Tropical Beerhunting

The Alt' n' Bock Illuminator
by Tom Altenbach

Forget all those brewpubs in the Bay Area, I traveled to Hawaii just to sample the Gordon Biersch selections at their newest brewpub in Honolulu. Gordon Biersch (GB) is one in the minority of lager brewpubs, and the first craft beer producer in Hawaii. The large upscale pub is located on the first floor of the new two-story Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu. Aloha Tower is a collection of shops and restaurants surrounding the historic Aloha Tower right on a commercial area of the waterfront. This is about 2 to 3 miles away from Waikiki Beach, where most of the tourists hang out. You can drive there from Waikiki, but parking is a hassle. However, good transportation is available from quaint city buses called trolleys that are built to resemble cable cars. I found that walking there from Waikiki was a great way to build up a horrific thirst in a tropical climate, and walking back aided the digestion of the good food at Gordon Biersch.

Three German lagers were available for my tasting pleasure, Export, Marzen, and Dunkels. The export is smooth with a big body for a light lager and balanced hop bitterness. It should not be confused with a pilsner, and will not please a Lower 48 ale-quaffing hop head. But for my money, this is a world-class export lager, reminding me of my own attempts at this style.

On my first taste of the Marzen, I was a bit disappointed, having expected a maltier profile than the somewhat bland malt flavors present. However, on a later tasting I decided sufficient malt was there. I wouldn’t have objected to a little more though to balance the alcohol in this medium amber brew.

The Dunkels is a medium brown, smooth, clean, and malty. It’s not as malty as my bocks, and not as roasted as my schwarzbiers. It is a great Munich Dark. All three of the GB selections were more filling than usual microbrew and tasted great. For the lite beer drinkers, a Hefeweizen will soon be available. The only other beer desperately needed is of course a bock, preferably dopple.

With the brewpub located only a few steps from the pier, it has the potential to provide customers with spectacular views of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. I was fortunate enough to get a table on the lanai (that’s Hawaiian for Beer Garden), but the whole pub sat in the shadow of a huge Coast Guard vessel tied up at the pier. So much for sunsets. Now for today’s marketing riddle. My first visit to the pub was on a Saturday night, and the place was deadsville. There were more staff than customers. I was wondering how they could stay in business. Then on my next visit on a non-descript Thursday night, the place was packed! Maybe a cruise ship just pulled in, but everyone looks like a tourist so I couldn’t tell.

For those fussy pub crawlers out there who demand a fair measure of beer, there is good news. GB serves half-liters in authentic German Willibecher-shaped glasses, with the 0.5 line clearly marked and plenty of room for good head above it. That’s a minimum 16.9 oz (US) of beer for erstwhile pint swillers.

Here are some other tips for Hawaiian beer hunters. If you’re stuck in Waikiki (what a shame), Samuel Adams Lager^tm is served on draft at the California Pizza Kitchen. Also, for takeout consumption, the Star Market has a good selection of German imports and some US micros. A few of these sport Hawaiian-sounding labels (like Peetipeeti Wickediwickedi Beeribeeri) but are actually contract-brewed in Minnesota. Look for more local microbrew soon, as the Maui Beer Company (Aloha Lager and Whale Ale) is beginning operations on none other than the Isle of Maui. Aloha!