Dozens of beers available for sampling at isle festivals

It’s never been a better time to be a beer drinker in Hawaii. After years of Budweiser, Miller and Heineken dominating store shelves and local bar taps, craft beers are gaining traction. As of this month, there are now seven breweries making beer on Oahu.

According to the Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade group, craft breweries captured a double-digit share (11 percent) of the marketplace for the first time ever in 2014. More than 22.2 million barrels of craft beer were produced that year — an 18 percent increase in volume from 2013.

All these new choices mean there’s probably more beer for you to drink than there is time or budget. How can you sample a variety of beers without having to overindulge at a bar or overspend at the supermarket?

It’s simple. Buy a ticket to one of the beer festivals below, secure a safe ride home and get ready to taste your way through dozens of beers, from the tried-and-true to some that might be new to you.

21st annual Kona Brewers Festival

“When we started, it was just Kona Brewing” making beer on the island, said Kona Brewers Festival executive director Kate Jacobson. “Now there are 10 breweries on the Big Island and all of them are going to be part of this year’s festival.”

Nearly 50 breweries are set to participate in what has grown into two separate drinking sessions Saturday on the grounds of Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. Last year’s festival saw 2,200 people show up; this year, attendees had the option of buying tickets for either a lunchtime (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) or late afternoon (4 to 7 p.m.) tasting experience. Jacobson said 1,800 tickets were distributed for each session and only a few remain for the early one; the second tasting is completely sold out.

“This event is a nonprofit fundraiser for 24 beneficiaries,” she said. “We want to help raise money for our Kona community, and what better way than while raising a pint?”

Tickets for the Kona Brewers Festival are $70; visit konabrewersfestival.com/tickets for more info.

Honolulu On Tap Beer Festival

Can’t make it to Kona this weekend? The Blaisdell Exhibition Hall is the next best place to be for the first-ever Honolulu On Tap Beer Festival from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, where guests will be able to try beers from more than 50 breweries.

While the other festivals mentioned here are all locally produced, Honolulu On Tap is part of a national effort by New York-based Town Square Media to connect craft brewers with new customers. The company has plans to produce beer festivals in 29 states this year.

“There are more and more breweries opening every day in the United States,” said Town Square Media vice president A.J. Bodden. “People can get overwhelmed with all the choices. We give consumers an opportunity to come in for a few hours and try all these new beers, and we have an app they can download and make a note of the ones they like.”

Bodden said fewer than 300 tickets, priced at $45 each, remain for Saturday’s festival. Go to americaontap.com/honolulu-hi to purchase tickets online.

Honolulu Brewers Festival

This benefit for the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation is back at Kakaako Makai Gateway Park from 2 to 6:30 p.m. April 23, with 2,500 people expected to attend what will undoubtedly be a sold-out event.

“We want people to come out, enjoy themselves, bring a group of people and have a good time,” said REAL a gastropub owner Troy Terorotua, who co-produces the festival with partner Lisa Kim. “It’s nice and central at Kakaako Makai Gateway, and we’ll have music by Saloon Pilots, Mike Love with a four-piece band and Elephant.”

Terorotua said 20 local restaurants will serve about 20,000 portions of food during the festival, with Whole Foods and MW Restaurant joining the lineup for the first time. On the beer side, he said to expect plenty of local representation, plus an influx of fruit-forward beers and more sour beers than were poured at last year’s inaugural event.

Tickets for the Honolulu Brewers Festival are $70 plus a $4.84 processing fee, with tickets sold in advance only via honolulubrewersfestival.com.

Maui Brewers Festival

Beer festival season wraps up May 14 with the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s annual fundraiser at A&B Amphitheater. Proceeds from this one are used to help keep various MACC arts, Hawaiian culture, community enrichment and educational programs running throughout the year.

General admission tickets are $65 in advance, $70 at the door; a VIP option is also available. Beers from 40 craft breweries are scheduled to be on tap, with 26 Maui-based restaurants also signed up to take part in the event. See mauiarts.org for more info.

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.