We must be getting younger! Mainly because we usually
first visit a “new” restaurant about 1 to 2 years after their grand opening.
Partly because life (work) usually gets in the way, partly because you do want
a new restaurant to iron out the kinks after the grand opening or sometimes
it’s just plain laziness. “What? Drive back into to town? I just got
comfortable at home…”. But here we were at the Aloha Beer Co just two weeks after
opening to the public. I must be back in my 20’s again!
The Aloha Beer Co
Though the Aloha Beer Co just opened its doors on January
19th, the company actually had its start with Brewmaster Dave
Campbell (a Buff-n-Blue grad) running Sam Choy’s Big Aloha brewery several
years ago. When Sam Choy’s doors shuttered, the brewing company was reorganized
and temporarily moved to the Golden State while a permanent location was
secured back home. And that permanent location is now located at 700 Queen St
in the heart of Kakaako. Along with the addition of brewer, Kealakekua native
Kaiao Archer, the team also enlisted the services of Chef Bob McGee to create
the food menu for the restaurant side of the brewery. Which means locally
purveyed beef and pork along with Chef McGee’s tasty charcuterie.
The Beer
On our first visit to the Aloha Beer Co, I sampled all
ten of the available beer selections as 4 ounce “flights” though all beers are
include 8 and 16 ounce portions ranging from $2.50 to $3 for the flights up to
$7.50 for the pints.
As you are aware, my usual fermented beverage of choice
comes from fermented grapes so I’m not a beer expert by any stretch of the
imagination. And when I do enjoy a beer, it’s usually a dark, bitter brew along
the lines of Guinness or Anchor Steam. But since the Aloha Beer Co is back to
being totally local, I felt the need to support them as much as possible by
sampling all of their beer selections… not because I simply wanted to drink a
lot of beer. Yah, right!
The following description of each beer was taken directly
from their menu and the ABV refers to the percentage of alcohol in each beer
while the IBU refers to the bitterness and ranges from 0 to 120 with larger
numbers for increasing bitterness. The ABV was in line with alcohol levels of
beer that you might find at your local supermarket as well as the IBU levels.
The bitterness in beer does play the same role as tannins in wine as they both
cleanse the palate between bites of food, especially rich or fatty foods.
That’s why you’ll find burgers, sausages and fried foods in abundance on the
menus of most brewpubs. Personally, my favorites were the Brown Under, Queen
Street Bitter and Red Zeppelin IPA while the Mrs. enjoyed the Blonde, Carport
Pale and Slow Mow.
Blonde 4.8%
ABV 22 IBU
Light, crisp, refreshing. Malted barley with a touch of
corn. Enough hops to be present but not so much as to turn off a mainstream
lager drinker.
Brown Under 5.3%
ABV 32 IBU
Two-row, crystal and debittered dark malt gives a deep
brown color while offering only light roasty notes. Featuring a liberal dose of
Cascade hops and finished with an Australian hop from brown under.
Portlock Porter 6.2%
ABV 28 IBU
Two-row, crystal, wheat and lots of chocolate malt make
for a rich, roasty, bittersweet beer with a residual sweetness that will call to
mind a Thai cappuccino.
Waimanalo Farmhouse 5.4%
ABV 25 IBU
Two-row, Munich and a touch of white wheat with Saison
Dupont yeast which throws off the quintessential fruit and funk which is
indicative of the style. An easy drinking light, unfiltered beer.
Hop Lei IPA 6.5%
ABV 70 IBU
West coast (San Diego) style PA. Two-row, wheat and light
crystal 15 malt make for an IPA that is pale in color while CTZ, Simcoe, Citra
and Amarillo hops offer up the hoppy bitterness expected of the style. Big
Citra dry hop makes for an unmistakable citrus quality on the nose.
Red Zeppelin IPA 6.7%
ABV 62 IBU
A more traditional IPA which gets its red color and heavy
caramel note from two-row, dark crystal, light crystal, flaked barley and black
Prinz (debittered dark) malt. Prominent Centennial and Cascade hops offer
bitterness and grapefruit tomes with floral notes.
Queen Street Bitter 5.3%
ABV 30 IBU
A classic version of the British inspired style that was
one of the first styles to really take hold in the early days of the American
craft beer scene. Toffee notes and maltiness with balancing hops. Two-row,
crystal 60 and Munich malt, wheat malt and flaked barley with CTZ, Cascade and
a big Mount Hood finish which gives an earthy spiciness.
Carport Pale 5.6%
ABV 38 IBU
Two-row, crystal 40, wheat and dextrin are a traditional
malt bill for an American pale ale. Carport is accented by CTZ, Cascade and Centennial
hops and picks up nuance and depth from a British whithead yeast.
Kaka’ako Kommon 5.5%
ABV 36 IBU
Our version of the classic California common or “steam”
beer. Warmer fermentation of lager yeast creates a complex and approachable
beer with a Nelson Sauvin hop finish.
Slow Mow 4.8%
ABV 20 IBU
Lawnmower beer using American wheat. Unfiltered with lemongrass,
calamansi and honey. Fruit forward and fresh.
The Grub
On a subsequent visit, I decided to concentrate on Chef
McGee’s culinary creations which include several sandwich selections with
proteins smoked on site as well as salads and steak fries that are served as is
or slathered with various gravies for an additional $3 to $4. We did run into
Chef McGee at our initial visit and he showed us Aloha Beer’s kitchen. Well,
it’s not really a kitchen. It turns out that when the owners of Aloha Beer decided
to also create the restaurant side of the business, they approached the
Department of Health and asked what would be the fastest way to legally serve
food in a brewery. The DOH suggested a food truck. So low and behold, Aloha
Beer’s kitchen is actually a brand new food truck parked in their building
where servers walk up to the side window to pick-up their orders.
Since I do enjoy preparing and consuming pulled pork
sandwiches, I originally intended on sampling the Smoked Butt sandwich with
Carolina vinegar and slaw… however after two visits, I have yet to sample it!
Why? The Chef’s Special board always has me following my own ordering mantra.
When you see both a special and a regular menu item that you want to sample,
always go with the special as the regular item can always be ordered at a
subsequent visit. Specials are usually a one-time offer. So we first sampled
Chef McGee’s spectacular Mountain View Farms Cured & Smoked special (smoked
sausages, tenderloin and loin and cured pork shoulder) which included pickles,
white bread (a traditional starch at most Southern BBQ houses) and various
mustards and on our second visit sampled the Pono Pork Chop special with loin
and center cut pork chop served with salad, white bread, pickles and burnt end
(the charred end of smoked brisket) pinto beans with slow cooked bacon. And
though both meals were totally satisfying and filling, I still am determined to
sample the Smoked Butt sandwich with the Steak Fries with lamb gravy… someday…
Aloha Beer Co.
700 Queen Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808)544-1605
Monday through Saturday 5:00pm – 11:00pm
Closed Sunday
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