By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Bar manager Jamie Robinson draws a beer at Brew Moon.

Somethin’s brewin’
at Ward Centre

Pub like this opens
only once in a ...

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

When's the last time you visited a microbrewery and ordered, well, a root beer? Not the store-bought kind or one mixed at the pump?

Brew Moon Restaurant & Microbrewery, the new 9,000 square-foot, $2 million-plus eatery at Ward Centre, takes its homemade root beer about as seriously as its food and on-site brewed beer. Brew Moon opens Sunday in a benefit for the Hawaii Theatre and to the general public on Monday.

The microbrewery's Rocket Root Beer is a patented extract-based recipe made with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, and, of course, water and sugar, made in a five-barrel tank in a room constantly cooled to 38 degrees.

But why would a restaurant-microbrewery go through the trouble?

"It's a point of differentiation," said Elliot Feiner, president of the 4-year-old chain. "It gives us something the other guys don't have. And root beer is kid- and adult-friendly.

"Not everyone is a drinker and our Rocket Root Beer has such a special taste it overlaps age preferences."

Rocket Root Beer costs $2.25 and refills are free.

Brew Moon also has another distinction: it's the only microbrewery in Hawaii that makes light beer on site. It's called Moonlight and is a crisp American-style, low alcohol, low calorie -- 110 calories -- ale.

Sure it's harder to make and it takes more time to brew but, Feiner says, there's "a big calling for light beer."

Brewing "quality" beer is important to Brew Moon, which offers six types, including Moonlight; Mayberry Wheat R.F.D., an unfiltered ale brewed with Wisconsin grown wheat and "a hint" of summer berries; Munich Gold, a prize-winning, medium-bodied German-style export lager; Great Pacific Pale Ale; and two beers especially brewed for Hawaii: Hawaii "5," a copper-colored, malt-flavored, medium-bodied ale; and the heavier Big Kahuna Brown Ale.

Beers cost $3.25-$5 depending on size.

Guests are able to see the in-house brewery in its glass-enclosed entrance to the restaurant. Large picture windows showcase all areas of the $250,000 brewery and fermentation rooms that sit on two floors at the ewa end of Ward Centre.

Grand opening

Brew Moon Restaurant & Brewery: Opening benefits Hawaii Theatre
The site: Ward Centre, ewa end
The date: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. brunch ro 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. dinner Sunday. Included will be a sampling of pupu and selection of wines.
Cost: $50 per person
Call: Hawaii Theatre box office, at 528-0506