Aloha!

Work has taken me back to Hawaii and I have a quick update for beer lovers on the islands. Hawaii is not always the easiest place to find a wide variety of beers, and due to its remote location, drinks usually don’t come cheap either. Even for locally made crafts. (Which have to import almost all of their ingredients except water.) But on this trip I found a real gem with a great selection and at reasonable prices – The Yard House on 226 Lewers Street in Waikiki.

Upon arriving here on my trip last month I took a Waikiki shuttle from the airport to the Hilton Village where I was staying. The bus driver immediately sprang into hospitality mode before we left the airport grounds. (I think the natives are programmed from birth to be eternally happy and gracious hosts.) He provided us with island history, customs, a geography overview, debunked myths, etc. And as we neared our hotel and crossed into Waikiki I distinctly remembering him saying, “you are now entering Waikiki… everything just got real expensive.” Hawaii is the most expensive state in the union to visit, and Waikiki is the most expensive part of Hawaii. So when I found the Yard House directly in the center of tourist central I tried to set my financial expectations.

I’m a variety freak so I love the Yard House near my home in Golden, CO. And I was pleasantly surprised to find the same great selection of beers in Waikiki - along with reasonable prices. I started off with a six-pack sampler, which consisted of three Lost Coast Brewery (Eureka, CA) beers - Great White, Downtown Brown, and Alleycat Amber, and three beers from Mehana Brewing (Hilo Hawaii) - Mauna Kea Pale Ale, Humpback Blue, and Hawaii Lager. Six wonderful five-ounce beers for $9! Thirty ounces for approximately what one would pay for a pint across the street. And after I finished the sampler I started drinking my way around the rest of the world for $6 to $7 per beer. Understandably all of their beers are market price, so the cost fluctuates depending on the request. (Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to come off as a total cheap skate, but I always drink more comfortably knowing I’m not getting ripped off, not to mention that the money saved probably means another round.)

The Yard House offers 100 beers on tap from the U.S., England, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Australia, Mexico, Japan, etc. This includes a solid representation of local micros from Maui Brewing Company, Kona Brewing, and Mehana. I’ve stopped by four times already, and ate there twice. As a beer lover I highly recommend the Yard House for good food and a great selection of reasonably priced beers from Hawaii and around the world. It is a short walk from the beach and right in the middle of where Waikiki is happening. That is all for now, I have to head to Lulu’s surf club and watch the sun set.