Maui Brewing Company
Beer lovers should absolutely visit Maui Brewing Company Brew Pub, the island’s only microbrewery. The sustainably-minded company crafts excellent, national award-winning brews, and we especially recommend the pale, clean-flavored Bikini Blonde and the dark chocolatey CoCoNut Porter.
Ordering a flight of beer lets you sample several at once — including the short-run beers that are only available here. We like getting a flight when we sit at the bar, because they line up the little glasses — maybe two ounces each — on the three inch wide strip of eternally-regenerating ice that circles the bar and keeps the drinks cool.
The food menu is standard pub fare, decently made. We like their slider, a small Maui Cattle Company burger that is well made and perfect with a beer. The fish and chips platter is good: a beer batter, of course, and we appreciate the well-executed traditional taste and light, fluffy, crunchy crust. The same holds true for the beer battered onion rings. If you haven’t had enough beer by the time dessert comes around, the CoCoNut Porter float — a scoop of ice cream with the porter poured over it — is an ingenious response to the root beer float. (For those who don’t imbibe, they also make actual root beer. While too sweet for our taste, we love that it’s made with cane sugar, honey and vanilla bean, all grown on Maui.) We also like the Baby Cake, a chocolate cake made with CoCoNut Porter.
[A note about CoCoNut Porter: it lends itself to both drinking and baking due to its complex, deep, dark flavors of chocolate, malt, and sometimes we taste honey. Made with toasted coconut and winner of several national and international awards, it’s really something special.]
The brew pub looks like a brew pub should: concrete floors, long tables, high-ceilings and lamps made from — what else? — tiny kegs. It is buzzy sounding from the people and the televisions over the big u-shaped bar, and you shouldn’t come if you’re looking for a romantic meal. You should come for the beer and to get away from the palm trees, wine lists, and pretentions so easily found elsewhere. Service is best if you sit at the bar.
If you love the beer, you can get it at many grocery stores around the island. Don’t bother looking for bottles, as this ecologically-friendly company chooses to can their brew so that it travels better, recycles easier, and keeps the beer fresher. Also consider stopping in to their tasting room at their brewery down the road in Lahaina. If you like what you taste, share the Aloha by asking local stores back home to carry their brews.
Address: 4405 Honoapiilani Hwy, Kahana, West Maui
Location: Kahana Gateway
Meals: Lunch, Dinner, Late-Night
Hours: Daily 11am-12am
Parking: Lot
Phone: 808-669-3474
Website: www.mauibrewingco.com