Two things I’ve enjoyed most of my adult life are good beer and relaxing holidays in Hawaii. Unfortunately, for many years, the two seemed mutually exclusive.
Like many New Zealanders who enjoy a beer, I would set off for holidays in Waikiki knowing I’d face evenings of cocktails – not such a bad thing – or finishing the day with big brand beers from the mainland, such as Coors or Budweiser. Given the opportunity to work up a thirst in Hawaii, it seemed a shame that the Aloha state didn’t have much in the way of its own beers. Those days, and certainly the 1980s, seem such a long time ago.
A beer revolution
Since the mid-1990s, I’ve seen a beer revolution taking place in Hawaii, with every visit there marked by a vast improvement in the range and quality of local beers. Local brewers have produced beers so good they’ve become as popular, if not more so, than the global brands, taking pride of place in the chillers of liquor stores and supermarkets.
One such brewer, Maui Brewing Co, is now ‘exporting’ some of its products to mainland states and has been collecting awards for some outstanding beers. Its Big Swell IPA has won awards in the American-style Strong Pale Ale category, a category that is hotly contested by a growing craft beer industry.
Another Hawaiian brewer, Kona Brewing Company, has a wide range of local styles of beer, from strong drafts to some flavoured with chocolate and coconut. Kona introduced Pacific Golden Ale (now called Big Wave Golden Ale) to Hawaii in the mid-1990s, along with the now-popular Fire Rock Pale Ale.
The largest independent Hawaiian brewery is Mehana which specialises in a broad range of pale ales and lagers.
Hundreds of choices are available
The emergence of local brews has been well supported by the bars and hotels that cater for tourists – visitors who seem keen to sample beers with exotic names and labels that reflect the Hawaiian lifestyle. And the willingness of thirsty visitors to try something new has seen an increase in bars that offer wide ranges of beer – often hundreds of them.
One such restaurant/bar is The Yard House which launched after the lengthy refurbishment of the Lewers St area, a few hundred yards from Waikiki Beach. The bar menus at The Yard House offer a daunting list of categories, each with an impressive list of local and imported beers.
The categories include house craft beers, blond ales, honey ales, pub cream ales, Belgian fruit and lambics, American wheat, Bavarian Hefeweizens, white ales, amber and red ales, brown ales, pale ales, porters, India pales ales (IPAs), American and Belgian strong ales and stouts. You can work up a thirst just by reading the menu.
And a lesson for the thirsty
Of course, after years of ‘making do’ in Hawaii, I felt obliged on this year’s trip to give the menu a full work out. Rather than skip around the menu randomly, I asked the woman behind the bar which of the IPAs she recommended. She gave me a thorough rundown on each, but pointed to one with the promise: “That’s the best. No argument.”
I made a daily trek to the Yard House, working my way through the list of IPAs alphabetically, but leaving the woman’s recommendation till last. When the time came, I sipped a pint of the ale and it was sublime. It was so good, I enjoyed three pints before dinner.
I had to confess to my wife that I was feeling a bit wobbly, not a state that is usually induced by a mere three pints. That was when I realised the alcohol content of that particular brew was almost 8% - two-thirds the strength of many wines. My three glasses of beer had the same kick as a bottle and a half of wine. Lesson learned. And I can’t wait to return to Hawaii to benefit from what I’ve learned . . .
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