Hawaii Craft Beer Awards 2019

Medals

The first ever Hawaii Craft Beer Awards were held this weekend. It was a two-day celebration of 100% locally made craft beer. I was thankful to be invited. Steve Haumschild of Lanikai Brewing Company came up with the idea and hosted the event at Tap & Barrel in Kailua. The event benefited the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild, with ticket sales and scrip going to help the guild further promote local beer.

Friday an independent judging panel was invited to Tap & Barrel to sample and enjoy the beer. Certified Cicerones Tim Golden, Bill Carl, and Pablo Scurto were joined by BJCP Judges Shawn Crawford, Vince Gallo, Eddie Kowal, Bob Hillier, and I. Cindy Goldstein, the executive director of the guild, planned and organized the judging. We received over 100 beer entries from guild members all over the islands; it was a tough job! Categories included popular styles like IPAs,  Stouts/Porters, Sours, and others. Unique for this competition, we also judged the best collaboration beer, best beer using Hawaiian sourced ingredients, and best label art.  Two categories were voted on by the brewery-members themselves: best new brewery, and brewery of the year (the company that contributes most to the advocacy of local beer). After the hard work was done, we enjoyed Lanikai’s celebration of two years of Tap & Barrel, as well as the leftovers from the competition!

Saturday was the real party. That evening was the Awards Ceremony in their outdoor parking lot. For a first year, it was a great event with lots of happy beer enthusiasts. The last category was presented here: Peoples Choice. A dozen kegs were marked with style only, the entry ticket got everyone a 1oz pour to sample and choose the favorite. Full pours were also available. A DJ supplied the tunes and the guild had a swag table. The indoor bar was also very busy with a few food trucks along the street providing much-need grub. 

 

The real entertainment was the presentation of awards: MC’d by Cindy and Steve, they presented third through first of each category with the sponsored prizes they received. Each group got pictures taken with their awards. We took a rain break halfway through, which just added to the fun. Attendees seemed happy throughout, drinking beer while celebrating those who make it. Join us next year!

WINNERS LIST!

Brewery of the Year
Gold: Lanikai Brewing Co Prize Sysco $500 Credit
Silver: Kohola Brewery
Bronze: BeerLab HI
 
New Brewery of the Year
Olomana Brewing Company Prize White Labs 10 BBL Yeast Pitch

Best Design
Gold: Inu Island Ales - Coconut Hazy w/ Village Bottle Shop Prize Likos $50 Gift Certificate
Silver: Waikiki Brewing Co - Skinny Jeans
Bronze: Kohola Brewery - Lahaina Haze

Best Collaboration
Gold: Kohola Brewery Owyhee NEIPA Prize Village Bottle Shop $100 GC + Secret Prize
Silver: Lanikai Brewing Co Everybodys HI Sour Farmhouse Kveik
Bronze: Inu Island Ales - Haole Brownie Stout

Best Locally Sourced
Gold: Inu Island Ales - Island Punch w/ Mango & Guava Prize Off the Wall $50 & VIP Membership
Silver: Honolulu Beerworks - Pia Mahi'ai
Bronze: Lanikai Brewing - Jaboticaba Cuvee Hawaiian Wild Ale

Most Creative Beer
Gold: Waikiki Brewing Co - Jalapeno Mouth Prize Crosby Hops 11 lbs Estate Grown Amarillo
Silver: Olomana Brewing - Pele's Reign IRA
Bronze: Inu Island Ales - Island Punch w/ Pomegranate, Peach, & Coconut

Best Farmhouse/Belgian
Gold: Maui Brewing Co - La Perouse Prize 44# Wakatau Hops
Silver: Lanikai Brewing - Alai'a Quad
Bronze: Honolulu Beerworks - Pia Mahi'ai

Best IPA
Gold: Kohola Brewery - Lahaina Haze Prize YCH Hops $200 Credit
Silver: Inu Island Ales - Imperial Hazy
Bronze: BeerLab HI - Ko'olauloa Hazy

Best Lager/Pilsner
Gold: Big Island Brewhaus - Graham's Pilsner Prize Country Malt $400 Credit
Silver: Kohola Brewery - Lokahi Pilsner
Bronze: Maui Brewing - Pau Hana Pilsner

Best Non-Category
Gold: Honolulu Beerworks - Cocoweizen Prize Nico's Upstairs Breakfast for 6 & Fish Auction Tour
Silver: Kauai Island Brewing - Cane Fire Red Amber
Bronze: Waikiki Brewing - 4th Anniversary Barleywine


Best Porter/Stout
Gold: Maui Brewing - Imperial Coconut Porter Prize Square Barrels Secret Prize
Silver: Kohola Brewery - Molokai Stout
Bronze: Ola Brew - Ola Kiawe Porter

Best Sour
Gold: Lanikai Brewing - Pua Aloalo Hibiscus Sour Prize Grace in Growlers $50, Freaker, Shirt, Hat
Silver: Maui Brewing - Land of Rainbows
Bronze: Inu Island Ales - Island Punch w/ Peaches & Vanilla

Peoples Choice Award
Gold: Lanikai Brewing - 2 Shakes & a Howzit Prize ChemStation 44# Brewery Wash
Silver: BeerLab HI - Ko'olauloa
Bronze: Ola Brew - Lilikoi Lime Milkshake IPA

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!

Maui Brewing Co. Restaurant Opens in Kailua!

Mural by Kamea Hadar

Maui Brewing Co. opened their fourth location in the state this weekend at the Lau Hala Shops in Kailua Town on Oahu. The area was formerly Macy's and has since been developed into commercial spaces and a new parking garage and neighboring lot. The opening of the MBC Kailua Restaurant is a welcome addition as it offers local beer at an open air bar and dining area with Hawaii sourced ingredients.

Draft Beer Selection

Special thanks to Cindy Goldstein and owner Garrett Marrero for the invitation for Kristine and I to the private soft opening event. For our dining experience we met Cindy at the host stand and we were all taken to our table for the evening. I believe the entire staff was working as the event was designed to help train the servers, bartenders, and chefs. Everyone was extremely friendly and happy to be open and serving the first customers. Thank you to our server Marissa for the excellent service and always answering our questions, and to Floyd for remembering us from Waikiki and dropping by to chat.

The author and owner Garrett Marrero

The restaurant is modern with exposed concrete and subdued colors. The wood tables are bright and big enough to spread out. I loved the orange and blue bar chairs, they really popped.  As far as art goes, the mural painted by Kamea Hadar highlights the island vibes with a woman holding a bundle of hops and grain. As Garrett pointed out, her tattoo sleeve is a stylized interpretation of the beer ingredients of the Reinheitsgebot: grain on the shoulder, water on the upper arm, hops on the elbow, and yeast at the bottom. The high ceilings give a cool, bright, and airy vibe; I'm sure it'll stay comfortable even in the summer. They offer inside and outdoor lanai seating, but the entire place is open to the outside. The bar seats face the main street and would offer a great place to people watch. For sports fans, they have TVs around,  but they don't detract from ambience. One special note is how much I appreciated the well-designed restrooms, I always privately thought many small rooms is a must for a bar!

As part of the event, we were each given a unique menu to ensure a good mix of orders for the chefs to practice. The three of us opted to order a bunch and share everything. The menu is similar to that of the Waikiki location with some differences. Please see the photos and captions for some of the highlights. As far as beer goes, they will have a selection of 12 MBC beers and 4 guest taps. For our evening, we were treated to their core beers and one special treat: the newly tapped Imperial Hemp Brown ABV 8.7% IBU 25.

With our bellies full, Kristine and I visited Grace in Growler's new expansion including Grandma's Living Room, their bottle selection, and outdoor lanai. It's worth checking out!  We also tried two new beers at Lanikai Brewing Company, we hadn't been there in a while.  It's safe to say, Kailua has a great beer scene all by itself!

Avocado Toast

Loco Moco For Days

Ho Farms Tomato Salad

Buffalo Wings

Hawaii Beer Fest 2018 and BJCP Exam Class 2

It's been a busy week for beer! The 2018 Homebrew Competition committee is busy planning and we're looking forward to a fun event this November.

On Thursday, June 14th, the second BJCP Exam preparation class was held at Homebrew in Paradise in Kalihi. The group turnout was smaller, but was met with more discussion and in-depth learning. Again led by Cindy Goldstein of HOPS Homebrew Club and the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild, with esteemed Certified Cicerone instructors Scot Ahlers and Alyssa Gundersen, the class took a deep dive into descriptive language and how to complete a scoresheet. We then focused on three mores styles, filling out a sheet for each one and sharing our scores and descriptions. We covered: American IPAs, American Porters, and Blonde Ales, with a commercial or homebrew example of each. The highlight for me was seeing how close all the scores ended up being, of course with outliers and a discussion into the differences.  If you're interested in joining our next session in July, please email hops@hawaii.rr.com , there is no cost to attend, only the cost of beer samples.

Then came Saturday, June 16th and the first Hawaii Beer Fest held on the Great Lawn at the Bishop Museum. Offering a view of Diamond Head and Waikiki, it was a picturesque fresh air festival. A ring of tents around the lawn provided shade for all the Rotary Club of Honolulu volunteers who poured a never ending stream of the good stuff (a portion of the proceeds went to the club for their community projects). Sponsored by Paradise Beverages, ABInBev, local media and tourist companies, the festival had a mostly big beer presence. I was happy so many local breweries were represented: Inu Island Ales, Honolulu Beerworks, Waikiki Brewing Company, Lanikai Brewing Company, Ola Beer Co., Kohola Brewery, Maui Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Honolulu, and probably a couple I'm forgetting. In short, we had a fun time trying a bunch of new and hard to find beers for the island. The music was good, games were everywhere, a fire dancer performed, and everyone was laughing, happy, and enjoying themselves. If you'd like to read my complete review of the event, both positive and negative, please check it out here on Yelp.

The summer weather is here; it's the perfect season for some cold beer! Mahalo for reading!