My tale of Maui Brewing Company begins, strangely enough, at the Kohola Brewery. When I was researching breweries for our Maui trip, Maui brewing came to mind first and foremost. Maui is, of course, the biggest brewer on the Island of Maui, though perhaps less well known than Kona on Oahu. Maui has quickly become a force to be reckoned with all the same, growing from small beginnings in 2005 to projected sales of $20 Million and a capacity of 40,000 barrels today.

But back to Kohola. We were sitting at the bar and mentioned that we were headed to the Maui brewpub next. The locals and the bartender agreed we needed to hit the main production facility in Kihei, but that was 20+ miles away, and we had a luau to attend that night. By happy circumstance, our hotel on Ka’anapali beach was in between both Kohola and the original Maui brewpub, with each roughly equidistant to either side.

We took Lyft from Kohola to Maui Brewing, which is ensconced in a shopping center at what our drive told us was basically the last of development for a while. When you walk in the pub you are greeted by a sales kiosk where shirts and glasses and signs are sold (I bought one of each). The dining area is directly past that with the bar to your left and brewing equipment visible above it all. Maui moved main production away years ago and I suspect the equipment is mainly for show; they have grown so fast they had to move it again to Kihei several years ago.

We arrived around 3PM local time and I ordered a sampler and food to hold us over until the luau. The wife got an Ahi Poke Fish Taco which she devoured with much aplomb, and we split an order of house made kettle chips with an amazing savory Maui onion dip thick and chunky with strings of fresh onion. Each was $7. Barbara also enjoyed a house made root beer.

I had already enjoyed several Maui beers on tap and in cans in the preceding days. Maui beers are ubiquitous on the island and I saw them in bars, restaurants, convenience stores, parties and, later that night, would drink Bikini Blonde at the Luau. Here, I started with a sampler of four beers for $10. Pints were available for $7.

I was getting a bit worried. The first beer I had at Maui brewing, Maui Shave Weiss, a Berliner Weiss, was OK, but just OK. Now, beer number two, Maui Hefeweizen, seemed to display the same mediocrity. That seemed odd because, well, I'd enjoyed several of their beers off premises and they were all tasty.

To be fair, Maui Hefeweizen (4.7% ABV, 15 IBUs) did have a hint of banana and clove, refreshing tart wheat, moreso in the finish. It was a good example of the style, if not a great one, and seemed a great quaffing beer in the humid, warm April weather here. Still, it wasn't extremely memorable, though I would certainly drink it again. Things were about to improve drastically, however, with the rest of the beers I drank here.

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