In September 2013, Jim Guerber and his son Justin opened Kauai Beer Company. What began as a humble craft brewery, serving beer just two days a week, has bubbled into a lively hangout that’s slowly adding food to its hoppy
In September 2013, Jim Guerber and his son Justin opened Kauai Beer Company. What began as a humble craft brewery, serving beer just two days a week, has bubbled into a lively hangout that’s slowly adding food to its hoppy offerings.
During Truck Stop Thursday, three food trucks park outside the brewery and serve a steady flow of people. Trucks rotate every week and have included The Green Pig, Little Greek Town, Kickshaws and Trucking Delicious. The Right Slice or Haole Girl Island Sweets provides dessert.
Chef Joe Fox cooked at Merriman’s Fish House in Poipu and founded the Kauai Brew Club before he took on the task of creating beer-friendly food at Kauai Beer Company.
“At KBC, it’s all about the beer,” says Fox. “Make food that tastes great with beer, but doesn‘t fill the diner up.“
After graduating from the International Culinary Institute in Campbell, Calif., Fox worked at La Mere Michelle in Saratoga Calif. He cultivated cooking techniques at the French restaurant by butchering whole animals and making everything from scratch. At Caffe Lucio, in Santa Cruz, Calif., chef Lucio Fanni taught Fox how to create simple meals using a few, high-quality ingredients. He combined technique and simplicity as the sous chef for the Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore, Calif., and in his free time, brewed beer at home.
Today, Fox can be found at the farmers market talking with farmers, selecting produce and building his menu.
“If tomatoes aren’t in season, I use cucumbers,” he says. “I pretty much make everything, including mustard and dressings and I use fresh, local organic eggs for aioli.”
Right now, you can only enjoy Joe’s food one day a week during Finally Friday, which debuted May 30. Each dish on the “9 to 5 Menu” aims to satiate the working stiff, and his (or her) wallet. Prices range from $5 to $9, except for $3 pretzels made by Judith Capertina of Haole Girl Island Sweets, who uses the brewery’s spent grain.
The small menu changes, but always features a meaty slider (one for $5 or two for $9) with homemade pickles and slaw; a large sandwich ($9) with homemade BBQ potato chips; and a salad. The Brewer’s Fresh Salad ($8) combines Growing Strong Farm greens, house-smoked gouda cheese, spent grain pretzel croutons and a vegan Caesar dressing made with avocados from Kauai Glory Farms.
The Pork belly steam bun slider piles tender slices of pork belly on a steamed bun drizzled with a soy and Lihue Lager glaze. It’s served with pickled cucumbers and kale cabbage slaw that’s topped with shavings of local, toasted coconut.
The beer-brined jerk chicken panini with scallion lime aioli, is hands down, the most flavorful sandwich I’ve had on Kauai. Juicy chicken thighs are crusted in a 13-ingredient, smoldering spice mix that Joe learned how to make while living in the Bahamas.
Last week’s slider was mustard and pretzel crusted chicken drizzled with a KBC Maibock honey glaze. For the sandwich, Fox stacked his fennel and sage pork sausage, with homemade chorizo bacon, torched tomatoes, caramelized onions, pesto and spicy arugula between slices of Midnight Bear Breads and ciabatta roll.
On tap, there’s Kauai Juice Company’s kombucha, plus five KBC beers including two mainstays: Lihue Lager, a light beer with 4.4 percent alcohol by volume and Black Limousine (4.4 percent), which looks like Guinness stout, but is light bodied.
“Tonight’s Finally Friday 9 to 5” menu features summer saison fresh garden spinach salad, with roasted squash, onions and cucumbers tossed in a scallion-cilantro lime vinaigrette and topped with Kauai Kunana Dairy goat cheese.
You’ll also get to try the pork belly steamed bun or that beer-brined jerk chicken panini. For the first time, there’s also black limo braised oxtail stew with Kauai kiawe cornbread and island honey compound butter. For dessert: gingered beer upside down cake with Asian pears and a nitro mild ale shooter.
Kauai Beer Company is located at 4265 Rice Street and is open Wednesday through Saturday 3 to 8 p.m. You can contact them at 245-2337.
