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!

A Weekend on Mau'i

 Mau'i was my last principal Hawaiian island to visit and it far surpassed expectations. The island has so many distinct geographic areas: hot arid scrub land, fields of sugarcane, mountains, jungles, and Haleakala volcano that feels like you're above the world. Not to mention the gorgeous beaches and views of other islands. While the main point of the trip was to see the natural splendor, we also made it a point to do some beer touring!

Friday we visited Kohola Brewery in Lahaina for a tour and tasting. While still small, they're making a splash with tons of special events and excellent beer. Be sure to look for their upcoming collaboration with Revision called Owyhee, an Imperial IPA.  The brewery is hot and real; a full production facility with a bar area.  The tour includes a flight of their four flagship brews and a sample glass to take home.

That evening we stopped by Maui Brewing Company's Lahaina tasting room.  Located in Ka'anapali, it's unassuming from the outside. The interior took me back to the high-ceiling brewpubs of California; this place feels spacious and comfortable. They have a huge selection of Maui beers, guest taps, as well as an extensive food menu. It's a fun restaurant in a beautiful area, worthwhile to stop for a meal.


Sunday we booked a tour at Maui Brewing Company's new main Kihei brewery. The facility is amazing; huge compared to all others in the islands. Everything was designed for increased production and expansion. The facility is the most sustainable in Hawai'i and aims to be fully off the grid in a few years.  I was interested to hear they'll be distilling spirits as well.  After the tour, we had a tasting of their four flagship beers and got to keep a full-sized glass here as well. We met local friends who joined us for the tour and a few beer tastings afterwards.  I'm excited to return once their restaurant opens in the new year!

Beer souvenirs were the last things we picked up from Safeway, Foodland, and Whole Foods. Maui has a different distribution network than the rest of the state due to the Maui-Stone partnership. I scored some Oskar Blues, Pizza Port, lots of Stone, and others to enjoy at home.  I was only sad I couldn't carry more!  There's always next time!

MMM Drop IPA by Square Barrels & Koholā Brewery Pairing 8/3/2017

Tonight was a double whammy hosted by Square Barrels in downtown Honolulu. Square Barrels has been around a few years, always with a focus on food, beer, and fine cocktails.  In recent months, they started brewing their own small batch beers. I finally got to try a few tonight.

4-1-1 Session Ale

My Korean Mother-in-law IPA

To start, I ordered their two beers on the menu: the 4-1-1 Session Ale, and the My Korean Mother-in-law IPA. The latter was appropriate, a new IPA for IPA Day 2017!

MMM Drop IPA

What got me in was the launch of their newest offering, MMM Drop North East IPA. They generously gave 6 oz size tasters to all present; it's always great to give a taste to keep you coming back!
 

The event also included one of the owners of Koholā Brewery from Mau'i, who brought four flagship selections. Square Barrels developed a plate of four sliders to pair with each. Their food is excellent, outside the norm of what you'd find in the islands, yet with a very local focus. We had ahi, chicken, beef, and best of all - Moloka'i venison.

Beyond the featured foods, we tried the poutine, beignets, and angel hair bolognese.  The food is super rich, which goes well with the varied beers.  Square Barrels is an Untappd Verified Venue and is worth checking out if you find yourself downtown!