It's the most exciting week of the year...Hawaii Craft Beer Week!
We teamed up with 3 different breweries on the island to create some awesome beers in celebration of beer week. Check out the details and stories behind each collab!
Village beer X HANA KOA BREWING
CRUSH HELLES HELLES LAGER
When two minds of metal nature desire to create the ultimate crushable stage beer, the world will know melodic magic. Such a thing occurred between Tim (Village) and Josh (Hana Koa). Tim, being the all-knowing of things beer, and Josh, being the lover of all things lager, jumped at the chance to brew this German-style Helles rightfully dubbed “Crush Helles”. Stage dive into an aroma of sweet honey and golden raisins then crowd surf a brisk clean malty palate to a crispy finish. This is the embodiment of what brewers strive for and what Ozzy would hope for if he showed up to rage as the Prince of Darkness.
A LOOK BEHIND THE COLLAB
Tim from Village is everyone's best friend. He does a great job of cultivating community and developing relationships with breweries from all over the world. When we were launching outside sales, Chrissie reached out to Tim to do a collaboration beer.
While discussing the ultimate beer we could create as a team, Tim suggested emulating a beer that he had. So we went for it and brewed Crush Helles. A traditional German-style Helles lager that Tim describes as "Bright, crisp, loaded with wonderfully clean malt flavors and finishes with a dry snap. Perfect for crushing." Crush Helles is the first volume of what we hope to do with the beer next!
INU ISLAND ALES X HANA KOA BREWING
STARCROSSED GALAXY PALE ALE
Through the mountain and across the stars Hana Koa and Inu Island Ales reached for this Star Crossed collab as a culmination of awesomeness. Please enjoy the following: Danky Galaxy hops juice the senses with yellow peach while Mosaic hops deliver green mango and a touch of pineapple. Star Crossed possesses a bold juicy mouthfeel and finishes subtle getting you ready for the next sip.
A LOOK BEHIND THE COLLAB
When Chrissie and Josh moved to Oahu in November 2016 they met Kyle, the brewmaster of Inu Island Ales, at Village Beer one evening. What started out as one drink together at Village turned into a night out of slinging back beers at BeerLab and Brew'd. Since then Kyle has been a good friend in the industry - they even went on to collaborate on a beer for Chrissie and Josh's wedding, Punch Drunk Love. With that type of bond over beer, another collaboration was bound to happen!
waikiki brewing X HANA KOA BREWING
Unsteady Hands Double IPA
What started as a random blurb during a hangout sesh evolved into the crazy double IPA we present to you. Unsteady Hands is based on friendship and the philosophy of having a heavy hand with hops. Bursting with bright Pomelo and Apricot, the nose is intensely refreshing. Delve into the glass to be smacked with sticky bits of grapefruit and kumquat. The finish hangs for just a sec, reminding you of the classic West Coast mentality, hops on hops on hops.
A LOOK BEHIND THE COLLAB
After the soft opening of Hana Koa, Waikiki Brewing brewers Jake and Vince came by the brewery. What started as a random blurb during this hangout sesh evolved into the crazy double IPA we present to you.
During beer week they reached out to Joe, the brewmaster, about the collab and decided on an IPA. They choose to focus on using classic hops in the boil, and dry-hopping with new school varieties. Josh stated "they wanted to bring back the actual bitter type of IPA you would get from the early 2000-teens. It was a great experience to create something with those you are close with and we look forward to our future collabs with Waikiki Brewing!"