular skill or product. With the explosion of local Hawai'i beer in 2005, the now-defunct Aloha Brewers Guild was formed to link these new breweries. It wasn't successful, but stood as a start.

In 2014, the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild was formed to further organize to make it easier for local breweries to produce quality beer and serve their communities without interference.  In recent months, the Guild has been submitting testimony to the state legislature for increased sales limits, and the ability to be family-friendly, among other initiatives. The Guild represents breweries based in Hawai'i that produce 100% of their beer in the state. As reported by Lanikai Brewing Company's owner Steve Haumschild, only 5% of beer consumed in the state is produced here!  Beyond lobbying, the Guild stands to educate and promote drinking local.

To that end, the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild will be hosting a Tap Takeover event at Square Barrels in downtown Honolulu on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 starting at 6pm! Brewery owners and representatives will be present from all members to talk story and raise support for the organization. Come down and meet:  Honolulu Beerworks - Geoff Seideman; Kauai Beer Company – Justin Guerber; Kauai Island Brewing Company – Dave Curry; Lanikai Brewing Company – Steve Haumschild; Maui Brewing Company – Garrett Marrero; Stewbum & Stonewall – Darren Garvey; and Waikiki Brewing Company – Joe P. Lorenzen.  In addition to the people, Square Barrels always has fantastic food. Each brewery is, of course, bringing beer! It's a great opportunity to try outer island breweries that aren't always available in Honolulu.