New isle breweries expand available variety of beers

The Oahu brewing scene is exploding. With four new breweries opening in the past 18 months and more in the works, Oahu is quickly (and finally) catching up to the brewing trends on the mainland. The wonderful thing about local breweries is that they not only produce fresh beer, but also a large variety of styles, many of which you don’t usually find in stores.

Waikiki Brewing Co. is among the breweries that opened this year, and it has quickly become a favorite with both locals and visitors. The small brewery took over the space that served as a banquet room for Cheeseburger Waikiki. Head brewer and general manager Joe Lorenzen used every square inch of the space to pack in the brew system, fermenters and equipment.

Although the brewery may be small, Lorenzen and his team are able to crank out eight year-round beers and a few seasonal specialties every couple of months. Brewpub standards such as the Aloha Spirit Blonde Ale, Eeh Pah IPA, 808 Pale Ale and Ala Moana Amber ale are all excellently brewed and are must-tries.

But two unique beers in Waikiki Brewing’s lineup stand out.

At first glance it’s easy to overlook the English Brown Ale. It’s not normally the type of beer to generate a lot of hype. Most people’s only engagement with an English Brown Ale is via Newcastle Brown Ale, a mass-produced and rather bland representation of the style. But Waikiki Brewing’s version deserves special consideration for its full flavor and perfect crispness on the palate.

With subtle aromas of sweet toffee, toasted nuts and just a tad of caramel, this beer is almost as much fun to sniff as it is to sip. The aromas carry through to the flavor and are nicely balanced by a mild bitterness, which keeps notes of sweet toasted bread and biscuit from being overly cloying. Its dark amber hue is deceiving because this beer is actually light and low in alcohol, at 5.1 percent alcohol by volume. A dry finish with just a hint of lingering toffeelike sweetness makes this a completely enjoyable beer from start to finish.

It’s been incredibly difficult to find fresh English-style beers in Hawaii, so it’s good to find such a great example of one brewed locally.

While the English Brown may be a sleeper hit, the Jalapeno Mouth Amber Ale is a rock star that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.

Lorenzen said he fell in love with beers with heat back in California and started brewing them because he couldn’t find any for sale outside of a local brewpub. He added the jalapeno beer to Waikiki’s core beers and has been shocked by the overwhelming positive response.

This beer’s base is an amber ale that has just a touch of malty sweetness and body to stand up to the punch of the jalapenos. The brewers use more than 30 pounds of freshly cut peppers in each batch, adding them at the end of the boil to extract lots of flavor and aroma without too much heat.

The end result is a wonderful balance of soft bready sweetness and strong (but not overpowering) heat. The heat lingers after each sip, but it doesn’t burn the taste buds. Instead, it beckons another tingly sip. The jalapenos also add a wonderful green and herbal aroma.

Like the English Brown Ale, the Jalapeno Mouth Amber Ale is the kind of beer you want to drink fresh, and these can really be found only at a brewpub or brewery. Get a 64-ounce growler filled at Waikiki Brewing and treat yourself to another taste at home. In the next year, the brewery plans to add a small canning line to the business to make its beers available islandwide.

As our local community of breweries continues to grow, we can look forward to more one-of-a-kind offerings like these.

Tim Golden shares his obsession with all things craft beer monthly in the Star-Advertiser food section. See his blog, “Beer in Hawaii,” at beerinhawaii.com.