Limited-production brews await enthusiasts at Lanikai Brewing Co.

While I’m all about supporting Hawaii-based breweries, I don’t always have the time — or a designated driver — to spend hours tasting my way through the taps at local brewpubs.

That’s why I’m a big fan of the growler law passed last year, which allows properly licensed retailers to sell draft beer in containers up to 64 fluid ounces in size for consumption elsewhere. Although difficulty in finding a competitive pricing schedule (i.e., finding a way to profit off growler fills) has kept some bars from offering them to customers, there are a number of decent options now available to craft beer fans on Oahu.

One of those options is Lanikai Brewing Co., which celebrates its first anniversary this month and is the island’s only production brewery that also has bottled product widely available in stores. Not only can you pay a visit to its Hamakua Drive facility and fill up a growler with freshly brewed beer while enjoying a fantastic view of Kawainui-Hamakua Marsh out the back, but you can also grab a bottle at stores such as Whole Foods, Tamura’s, BevMart, Kalapawai Market and Diamond Head Market. Bottles are also on sale at the brewery, and nearly two dozen bars and restaurants on Oahu offer Lanikai brews on tap.

“I didn’t think we’d have anywhere near the amount of people who are such enthusiasts about our beers,” said Lanikai Brewing CEO and brewmaster Steve Haumschild. “The community has just been all about it, and they’ve honored us with enough business to allow us to keep doing this here.”

Haumschild came up with the Lanikai Brewing concept in 2012 when he and business partners Brandon Cody, Al Darling and Dan Frerich decided it was time to attempt a full-blown brewery. Construction on their Kailua facility began in 2014, with the first bottles hitting store shelves last March. They were also able to raise nearly $35,000 from 287 backers on Kickstarter, which allowed for the completion of a tasting room.

“The money helped build out the bar, the tasting room, build our keg inventory and add the taps,” explained Cody, who serves as Lanikai Brewing’s vice president of sales and marketing. “It gives us the ability to bring people in here and explain the beers, and we have a lot of people come in to do that.”

While I love the convenience of being able to grab a bottle of Moku Imperial IPA or Pillbox Porter — and, as of last week, the all-new Route 70 Saison, named after the bus route that services Lanikai — in town, sometimes a trip over the Koolau is necessary for a crack at one of the Brewers Series beers. These limited offerings are available for growler fills only at Lanikai Brewing’s tap room in Kailua, and they’re always made with locally sourced ingredients.

“The favorite I ever worked with was passion fruit and guava,” Haumschild said, referring to a POG Berliner Weisse beer he created in September using Lanikai Brewing’s dedicated fermenter designed to accommodate smaller production runs. “My wife and I foraged for all of the fruit we used, and it just had a classic Hawaii flavor that made it my favorite beer I’ve ever made.”

Other Brewers Series batches have used local poha berries and jabong fruit as featured ingredients. The Route 70 Saison, brewed with ohia lehua honey and hibiscus flowers, started out as a limited-edition beer until customer response encouraged the brewery to add it as one of its core bottled offerings.

“Our customers really help determine what we’ll put on shelves next,” Haumschild said. “They love variety. They come into the tap room and want to try whatever we have. A lot of it depends on what’s in season and if we can source enough of it to make a great beer.”

The overwhelming support from the community has encouraged Lanikai Brewing to pursue new opportunities this year, starting with the Route 70 release. Cody said the company, which handles all of its Oahu distribution in-house, has inked deals with Hilton, Starwood and Four Seasons to get its beers into more locations in Waikiki, and continues to work with an outside distributor to strengthen its relationships with bars and restaurants on the neighbor islands.

“One of the big things we’re looking to launch is one of the biggest barrel-aged beer programs in the state,” he added. “We’re eventually going to put it in bottles, which we believe will be the first Hawaiian barrel-aged bottles to come to market.”

Visitors to the tap room can also expect to see more sour beers on tap in the coming months, and home brewers are invited to take part in a special fundraiser for the Hawaii Craft Brewers Guild on Sunday. Haumschild described it as an “ohana brew,” where attendees would take part in a professional brewing session and get 5 gallons of wort (the liquid used in the fermentation process of making beer) to take home and develop their own unique brew. A tasting party will follow on April 13. Cost is $100 per person, space permitting; email beer@lanikaibrewing.com for more details.

“It elevates everyone’s beer-making by sharing with each other,” Haumschild said. “Beers made in Hawaii are definitely getting better. My favorite part is when everybody is smiling, they’ve got their beer and they don’t care how closely packed in they are in the tap room. It’s just a real positive vibe this community has created.”

Jason Genegabus has written about Honolulu bars since 2001. Contact him at jason@staradvertiser.com with suggestions of places to visit and drinks to try; read his blog at inthemix.staradvertiserblogs.com.