Sure, hanging out at a bar or visiting a new brewery is fun, but there’s something special about attending a beer festival — especially in Hawaii during the summer.
Most of the time, these festivals bring out big names from the national brewing scene, plus a few beers that normally wouldn’t make it to our shores. And as our local beer community continues to grow, festivals are among the few opportunities to taste nearly every local brand in one place.
Now in its fourth year, the Great Waikiki Beer Festival will pour more than 100 beers from both local and regional brewers on Aug. 18 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Golden Road Brewing, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Elysian Brewing Co. and Goose Island Beer Co. headline this year’s featured guest breweries, with Aloha Beer Co., Honolulu Beerworks, Kona Brewing Co., Maui Brewing Co. and Waikiki Brewing Co. representing the Aloha State.
Along with beer, the festival will feature live entertainment by Forte, Ilona Irvine and Lana Kei featuring Da Famili. Beer-friendly foods like kiawe- smoked beef brisket, kochujang chicken wings and okonomiyaki potato tots will also be served.
Tickets are $75 and get you 10 (4-ounce) beer tastings starting at 6 p.m. Pick up an early-entry ticket for $100 and you’ll score access starting at 4 p.m. along with a ticket for a food item and parking. Military discounts are available.
Call 947-7955 or visit great waikikibeerfestival.com.
AFTER NEARLY two years in business at 143 Hekili St. in Kailua, the husband-and-wife team behind Grace in Growlers are turning to their customers to help support a new wave of expansion.
Tim and Holly Veling arrived on Oahu from San Diego with dreams not only of living and working here, but also of doing their part to give back to the community. Their tasting room is a fun way to taste up to 15 craft beers, kombuchas, wines and ciders, but the Velings also donate all profits from the business to their separate nonprofit, ONEninetynine Initiative.
Since Grace in Growlers opened, ONEninetynine has helped pay for laundry services for the homeless, covered medical bills for people in need and paid expenses to keep local keiki from slipping deeper into poverty.
Last month, the Velings signed an agreement to expand their current space to add outdoor seating, more taps, a canning/bottling line and more. As of Aug. 2 they’d raised about $7,300 of their $100,000 goal to pay for renovations, with no plans to borrow any of the money from a traditional lending institution.
Want to help? Make a pledge at 808ne.ws/gig-expansion- 2018, or visit their Facebook page, facebook.com/gracein growlers, for details on their next “expansion party” at the tasting room.
IT’S NOT hard to understand why Waikiki remains on the forefront of cocktail culture on Oahu. With the highest concentration of alcohol-serving establishments on the island and the largest pool of local bartending talent, it’s not hard to find someone, or something, to get excited about in the cocktail realm.
In June, for example, the Hawaii Restaurant Association and DTRIC Insurance got folks talking when they hosted a liquor-free drink competition. Representatives from bars including BLT Market, Hard Rock Cafe Waikiki, Hula Grill and Tiki’s Grill and Bar submitted more than a dozen recipes that were published online, with Tropics Waikiki’s Cereal Milk Pina Colada taking top honors and Mauna Kea Resort’s Strawberry Basil Mule earning the people’s choice award. Check out all the recipes online at dtric.com/mocktails.
Over at the International Market Place, bartenders from restaurants within the complex took part in a special “Mixology Month” cocktail contest. On July 26, The Street’s Andrew Woodley squared off against Stripsteak Waikiki’s Mundo Delgado and Eating House 1849’s Teves Freitas in the finals, which showcased each bartender’s skills at making a classic mai tai along with a craft cocktail of their own design. In the end, it was Delgado who took the $2,000 grand prize.
Want more? Head over to RumFire at the Sheraton Waikiki every Thursday this month for the bar’s Island Rumble cocktail competition featuring The Real McCoy rum.
The Real McCoy is a brand new to Hawaii, reaching stores just in the last month or so. Rum geeks will recognize the brand as a cousin to the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. While it’s impossible to buy the highly allocated Foursquare here, Real McCoy should be available — and much more affordable.
Get to know the brand and its 3-, 5- and 12-year rum expressions starting at 5 p.m. Thursdays at RumFire Waikiki; competitors will be given 10 minutes to make their cocktails, which will then be judged on flavor, aroma, appearance, presentation and overall aesthetic. An overall winner will be chosen during the contest’s grand finale round on Aug. 30.
Bartenders, there is still time to sign up: Email dan.fullick@sgws.com for details.
Jason Genegabus has written about the local bar and drink scenes since 2001. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram or email jason@staradvertiser.com.
