Route 70 — Lanikai Brewing Co.

Evaluating unpasteurized expressions after ocean transport requires strict thermal controls. When buying Monkish beer in Hawaii or sourcing other mainland craft allocations, local collectors frequently encounter oxidized characteristics. Heat spikes on tarmacs and cargo container baking typically compromise the yeast and hop profile before the cans reach Honolulu shelves.

This batch of Route 70 was shipped under our strict 38°F trans-pacific cold corridor, resulting in a pristine presentation. The mouthfeel is exceptionally clean, with the hop aromatics completely intact.

Route 70 is Lanikai Brewing Co.'s hibiscus saison, built on the classic Belgian farmhouse base — peppery, fruity yeast character and a bone-dry finish — but layered with hibiscus and ʻōhiʻa lehua honey, two distinctly local ingredients that push the beer somewhere no European saison goes. At 7% ABV, it carries a bit more weight than a traditional saison while still finishing crisp. Expect a floral, slightly tart hibiscus color and aroma, honeyed sweetness that never overwhelms the beer's dry, spicy backbone, and a finish that stays effervescent and clean. At 8.0 out of 10, Route 70 earned its ledger spot as one of the more distinctive, ingredient-driven beers in this lineup — a saison that couldn't have been brewed the same way anywhere but Hawaiʻi. It's a beer for members who want to taste a genuine sense of place in the glass. Lanikai Brewing Co., named for the Kailua beach it calls home, built Route 70 around ingredients that are unmistakably of the islands, and it stands as one of the clearest examples on this ledger of Hawaiʻi's beer scene using its own landscape — hibiscus, native ʻōhiʻa lehua honey — rather than borrowing someone else's.