Wailuku Brew Works | Keaau, HI
Beer Trip: Wailuku Brew Works in Keaau, Hawaii
Nothing beats saving the best for last, and we unintentionally did this when we stopped into Wailuku Brew Works as our last Hawaiian brewery on the Big Island. In our opinion, this place had the top beer on the island (along with the friendliest staff and brewery regulars you could find)!
Welcome to Wailuku!
The Brewery
A happy camper with a beer in hand after hiking
Wailuku is a few miles outside of Hilo, but really close to the highway, making it easy to get to. The business sits within a metal building and has a decent amount of parking available out front. The whole place is fairly small and doesn’t feature any outdoor seating, but it has 5 to 6 tables inside and a 12-person bar featuring a nice, live-edge wooden bar top, modern light fixtures, local photos spread about, and some awesome hand-painted murals displayed near the restrooms. They have three TVs on the back wall, and, much to our enjoyment, one of them was programmed to broadcast the live feed of the active volcano going off at Kilauea during our visit. It was mid-afternoon when we stopped in after a day of hiking in Volcanoes National Park, and there were tons of locals dropping in and out after they got off of work. We think it had something to do with Lydia, the bartender, who was awesome and could remember everyone’s names after meeting them just one time!
The Beer
One of our two flights for the afternoon
For a place no bigger than it is, we were very surprised to find that Wailuku offers 20 different beers on tap. During our visit, the menu consisted of a Hefeweizen, Mexican lager, sour, multiple stouts, and IPAs - just to name a few. In addition to those, they also maintain an extensive lineup of barrel-aged brews with 5 selections to choose from. As you might imagine, these are high ABV - so watch out! We were informed that of their 20 offerings, 8 of them are considered flagships, and the other dozen taps continually rotate as they run out.
Wailuku Brew Works gets its namesake from the local Wailuku River, which is famous for its Rainbow Falls. With such a stellar river, the brewery had big shoes to fill to also create fantastic beer, and they certainly have risen to the challenge. With us having several hours to kill, we were able to sample a good portion of the menu and found almost everything to be to our liking. One worth noting is their flagship Kiss Me I’m Irish Stout. This Irish stout has a great coffee taste with a dry finish that leaves you wanting more. You could drink this beer all day, regardless of the weather, making it a big plus for a stout. The other top offering was a milkshake IPA, the Gorilla Handshake IPA. This one is brewed with lactose, which makes it smooth while not overly creamy. Combining that with the guava fruit, it provided a great, mouth-coating taste.
We were in awe of Lydia’s handwriting!
Fun murals at Wailuku!
Food, Merch, & More
Merchandise available for purchase
In addition to serving beer, Wailuku has a limited cocktail menu and a few wine selections. While they don’t have a full kitchen, they do often partner with a food truck, and they always have a few snack mix options, as well as the ability to whip you up a soft pretzel, which really hit the spot for us. The merchandise options at Wailuku are rather limited, but understandable for a place so new. They featured t-shirts, tanks, ball caps, and a snow hat. Lucky for us, our one must-have item is a brewery sticker - and they had us covered.
Wailuku Brew Works was the perfect cap to our Big Island brewery tour. Their staff provided us with a top-notch experience, along with some of the best beer in the area. This was a place we definitely hope to visit again someday.
Cheers!
Pretzels with beer cheese hit the spot after many beers were sampled
