Hawaii Bound

Jealous you got to try out that Red Sea of Cacoa. I was there er uh Mid Feb and because of when we landed and where we stayed I only got to enjoy dinner and a serious amount of samples at Kona. Most of their regular stuff is solid but not mind blowing, however the Vanilla Thrilla was un-real good and the Aina Brown I quite enjoyed (very different, the Kalo in it gave it a very unique but enjoyable taste, grabbed a "Growlette" of this one).

The rest of the time we were stuck with bottled Kona (basically fresh brewed in Seattle then shipped there...) samplers as we were staying near Pahoa. Which if you didn't know is where the lava flow is currently threatening and the total opposite side of the island of Kona. The day and a half we spent in Hilo I got to distracted to seek a better beer shop, but one of the roller girls we partied with (literally, my wife skated with their team out there and we were invited to some crazy hidden spot for a killer night of fresh food, great beers and awesome people) talked about the Red Sea of Cacoa and said to find it on our way back to the airport. Well after 2 hours of driving to get near the airport I wasn't feeling in the mood to find beer.

We plan on going back early next year, got invites from the roller girls to crash at their pads and most of them live near Kona, can't wait

PS if you can stay down near Pahoa, we rented a house (my sister-in-law's friend owns it and is a travel agent) and as the lava flow from the 90's erruption is right there it's beautiful at night on it. Grabbed a few beers and a cigar every night and went out there, loved it.

 

I'm heading over tomorrow and really looking forward to using this list!

 

The Big Island is where I want to move permanently! If you go..Kona Brewing is a great place to go around sunset. Lots of great draft beers and excellent pizza. And palm trees in the dining area...what more could one want in life. Aloha

 

So i was there a few weeks ago....

couple things:


(1) Kona Wine Market has moved to a new (bigger) location but it is a little hard to find.

http://www.konawinemarket.com

He now has a much more extensive selection, including a walk-in cooler with craft beers including many breweries i didn't know distributed to Hawaii. (Breakside, Belching Beaver, Ken Schmidt even LOGSDON! (you could drink Cerasus and Seizeon Bretta in Hawaii now...amazing))
You could bathe in Eclipses (Fifty/Fifty) if you wanted ..
But it's still not Oregon or California so don't get expectations *too* high.

(2) The second best selection (for to go) on the Big Island seemed to be at the Natural Food Store in Hilo

http://www.islandnaturals.com

There are several natural food stores in Hilo the others don't have good beer selections.

(3) Big Island Brewhaus seems to be closing earlier than their stated times. I was there thrice on my last trip and they closed early each time. They now have many different sizes and shapes of growlers.
They made a pretty solid sour earlier this summer
Overall they are still getting better and better.

(4) Humpy's seems to have gotten even better. Servers know more about the beer and bottle selection is better. Still using cold glasses but since it's pretty warm in there it kinda works out.

Oh and you can schedule a tour (paid, of course) to see the lava now..like walk right up to it....the lava keeps moving take advantage while you can..could be once in lifetime thing. (it has been illegal or just physically not possible to do for several years)
I did that instead of drinking one day on this last trip it was one of the best things I've ever done ...and the beer that night was unreasonably good for the effort.

 

I checked out the Kona Wine Market on my way to the airport back in March. Yeah, was surprised to see what they had as well. I'll certainly make it an early stop next trip to supplement what I bring over.

Unfortunately it sounds like the Stone Maui Distro is not going to make it over any time soon unless someone can arrange temperature controlled transit across the channel.