Hawaii Bound

The big island isn't the best place in the world for craft beer. Check out Kona brewing company of course - it's generally nothing special, but best bet in Kona that I found. Past that, Big Island Brewhaus in Waimea is pretty solid.

Otherwise, drink fruity drinks, enjoy the beaches and the weather. Check out Mauna Kea, it's pretty spectacular. There's 3 different colors of beaches on the islands that you can check out. Hilo is a couple hour drive from Kona, but it's like you're in a whole new world over there with the rainforest and the waterfalls.

I don't live there, but my work does have an office north of Kona that I get to go to every so often. It's a neat island, you'll have fun.

 

Drink local. Mai tai's, lava flows and have fun. Hawaii is magical.

 

I went to the big island this summer, and it's not very good for craft beer. Kona Brewing Company and Humpy's Big Island Ale House are your best bet.

I agree that you should probably not worry about finding crazy beers and instead focus on the awesome place. Go snorkeling, hit up some coffee plantations, hike a volcano, etc.

 

Take a few bombers with you, that's what we did and didn't waste our time trying to track down good beer. We just made the most of being in Hawaii.

 

Take some regular BCBS (or other imperial stout) and French press it with some fresh Kona coffee.

 

Hey Ryan! was there for a week last year, the beers on the big island aren't going to be much. Atleast we didn't find much, nor look though, but who gives a shit!? There is a brewpub in Waimea iirc, and the Kona pub. The places we went to all had Maui or Kona things so something will be decent, all the fruity drinks worked too.

Going over to the Hilo side, or up to the north side of the island is good idea a different world than the Kona area. Hopefully the in-laws know all that stuff, ie. hiking, snorkeling etc. Someone will probably come along with some ideas here too.

If you want to bring some beers over with you, don't mail it, check it in a styro shipper box or in your luggage, that'll only be 25 buks if an extra bag vs. a shitload via USPS or whatever.

 

I was just there last week for my honeymoon in Kona, and although I wasn't searching for craft beer I did go to Kona Brewing Company [they had a good barleywine and IPA on tap] and Humpy's Big Island Ale House [Had to the Coronado Islander on tap] and thought both had some solid choices.

Did stop by Costco and saw Growlers of Rogue Yellow Snow for sale, meh.

I also went to Honolulu and saw they had a BCBS tapping at some venue nearby but I was there for the beaches, volcanoes and food, the craft beer can wait for another time.

 

Heading over to the Big Island on Thursday. It will be my second trip this year. Packing a ton of beer this time.

But yeah, drink lots of mai tais and lilikoi margaritas.

 

I'm still trying to remember the names of the places I went earlier in the year. There's a cool hike down to Pololu Valley. Akaka Falls might be worth a trip if you are near by. I liked hiking down to the crater in Valcanoes and checking out the large lava tube.

 

Hiking the crater was both awesome and miserable. Looking back I'm so glad I did it, but at the time I just kept wishing I wasn't in rain forest climate.

 

Definitely go to Kona Brewing for in house stuff that doesn't leave the brewery. Those are their best beers, IMO. Occasionally, they have barrel aged stuff too. I've had some Big Island Brewhaus stuff since moving to Oahu in August. I think they are one of the best, if not the best, breweries in Hawai'i. White Mountain Porter, local coffee and coconuts? Yes, please! Their Overboard IPA is decent too. Foodwise, use Yelp and find a great little place with plate lunch. You won't be disappointed. Also, go see Kua Bay (take some Primo with you), one of the best beaches all of Hawai'i has to offer.

 

Big Island Brewhaus is making some great beer.
I was there three times this year. Different draft list every time. plus it is the misty moutain town of Waimea which is oft overlooked and a very different feel from most of Hawaii.
White Mountian Porter and the recently bottled Holy Hummulus are very solid
Golden Sabbath and Dark Sabbath are also quite good if you dig sweeter, malty belgians with minimal yeast distractions
Red Sea of Cacao is a really great beer. They offer growlers and bottles to go at the brewery but bottles will also be in most grocery stores and liquor stores.


I think Kona Brewing gets worse every year but sometimes they have the big stouts (which are not bottled) on draft and more rarely growler of good stuff appears. i wouldnt eat anything there and id go early. Its always loud and crowded.

Mehana/Hawaii Nui on the Hilo side has recently been bought and the new owner is making some efforts but the beer is still mediocre at best. They harbor this ridiculous belief that nobody will drink a stout or a malty beer in Hawaii cause its too hot...sigh.....As of October they didn t have a license to sell on premises so they were giving free samples at the brewhouse. Worth a (really short) stop if youre in Hilo. The Hawaii Nui beers are generally far superior to the Mehana offerings and both are available in cans at nicer stores Island-wide

Humpy's on Alli drive in downtown Kona:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24129/

is the best beer venue on the Island by far. We usually go three or four tiems each trip. its insanely easy to get to (parking sucks though....) It is however totally lame compared to the supremely awesome Alaska Humpy's, but thats mainly because of how many fewer breweies exist in and or distribute to Hawai'i and also Hawai'i's general dearth of beer culture
But they do have about 50 craft handles suprrising good food (you like fish right? i hope so...cause you, know, Hawai'i) and you can sit upstairs and look at the ocean or people watch ....

If you are on the way to the North Kohala beaches you might stop in to Waikoloa Village. There's shopping of all kinds: food, jewerly, clothes etc...and if so there's a decent little gastropub there:

http://thethreefatpigs.com/

beer is (again by necessity) a little Euro-centric (thanks primarily to Shelton Brothers) but the food is pretty solid and they have about 50 US craft bottles.
The grocery store across the street has a pretty good selection of craft beer.


The Big Island is my favorite Hawaiian island by a long, long stretch but it has pretty paltry beer offerings. It ain't Maui or Oahu : (

This place

http://www.konawinemarket.com/ in downtown Kona near the Kona brewery

has about the best selection you'll find but check dates on IPAs or anything you'd want fresh. Really nice propiretor sells mostly wine but is learning about beer.

Hawaii gets 50-50 Eclipses (Maui had like 12 different variants when i was there in August...) and all sorts of deschutes You may be able to get The Abyss and Not the Stoic and Black Butte twenty-(whatever year it is now). Also lots of Ballast Point and of course the criminally underrated Maui (who sadly cans very little of its best stuff...)

I've never seen any good fruited sours but a couple times this year i macerated fresh dragon fruit, carambola, mangoes, papyas and added them or the juice into the cheaper gueuze (St Louis, Lindemans) Boon thats available since the fruit is easier to get fresh and cheao in hawaii than anywhere in the US (well maybe not L.A.....) its fun to drink that shit with the fruit so fresh on the beach or in the condo.

There's a million awesome things to see on the Big Island (Mauna Kea, the black sand beach, the ubiquitous turtles, Greenwell Farms Coffee plantation (and its resident Jackson's chameleons and what is, for my money, the best coffee on Earth), the insanely long lava tubes north of Hilo, the geothermally heated pool at Ahalanui, breathtaking Waimanu and Waipio valleys, the awesome North Kohala beaches).... but the most important thing when visiting is this:
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php

The lava has been unusually active this year and if you get a chance to see it up close it will change your life.

Have fun.

 

Also it's probably worth noting that Hawai'i had a rough year in 2014. Two hurricanes (same week, i was there, it was scary) and some substantial damage from the flowing lava. So a little more kindness and patience may be in order.
The Big Island is by far the most friendly and tolerant of tourists of the major Hawaiian islands, but the relationships between the residents and tourists is always tense. I definitely felt more resentment than usual (especially on the Hilo side) this summer/fall so maybe try to be aware of your impact and presence as a tourist on the lives of the residents.

 

Went to Humpy's straight from the airport on Thursday. Had Breakside's Wanderlust IPA and Deschutes Obsidian Stout on nitro. Great spot. Food was great as well.

 

I would add going to see Papakolea beach, it's one of only two green sand beaches in the world.

As for beer on the Big Island, I would agree mostly with what's been said so far. I would completely skip anything from Mehana/Hawaii Nui brewing, I think calling their beers average is generous. Best local bottles are going to be Big Island Brewhaus and some of the brewery only stuff at Kona brewing is good.

 

Got back from the Big Island last night. Made two trips to Big Island Brewhaus. They have really improved since I was there in May. White Mountain Porter is really dialed in right now and became my go-to beer from them. I also love their Red Sea Of Cocoa. That beer is excellent. The Mac Nut Brown is another winner. I skipped their hoppy beers this time but maybe they have been improved as well.

Kona beers are definitely better at the brewery. Castaway is my go-to IPA on the island. Lower ABV, low bitterness, and a lot of tropical fruit character (I'm guessing they are using Galaxy hops in that beer). They have a barleywine on right now that is very nice (English style).

I finally found Maui Coconut Porter on draft. Tasted much better than the cans I've had on the mainland.

 

I was in Hawaii last week and wanted to say thank you for the information in this thread and also add my experiences/thoughts. First, thanks to @luwak for the excellent list. Here are the places we stopped and some of my thoughts. Above all, Hawaii is a magical place and we would have had an awesome time even if it were a beer wasteland (which is certainly is not!).

Big Island Brewhaus - probably my favorite beers from the whole trip. I was driving, but my finacee enjoyed a flight and we had a great time in the brewhouse. The Red Sea of Cacoa was awesome. We picked up two jars (yes, actual quart mason jars) of the Overboard IPA, which was excellent.

Kona Brewing - brewery tour was fun. You get a lot of beer for $5, and our tour guide offered us plenty of refills. There were some more interesting things on tap, including a vanilla stout that was quite tasty. Overall, their core offerings aren't really my style, but we had a good time.

Kona Wine Market - I was happy to find a bomber of the Red Sea of Cacao to take home, but otherwise this was a miss for me. I was excited to find a six pack of Maui Big Swell IPA but promptly put it back when I saw that it was canned ~6 months ago. Ended up with a much fresher (canned end of January) six pack from the ABC Store on Honolulu.

Brew'd Craftpub - this bar appears to be owned by the same folks that own Real gastropub. We had planned on going to Real after dinner at Town (which was phenomenal), but after seeing Brew'd literally next door to Town, went there instead. Great beer bar with a solid tap list and a great bottle selection. Had an DIPA on draft and then split a bottle of 2014 Abyss, which I'd been wanting to try for ages. They do flights of 4 five-ounce pours for ~$25, which I wish I had noticed before ordering.