A craft beer scene worth knowing about
Hawaiʻi's craft brewery scene has grown meaningfully over the past decade — not just because people everywhere drink craft beer now, but because the islands' unique agricultural base (tropical fruit, Kona coffee, native honey, locally grown hops on the Big Island) gives brewers genuinely distinctive ingredients to work with.
Oʻahu: Honolulu's growing scene
Kona Brewing Company has its flagship brewpub in Kailua (Oʻahu) as well as its most-recognized mainline beers, but the more interesting drinking is at smaller, less-exported Honolulu operations in the Kakaʻako arts district, where several taprooms operate within walking distance of each other — making an afternoon crawl genuinely workable.
Maui: Maui Brewing Company
MBC is the most prominent Maui craft brewery, with a flagship location in Kīhei and a second in Lahaina (check current status given ongoing Lahaina recovery). Their beers are widely distributed, but the taproom experience — with rotating small-batch releases not available in cans — is the reason to seek it out specifically.
Hawaiʻi Island: Kona-coffee-infused brews
Several Big Island breweries incorporate Kona coffee directly into their lineup — stouts and porters in particular. Hilo is home to a handful of taprooms worth dropping into if you're based on the east side.
Kauaʻi
Smaller scene matching the island's overall character, but Kauaʻi Beer Company in Līhuʻe is a solid, locally-rooted operation with a range of year-round and seasonal releases.
A note on tropical ingredient beers
Passion fruit (lilikoi), guava, coconut and macadamia nut show up in local beers in ways that range from excellent to gimmicky — worth trying at the source rather than judging by category. A well-made lilikoi wheat is genuinely different from the mainland conception of "fruit beer."