Humpback Island Lager (no longer in production)

Hilo Brewing Company (no longer in business) — HIlo, HI

8 Nov 2022 · Stephen

American Lager Hilo Brewing Company (no longer in business)

3.8% ABV

22 IBU

Pale straw Color

Contributing Factors

Presentation ✓

Character ✓

Experience ✓

Return –

3 / 4 A solid effort

Tasting Notes

Appearance Straw pale, brilliantly clear with fine lively carbonation and a moderate billowy white head as the brewery describes. The most delicate color in this series — almost water-pale in the glass, luminous in the Hawaiian sun.

Aroma Mild and clean — the German lager tradition showing in the hop character rather than an American adjunct corn sweetness. A mild earthy hop quality with a hint of citrus at 22 IBU, light grain sweetness underneath. The island context is the framing rather than the flavor: this doesn't smell like Hawaii, it smells like exactly the right beer for Hawaii.

Palate ight-bodied and crisp — the American lager delivery at its most effortless. The grain sweetness carries through the middle with the mild earthy hop character providing a gentle, clean bitterness at 22 IBU. Not thin, not watery — present enough to satisfy without asking anything of the drinker on a hot afternoon in Kona.

Finish Clean, refreshing, and short. The lager base resolves completely and immediately, leaving the palate reset and ready — the function a beach lager is designed to perform, executed without compromise.

The Verdict

Hilo Brewing's island flagship — an American take on a German lager built for the heat, the humidity, and the long afternoon. 3.8% ABV, clean, refreshing, billowy head. No longer in production, but the Silver Community Award, it deserved a longer run. The humpbacks come back every year. This one didn't.

— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 8 Nov 2022