I've had Castaway IPA on tap in HI, and the bottled offering here in NY. This is a great IPA! Very surprised. I was at a local Buffalo Wild Wings in upstate NY, and the owner told me that Castaway has been their most popular beer. Kona Porter was also very tasty. I travel to The Big Island again this summer, and I am looking forward to this breweries offerings.
its very easy to find their beer because they are owned by AB inbev, so technically they are no longer craft. most of the beer is not made in HI, either
That's interesting! I noticed no AB flavor when I was in HI. The castaway IPA I had at Buffalo WW was extremely tasty with subtle Hawaiian fruit lilikoi, guava, wheat in a good balance with the hops. I may be partial to the fact that I lived in Hi. However, the most popular beers in the '80's were Primo, Olympia, Hamms, Bud Light, Miller Light. And Moosehead... which wasn't bad. Foster's was the worst...
Technically it's owned by the Craft Brew Alliance, which is partially owned by AB-InBev, and distributed by them. Not craft, as mentioned. But also not as macro as something like Blue Moon.
AB InBev owns about 33 percent of Craft Brew Alliance. My understanding is that AB InBev does not have any direct influence on the production of Redhook, Widmer Bros., or Kona products. Then again, I own some stock in Craft Brew Alliance, so I obviously know less about how the company operates than most Beer Advocate posters.
Wailua Wheat was an awesome summer BBQ beer when we could still get it on the mainland (CA). And there is nothing wrong with having a Longboard if you are at a place that doesn't have a nice "craft" selection. And the Koko Brown and Pipeline Porter are good also. Their beers are definitely drinkable. A big step up from Coors Light, Bud Light, etc... What's weird is their two best, Wailua and Koko Brown, are island only. You'd figure with the backing of AB, they get better distro.
my understanding is that that's the only place you can get Hawaii brewed Kona beer (along with kegs that go around on the island). even beer you buy at stores in Hawaii is shipped from the mainland i always enjoy going to Kona when i'm there. owned by InBev or not. they usually have a few nice tap room only things on tap and the atmosphere is good
I recall seeing these in mixed kona packs that people brought over for bbqs, maybe still available in those?
In 2014 they were classified as "Island Only". Wailua used to be my wife's go-to summer beer. Had it for the first time in the Kona restaurant in Honolulu airport. I looked every where for it last summer. I even went as far as to email Kona. Response: "Wailua Wheat won’t be hitting the mainland this year but it will be available year round in package and on draft in Hawaii. We aren't legally set up to ship Wailua outside Hawaii this year so I can't send it directly either. We may have it next year but we haven’t decided for sure. We’re passing all this feedback we get from consumers to our brewers so hopefully we’ll get some Wailua to you in Cali next year." This was June 2014.
I recommend checking out Big Island Brewhaus, as well. They are making some of the best beer in Hawaii right now.
