Anchor Brewing Co., Porter

Anchor Brewing Co.'s "Anchor Porter" is one of, if not the, oldest porters continually brewed in America. It was first brewed in 1972 and first bottled in 1974. Before this time, Porters were almost a forgotten beer style.

 5.6% ABV and available year-round

Review:
Although Fritz Maytag's personality may annoy me, I do have to admit that we all owe him a bit of gratitude for reopening the market to good craft and micro brew. It IS too bad that he sold the brewery, and it is even sadder that he didn't sell it to me... But lets move on to the beer.
When you pop the crown off of this sexily designed bottle, your nose will immediately be greeted by a sweet and wonderfully malty aroma. The delicate head will last and last as you gaze into the beer's abysmal darkness and contemplate the reasons why people are led astray by green colored bottles. The first taste will be dominated by a roasty chocolate character that is more "chalky" than "syrupy." Imagine the taste of whoppers, with a touch of dark roasted coffee and toffee. Finally, a nice light astringency bites and prepares you for your next sip.
If for some reason, you decide to drink the beer quickly (maybe because you're excited about the next beer you're gonna open) a slight tartness becomes detectable. Solution: sip it!

(Side Note: Anchor Brewery has wonderful guided tours where you actually get to walk through most of the brewing space and see the brewing process. After the tour, you have a set amount of time to drink free beer in their tasting room. The tours are free, but they will shoo you away if you come unexpected. Call ahead to book a date. )

Overall Impression:
If you couldn't tell by the review above, I liked this beer. Before moving to O'ahu, I complained about the price of Anchor's six packs. Here on the island, all the six packs are equally expensive, so why not give this a try?! It is a good, tasty, easy drinking porter with enough complexity to make the experience enjoyable. Pau!

Grade: A-

(bottle purchased at The Liquor Collection)

The Counter--Good burgers, bad beers.

(Because the stated purpose of this blog is to help the people of O'ahu find good beer, I have decided that I would be remiss if I didn't warn them about places with bad beer selections. My apologies to The Counter. I am not picking on you, your store just happens to be the first place I took a picture.)

This review is of The Counter, Kahala Mall location.

Warning: The counter has a lame beer selection!

Note to The Counter: If you are going to serve upscale, "custom-built burgers," why can't you carry some upscale, "craft-brewed beers?"  I mean, you can't even stock a single local beer?

Full disclosure: This place does stock a dozen or so beer bottles. About 10 of them are lagers or light lagers, and one of them is Newcastle. The only good beer is Chimay Premiere (red label)  (How did that sneak in there?!)

(Side note: the burgers are tasty.)

Highlights: Chimay

Lowlights: Bud & Bud light, Coors & Coors Light, Amstel light and-- damn you, The Counter--Heineken & Heineken light.

Missing: Good beer.

Selection: 2/10
Location: 7/10
Price (beer): 6.5/10
Friendliness: 9/10
Beer Knowledge: obviously 1/10
Over all grade: D

Maui Brewing Co.'s Coconut Porter

Maui Brewing Co.'s "CoCoNut PorTeR" (that's how they type it on the can) is a "robust porter brewed with six varieties of malted barley, hops, and hand-toasted coconut." It weighs in at a solid 5.7% ABV and 30 IBU's.

Review:
This beer seems to follow the BJCP guidelines for the style of Robust Porter very closely in all ways except the area of flavor, where there seems to be a lack of black patent or roasted grain character. In that way, it is closer to a Brown Porter, which I find understandable since the brewer probably wanted to highlight the coconut flavor, which may have been masked by any amount of intense roast flavors. I did, however, note a slight chicory flavor, which I found pleasing. As you drink the beer, the flavor is dominated by sweetness that lingers until the moment you swallow. At this time the dry finish takes over and readies you for your next sip. Within this style there can be a slight astringency from the roasted malts. My tasters (in a blind tasting) said that there was a slight metallic taste. I too could taste this, but I couldn't tell if it was from the aluminum can, or from the roasted astringency.
(Side note: although I do not know why this beer is “like hot chicks on the beach,” I do know that the 1814 on the design relates to the London beer flood of 1814, a tragic but interesting event.)
Overall Impression: Fits the style. Carbonation reminds me of a soda more than a beer. Slightly sweet for my taste. 

Grade: B (for me) / B+ (for coconut lovers)

Kona Brewing Co. Hawaii Kai

Kona Brewing Company, Hawaii Kai

Lets start by getting the record straight: this location is not the brewery, nor do they brew on the premises. As such, I will review this as a pub, not a brew pub, and not a brewery.

Now then, I had a hard time finding this place, it is hidden behind a shopping center. It was the middle of the week, in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of a downpour of rain. This being the case, I was the only person at the bar. (Though I’m sure this place gets hopping when Led is at the guitar every Sunday.) The service was great and the kind-hearted bartender answered all of my questions. I learned a lot about the beers of Kona, and a little about the brewery.

If you are a beer lover, keep these things in mind:

1.) You must ask your waiter what brews are on tap. The 7 or so listed in the menu are only about half of what they have on tap. There are 24 tap handles with at least 16 beers (2 on nitro).  DO NOT believe the menu!!! 

2.) There is a beer of the week (or was it month…?) which is only $3.

3.) Budweiser is a part owner of this company through the Craft Brewer’s Alliance.

Highlights: Ginger beer, Sun Charged Golden Ale, Dry Side Stout on Nitro

Selection: B

Location: C

Price: B-

Friendliness: A

beer knowledge: B-

Overall Grade: B

New Rainbow Market

New Rainbow Market

I happened to find this pleasant little store as I explored Palolo Valley.  As the sign says, it “feature[s] ice cold beer!” Indeed, all of their selection is kept in a series of refrigerator units so they are telling the truth. That’s because this is a place to buy beer to drink, not to collect. Although they do stock mostly beers made by the big 3, they do stock some other beers of quality such as Sierra Nevada. If you are in the market for “cheap” beer, beer in 40’s or 24 oz cans, caffeinated malt liquor, or things of this sort, they have you covered there. In short this little spot is stocked as well or better than your local grocery store. Prices are good also… VERY competitive. I will probably purchase my next 6 pack of Torpedo from this location.

(Side note: Can also get plate lunch here!)

Selection: 6.5/10

Location: 7/10

Price: 8.5/10

Friendlyness/beer knowledge: Friendliness 8.5, knowledge unknown.

Overall Grade: B

The Liquor Collection

I thought it only fitting that my first post be about the Liquor Collection. This store, located in the Ward Center shopping mall, has what is probably the best selection of quality beers on the island. They say that they use all of the island's distributers to fill out their selection, and based on what they stock, I believe them. Their stock rotates pretty fast, and seasonals come and go, but even so they maintain around 200 different beers at a time. If you are in Waikiki, Ala Moana, or if there is a beer that you just HAVE to have, this place is worth a stop.

(Side note: I overheard the manager discussing how he was going to save their only case of Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA as gifts for the employees. That's a boss I'd like!)

Highlights: Good selection of Rogue beers, Maui Brewing Co., Mikkeller, BrewDog, Sierra Nevada, and some surprises from Mad River Brewing Co!

Missing: Mehana Brewing Co.

Selection: 9/10 (gotta leave room for improvement!)
Location: 9/10
Price: 7/10
Friendliness / Beer Knowledge: 10/10
Over all grade: A