|
By The Glass By Chuck Furuya |
Homebrewers show
their best at isle contestHomemade beer is a big thing in many parts of the mainland. Many of the specialty beers we now see in the markets, such as Sierra Nevada and Red Hook, got their start via homebrewing.
The recent Eighth Annual Kona Brewfest at the King Kamehameha Hotel in Kailua-Kona is one of the showcases for homebrewers. There were an amazing 123 entries this year, from places as far away as Texas and Colorado.
I could not make the festival itself, but I did schedule an appointment the following week to meet with two of Hawaii's best homebrewers, Rod Romanak and Duane Harens, to gain an appreciation of local homebrew quality.
Rod entered only four beers, but won four medals. Duane entered 10 beers and walked away with seven medals.
Here are a few of the first-place winners:
Rod's Belgian Ale: I loved the freshness, purity and delicate side to this beer. It had a lot of high-toned hop character with a distinctly clove edge and nuances of ripe red apple, clover and apple skin. It was pretty, well-balanced and flowed well on the palate from beginning to end.
Duane's Dortmunder Export: This was also a very pretty beer with a wonderful fruitiness and sweeter hop character. In addition to tasting great and being suave and layered, this beer had great texture and balance. It was one of the favorites of the day.
Duane's Coffee Porter: This most different beer was quite stunning in its interplay of coffee, malt and hop aromas and tastes. Smooth and creamy on the palate, it initially offered a lot of dark, roasted mocha qualities, which were later overtaken by coffee character.
Rod's Foreign Extra Stout: Smelled of dark, roasted grains and grilled nuts with malt nuances. The beer had a lot of flavor and was remarkably layered, well-structured and wonderfully textured.
Dortmunder what? Foreign stout? Confusing? Just remember, there were 26 categories., each one is excitingly different.
These beers were absolutely delicious. And equally as important, these beers were fresh.
Chuck Furuya is Hawaii's only master sommelier.
This column is a weekly lesson in wine
pairing written by a rotating panel of wine professionals.
Write to features@starbulletin.com