I love my local craft beer maker. They are newly re-opened after being purchased out of bankruptcy. I have been there and tried and reviewed all the ales. I briefly chatted with one of the brew masters and had some suggestions. Here is what I would do if were the owner.
The best ale on their fare is Hapa Brown Ale. Don’t touch that one, it is great and my go to from this brewer. I do really wait for the periodic sales at KTA to pick it up for $8.99 instead of $10.99 though. If they could keep the price point at the first, rather than the latter, I think sales would pick up.
Next, I would tackle Black Crow Porter. It is a nice but very light porter with only a little bite. This is a porter one would give to a girl who thinks dark beer is gross. It is not a real dark beer drinkers Porter. I recommended they add toasted coconut and local coffee. The one brew master I was speaking with said that was already being done. Well, not really. Koko brown from Kona Brewery is a seasonal and made on the mainland, except for the keg version sold only on the Kona side in that off season. The nice one from Waimea’ Brewhaus, is not available at my local store and I have to go to the main liquor store in town to find it. It is also not cheap there. Try something to up the game on your Porter and find a nice following.
I also recommended the brew master go and buy all the brews from Hitachino Nest from Japan. It is available here at our only real liquor store and the Red Rice Ale and Real Ginger Beer, are the best things I have tasted in my life. So, I would also like to add a new brew and use Hawaiian ginger, which we grow by the ton right here near Hilo and make something as special as possible with that formula. Red Rice would be impossible here but that taste is so enchanting, I wanted him to try it for inspiration. If they can make a beer that delicious, they can have people flocking to buy it over and over. I recently spent $140 to buy a case of the Real Ginger Beer and I am really not in that tax bracket. I would love to find something more local and affordable in that genre. The next suggestion would be to try a Scotch Ale. The brew master said they may try a lager next. Lagers take twice as long as ales and are difficult to get right. If your get it wrong, like Long Board from Kona Brewing Co., it may sell well with the general public, but real beer drinkers will find it lacking. A well done Scotch Ale is a wonderful thing to behold.
That’s it for now. I am not so pretentious as to know how to run their business. I do know that I would go to the ends of the Earth to sound a clarion call for my local brewers if they had something approaching what I found from Hitachino Nest in Japan. I didn’t know beer could do that……..Now I do.
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