TWO New Breweries Open on O’ahu! Bent Tail Brewing and Olomana Brewing

With permitting and approvals in Hawaii working slowly, I feel like there’s more new breweries announced than ones that actually open. This month, not one but two, breweries finally started pouring their beer after months or years of planning.

First is the Honolulu staple REAL gastropub’s on-site microbrewery, Bent Tail Brewing Company. REAL reopened in Kaka’ako a few months ago serving their staple bar food, liquor galore, and beer selections on 30 taps. At their old location, they didn’t have the space; this new one has plenty. The space has large windows, high ceilings, and plenty of seating. The bar is the focus and center of the room, with two sides all facing the taps. Along the street side sits all the gleaming new stainless steel brewing equipment. Troy Terorotua, the owner of REAL, hired local beer legend Tom Kerns to get the equipment set up and start the brewing program. I talked to Tom a few weeks ago as he was starting to brew. I asked what feel or signature they’re going for, he said they want to brew and serve beers that complement the unique food stylings developed by Troy. With this, it’ll truly be a gastropub: great food paired with amazing beer, all made under one roof! Bent Tail Brewing Company officially released their first beer: Bent Tail IPA, a “West Coast Style IPA featuring Citra, Mandarin Bavaria and Simcoe for a slightly dank, tropical hop notes with a Light-Medium Malt Character.” This is a great start for a place that will be brewing many more!

Second is the new nanobrewery Olomana Brewing Co appropriately named for the mountain range overlooking Kailua. This was part of the original goal of Three Peaks Island Craft Beer & Gifts; a boutique beach gift store and growler/draft beer bar. Owned by a husband and wife team, Steve Manser is the heart behind the beer. With a mission of ultra clean draft lines and fresh beer, he opened the beer portion of the shop to provide a close place to fill growlers on the way to windward beaches. On our first stop there a few months, he told me about the forthcoming nanobrewery, the first batch of which is available for $2 a pint, if you provide honest feedback. The Meli Mac Nut Brown is “mild, easy drinking American Brown Ale made with local macadamia nut honey.” Be sure to stop in soon!

 

Kona Brewers Fest 2019 – A Weekend of Beer

Tasting Mug & Sustainable Spork

I had an epic weekend of drinking beer from 8am on Thursday until I left for the airport at 7pm on Saturday. There were just too many new things to try! I volunteered to be a judge at the 24^th Annual Kona BrewersFest's Rocket Rod Homebrew Competition a few weeks ago, but didn’t get a call to come until last weekend. I had the whole weekend planned in my head, so I threw the trip together and off I went!

Judging Room

Homebrew Entries

Ribbons Ready

I left Thursday morning and was given a ride from the airport right to Humpy’s Big Island Alehouse in Kailua-Kona. I ended up spending a lot of time there on Thursday and Friday as it was where the judging took place. The restaurant was gracious enough to host us, provide water, lunches, light breakfasts, coffee, and even a keg of Kona Castaway IPA to enjoy whenever. There were around ten judges this year with three judging sessions. 

Best of Show Panel - 17 Beers

 The Best of Show was done on Friday afternoon; it’s always my favorite part to listen to the most experienced people come up with one best beer! I was happy to get some BJCP points and experience from some amazing National level judges and professional brewers. Results can be found here.

One of a Few Flights at Ola

[For this blog post, I’ll link to each of my Yelp reviews for thoughts on the individual places listed, so feel free to click the names if you want to know more!]

Keep the Pint Glass Ola Takeover at Daylight Mind Coffee

Thursday night after judging, and after a much-needed shower, I walked to Ola Brew Co. I had a fantastic time trying every beer on tap and taking a tour with a number of beer and coffee industry people thanks to a friend arranging it. Read more about Ola Brew Co. here.

From there, I walked the roundabout and much longer than I thought route around to Kona Brewing Co., one of my favorite places in Hawaii. It was exactly as I remembered, with cozy lighting including torches, lots of plants, and tons of happy people. I sat at the bar and enjoyed the 25^th Anniversary Hibiscus Brut IPA with a much-needed pizza.  Read more about Kona Brewing Co. here.

Flight at Kona Brewing Co.

On Friday, I was offered a surprise invitation to the Brewers Dinner at Kona Brewing Co., which I happily accepted. After judging finished that day, I had a little time to relax before heading over there. I enjoyed a flight with some other judges while we waited for the party to begin. After the beautiful Hawaiian blessing, we went inside to taste beers from the participating breweries, eat all manner of delicious food provided by the brewery, meet new people, and play party games. Highlights for me were meeting Jeremy Warren, the owner and brewmaster of Revision, one of my current favorite breweries. It was just great to unwind and have fun with fellow judges and people from around the islands I’ve met on occasion before. Huge Mahalo to Kona Brewing for hosting! It was a great party! Mahalo to Bill Carl for the drinks at the Dolphin Spit Saloon after the party!

Kona Brewing 25th Anniversary Booth

Saturday was bittersweet; I was exhausted and ready for rest at home, but still had the beer festival! In the morning, I slept in then walked around the town including visiting the historic sites and having a delicious leisurely breakfast. When 2pm rolled around, I headed into the festival and chatted with volunteers who had also been helping with the competition. There were too many to list, it was wonderful meeting you all! The festival was wonderful: lots of breweries I’d never heard of before pouring great selections. The food was the real draw, I just wish there was more! Read more about the festival here.

As the festival was wrapping down, I headed for the airport and home; I never slept so well! Mahalo for reading, if you’ve never been, I hope you make it next year!

Awesome Volunteers

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!