Our Top 5: Great deals on good craft beer
By Will McGough
Special to Frolic Hawaii
Craft beer might be tasty but it rarely comes cheap. With prices regularly between $6 and $9 a pint, we poked around to find the deals around town that’ll help you get your money’s worth.
Pho’hana on Hotel and Smith has $3 Bikiki Blonde pints. ALL DAY.
5. Pho’Hana
This is not a brewery. Heck, it’s not even a bar. It’s a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. But, for some reason, it serves $3 Maui Brewing Bikini Blondes all day. You can’t beat that. And, it makes picking a place to slurp down noodles in Chinatown pretty easy.
52 N Hotel St ● Chinatown ● phohana808.com
Growler USA photo by Grant Shindo
4. Growler USA
With about 100 on tap, Kapahulu’s Growler USA has one of the largest selections of reasonably-priced craft beer drafts on the island with dozens of pints in the $5 to $6 range and small five-ounce pours between $2 and $4.
Hee Hing Plaza, 449 Kapahulu Ave #105 ● Kapahulu ● www.facebook.com/GrowlerUSAHNL/
3. Bar 35
Bar 35 has a loooong happy hour every day from 4 to 9 p.m. with a varying selection of $4 craft beers. Given that they have list 200 beers long (most bottled and canned), you are sure to find something you like at a very fair price.
35 N Hotel St ● Chinatown ● bar35hawaii.com
Waikiki Brewing
2. Waikiki Brew Co.
WBC doesn’t have a traditional happy hour, but they do have Growler Hour. Every day from 3 to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. until closing, 64-ounce growler fills are $12 (regularly $16). That works out to $4 per pint. Pints are $5 during these times. So if your wallet is feeling thin, grab a friend and a growler to go.
1945 Kalakaua Ave ● Waikiki ● waikikibrewing.com
Lanikai Brewing
1. Lanikai Brewing
Lanikai’s tasting room isn’t your typical beer establishment. It only sells “samples,” and chances are your bedroom is probably larger than the tasting room. But there are two things in your favor: one, you’re standing in the shadow of brew tanks and two, samples are pretty generously poured and only $1 (limited releases are usually $2). I could think of worse ways to get rid of your pocket change.
175-C Hamakua Drive ● Kailua ● lanikaibrewing.com
