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!

BeerAdvocate: "How to Drink Your Way Around Honolulu"

I'm excited to announce that I wrote a city profile for BeerAdvocate Magazine, titled "How to Drink Your Way Around Honolulu!" Look for it in Spring 2018 issue #132, on newsstands and shipping to subscribers now! The hardest part was limiting the featured locations due to space or not fitting on the map area; it's a great time for local beer when there's too much to talk about! If you'd like to order a single copy for the island beer goodness, you can do so here: BeerAdvocate Shop.

Also, congratulations to Inu Island Ales for being named among the 50 Best New Breweries in the same issue! 

I'll post a link to the electronic version of the article when it's available.

Next weekend is the first Hawaii Beer Fest at the Bishop Museum, tickets are still available. We'll be there!

BJCP Exam Classes - Free Beer Judging Seminars

For anyone that's been stopping by the blog the last few months, there hasn't been much activity here. Chock it up to being busy; sometimes I just feel like there aren't huge happenings to talk about. New brewery openings are few and far between (but there are some exciting ones coming soon). In this exciting time of lots of craft independent breweries already operating in the islands, there's too many new releases to write about each one, so Instagram and Untappd do a great job of sharing what I'm drinking.

With the summer beginning, there's a lot more time to drink new beers and study what makes them amazing. If you have a basic interest in beer and want to learn the complexities of styles and how to describe that new favorite, I invite you to come to the free beer judging classes being offered by Cindy Goldstein of HOPS Homebrew Club and the Hawaiian Craft Brewers Guild. With the assistance of local BJCP Judges, Certified Cicerones, brewers, and enthusiastic hobbyists, they're offering an invaluable service to teach about the exam, content, and judging beer. These sessions are held monthly leading up to the tasting exam on October 13, 2018. In order to take this tasting exam, you must first pass the online exam, details of which can be found on the website below.

What is the BJCP? The Beer Judge Certification Program is the recognized standard of how to rate, describe, and educate about beer and beer styles. Ranked judges are present at homebrew and brewery competitions to ensure a judged beer is true to style and determine which are the best examples. Even if you don't plan on taking the exam or judging competitions, the course and style guidelines are the perfect resource to help you learn more about what you already like and maybe help you discover something new. Tonight's first session was held at Honolulu Beerworks in Kaka'ako. Future ones will rotate around to other breweries on O'ahu.

It's not all work and reading from manuals. The class has a tasting component, which is important to develop your palate, nose, and eye. Tonight's first session was broken up with three beer style tastings. The first was the classic Saison; a Saison Dupont was paired with the local Pia Mahi'ai from Honolulu Beerworks to show a clear example, a local take, and the differences and similarities of the two. Later in the session we talked about a Weissbier and finally a Foreign Extra Stout.  These classes are being taught for free; the only cost is paying for the beer and tips as necessary.

For more information, to request the syllabus, sign up for emails, or receive information about the next session on June 7th, please email hops@hawaii.rr.com.

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.

Stone SALT Pub Crawl & POW! WOW! Hawaii 2018

For anyone who frequents or just visits the area, it's easy to see that Kaka'ako is flat hot land perfect for warehouses. Decades ago it was salt reclamation land, hence the moniker of the SALT complex.  These drab warehouses dominate the architecture of the area, so something had to be done. Instead of boring concrete or unsightly graffiti, colorful artwork adorns every empty wall in the neighborhood.  Every few years POW! WOW! comes to Kaka'ako, bringing artists both local and from around the world, to paint over what had come before and create something new. Like life, these works of art are fleeting; they are to be enjoyed, but only for a year or two.  As a frequent explorer of the neighborhood, I feel like I was always seeing something new, as you can find these murals down alleys and behind buildings where people usually don't drive.  POW! WOW! 2018 is going on now; it's a great time to explore and watch the artists at work. It's okay to take pictures and talk to them about who they are and what they're creating.  You never know, you may discover a new favorite artist!

This Saturday is the perfect excuse to explore. Walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon, then head to SALT for their monthly pub crawl. This month is featuring one of my current top-5 favorite breweries, STONE out of San Diego.  The tap list is killer; most are at Village Bottle Shop & Tasting Room, with a few at Moku Kitchen. The Boiling Crab and Pitch Sports Bar will also feature drink specials, but not of the featured brewery.  The Hawaii Blood Bank will also be taking sign ups for donation (doing so before or during drinking isn't encouraged for obvious reasons).  STONE only recently made it to Oahu after only having been distributed on Maui due to their partnership with Maui Brewing Company. It's great Oahu gets to share in the great beer!
 
Village Draft Line Up - (As taken from Village's event page)
Stone IPA
Stone Delicious IPA
Stone Ripper Pale Ale
Stone Ruination DIPA
Stone Go To IPA
Stone Vengeful Spirit
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Stone 2016 Double Bastard
Stone Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard
Stone Barrel Aged Imperial Saison with Peach
Stone Wussie Pilsner
Stone 2016 Imperial Russian Stout
Stone 2015 Old Guardian Barleywine
Stone Merc Machine DIPA
Hop Concept Dank & Sticky IPA
Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb Sour

Moku Kitchen will be featuring
Stone Tangerine Express IPA
Great Divide NITRO Yeti Imperial Stout
Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale

As an exciting side note: Village now has a nitro tap! Hope to see you there!