People don’t often think of breweries when they think of Maui, and while there are plenty of non-brewery related activities on the island, the craft beer scene in Hawaii continues to grow at a rapid pace.
I recently took a bucket list trip with my wife to Maui, and of course we visited some breweries. We also did other amazing things like the Road to Hana, snorkeling, hiking, sitting on the beach with turtles, and enjoyed the food, but breweries are a part of pretty much every trip for us.
The island of Maui currently has a total of four different breweries, with two of them featuring multiple locations. We visited all six brewery locations during our week-plus on the island. There are definitely some standouts, but the real standout was that there weren’t any duds of the bunch. That’s more than a lot of areas twice the size of Maui can say about their craft beer scene.
Waikiki Brew Co.
Our first stop was at Waikiki Brew Co‘s South Side location in Wailea. This location very much feels like a suburban brewpub akin to a better version of Rock Bottom Brewery or even BJ’s, but their beer was much better. Waikiki is based on Oahu where they have two locations, but they have two locations on Maui as well. What’s interesting is that both locations on Maui are very different. The South Side location sits in an upscale mall and while it’s not far from the beach, it feels like it certainly is.
The location is still very open and airy, and the brewpub menu looks fairly standard, although we didn’t try any food at either location.
The Lahaina location is almost the polar opposite of the Wailea location, sitting right across the ocean on the famous Front Street with some amazing views. This location is very touristy with tons of beach shops, restaurants, etc., but the nice thing is that the Waikiki location is near the end of the street so the tourist activity dies down a little.
For beer, Waikiki mainly features their core options at both locations with only a couple of seasonal rotating selections. Again, feels very Rock Bottom-esque. The beer was nothing short of solid though. I particularly enjoyed their Black Strap Molasses Porter, which won a GABF silver medal in 2017. Their other core beers include a pair of IPAs – Skinny Jeans is a very traditional West Coast style and Eee Pah is a slightly more malty and higher ABV option – a very solid hefeweizen (Hana Hou Hefe), Aloha Spirit Blonde Ale, 808 Pale Ale, a unique option in Jalapeno Mouth jalapeno amber ale, a craft light lager, and and English Brown Ale.
Mahalo Aleworks
I figured Mahalo Aleworks would be a gem of the tour, and I was proven right. Their location is “upcountry” right in the middle of the island, so while you’re not close to water, their ideal elevation provides for some amazing views and sunsets. Their taproom sits in a newer building that also features a few restaurants, including an Italian restaurant that they partner with for pizza. They also have an in-house sausage food truck on their patio, which we got food from. I enjoyed the German brat and Angie tried the Beyond Sausage.
The beer here was the star, as is their two-level taproom that has plenty of room for spreading out. About half of their taplist features IPAs and sours, although they do have a variety of options for just about every taste. For me, their sours really stood out. I love when a brewery features local ingredients in their beer, and Mahalo did that spectacularly with a Lilikoi (passionfruit) Sour as well as a POG (passionfruit, orange, guava) Sour. They also had a very good Mango Sour and I enjoyed their IPAs – we tried the Lotus Dragon (hazy) and a Midwest IPA that made me feel right at home.
The place was very lively despite the fact that we were there on a Tuesday, which I equate to Island Time and everyone being on vacation as well as the fact that they had trivia.
Maui Brewing Co.
If you’re a craft beer fan, you’ve probably heard of Maui Brewing Co. They’ve grown from a small brewpub that opened in 2005 to one of the 50 largest craft breweries. They also purchased California-based Modern Times in 2022 to form Craft Ohana, which is now the 28th-largest independent brewery in the US.
We visited both their beautiful production facility in Kihei – which was about a mile from our condo – as well as their original location in Lahaina. The Kihei production facility is grid independent thanks to solar panels, and it’s exactly what a large brewpub done right looks like. It’s open and airy, with a huge bar, plenty of room for seating, and a huge lanai (patio) as well.
There’s glass behind the bar that lets you look into their production area, and two huge keg walls that add a nice touch. The brewpub serves food, and Maui also produces their own seltzers (very delicious) as well as their own spirits under the Kupu brand.
I became a big fan of their beer and I don’t know why I hadn’t tried more of their core offerings before this trip. They have eight GABF medals under their belt, dating all the way back to their founding year in 2005. Their Coconut Hiwa, a coconut porter, may have been the best overall beer I tried on our trip. And I can get it right down the street from me in our grocery store.
Kohola Brewery
Kohola Brewery is a warehouse-style brewery that sits a few blocks away from the ocean in Lahaina. They might have had the best overall beer of any of the breweries we visited, and their beer is readily available just about anywhere on Maui. They even won a bronze medal at GABF in 2016 for their pilsner, Lokahi.
While their taproom isn’t anything special, it sets up to let the beer be the star, which is exactly how we felt. After being in the warm sun all day, their Pete’s Island Wheat and Lilikoi Wheat were incredibly refreshing. Their Lahaina Haze hazy IPA was also probably the best hazy IPA I had on the island, and their Pineapple Blonde and POG Cream Ale were also standouts.