Maui 1

I didn’t intend to start my trip to Maui by breaking my ankle but…well, it rains on the just and the unjust, right?

So, in an attempt to make my trip more bearable, my family was kindly willing to indulge me with trips to the two breweries I was able to find on the island. I enjoyed my stops there and picked up a couple beers from each place to talk about, so here we go!

The first stop was at Maui Brewing and Maui has an upper scale brewpub feel; there’s a full kitchen, a separate bar area where tours of the brewery kick off from, and because it’s Hawaii, damn near everything is open-air in it’s design. Birds flew in and out of the building as we ate lunch. I enjoyed the Double Overhead IPA but didn’t take any notes. On the way out, I purchased a couple things for later and here’s what we got:

Maui Brewing Star Maps Kolsch (collab with Smog City). Kolsch brewed with star fruit.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had star fruit but it’s tart. What that does to a Kolsch is obliterate the milder flavors of the beer by the tartness of the fruit. The combination means that the beer is easy to drink on hot days, but doesn’t pair well with others because the finish isn’t clean anymore.

I don’t dislike this beer, though I will confess it took me a minute to get used to. However, I’d recommended it for hot days only and the Star Maps might be worth tasting before hand, because star fruit has such a distinct flavor to it. It’s not for everyone.

The Pueo pale ale mines much more familiar territory. The nose has honeydew and citrus qualities, with a melon element on the finish, too. The citrus qualities turn to the bitterness I’d expect, which may be a little stronger than your average pale ale but within reason I think.

This is, I think, a local pale: meant to reflect what people might want in the warm, steadily humid environment of Hawaii. It’s a thirst quencher for sure.