The brewery tour doesn’t take walk-ins. It’s worth the $25 if the beer is why you’re there. The tour runs 60 minutes, daily from 12pm to 5pm by appointment, and meets at the Growler Shack at the Kona Pub. From there a shuttle takes the group down Pawai Place to the brewhouse, and the tour ends with a four-pour tasting. You don’t need the tour to drink here: the pub is open daily from 11am to 9pm, pouring Big Wave, Longboard, Fire Rock, Kua Bay IPA, and Black Sand Porter, which is draft only.
The Kona Brewing you buy on the mainland belongs to Anheuser-Busch InBev. The Hawaiʻi brewery and pub (website) are independent and locally based again, brewing from a 30,000 sq ft facility that opened in 2021.
What the $25 brewery tour includes
The Kona Pub is at 74-5612 Pawai Place; the brewery is at 74-5588 on the same street. You walk through the brewhouse, hear how the beer is made, and finish at the Thirsty Gecko tasting room, where the four 4oz pours are included in the price.
Important: the minimum age to join the tour is 15, but only those 21 and over are served the samples. Arrive 15 minutes early.
The Kona pub and brewery. Photo: Courtesy Kona Brewing Co.
More local Big Island breweries
Three more taprooms pour beer brewed on the island: two from Ola Brew, in Kona and Hilo, and the Big Island Brewhaus up in Waimea. Our full Big Island beer roundup covers them at length, along with the island’s beer festivals.
| Brewery | Where | Open | What they pour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kona Brewing Co. (Kona Pub) | Kailua-Kona, 74-5612 Pawai Place | Daily, 11am to 9pm | Big Wave, Longboard, Fire Rock, Kua Bay IPA, and the draft-only Black Sand Porter |
| Ola Brew Co. | Kailua-Kona, 74-5598 Luhia Street | Mon to Thu 11am to 9pm, Fri and Sat to 10pm, Sun to 8pm | 40+ rotating beers, hard juices, seltzers, and teas |
| Big Island Brewhaus | Waimea, 64-1066 Māmalahoa Highway | Daily, 11am to 9pm | House beers, alongside a Mexican kitchen |
| Ola Brew Co. (Hilo) | Hilo, 1177 Kīlauea Avenue | Mon to Thu 11am to 10pm, Fri and Sat to 11pm, Sun 10am to 8pm | The Ola lineup, with a full kitchen |
Ola Brew Co makes its drinks with local ingredients and keeps a kitchen next to the taps. They aren’t running tours or tastings at the moment. The Hilo room opens at 10am on Sunday for brunch, an hour before the Kona Pub and the Brewhaus.
The Big Island Brewhaus brews its own beer in Waimea and runs a Mexican kitchen and a beer garden alongside it. It doesn’t run tours. It sits on Māmalahoa Highway, on the northern route between Kona and Hilo rather than Saddle Road, so it fits a Kohala or Hāmākua day better than a straight cross-island drive.
Honolulu Magazine reported that Hilo Brewing Company, which traded as Mehana and then as Hawaiʻi Nui, closed in late 2024 after the death of co-owner Ron Jeffries. Don’t build a Hilo brewery stop around it.
For the rest of the evening, see our Kona restaurant picks and the wider Kailua-Kona guide.