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percentile water, so the local water does make a difference. When we moved the brewery from Lahaina to Kihei, we had to make recipe adjustments to get the Bikini Blonde to taste the same because the water does change the flavor of the beer; that alone makes a difference in the beer. On top of that, as much as we don’t have waves of grain or any malting houses or any hops fields growing in Hawaii, we do use a lot of local agriculture to influence our beer. We created the first coconut beer, the first pineapple beer, and the first POG beer. All of these different beers that were influenced by local agriculture is how we took traditional styles and made them Hawaii and made them Maui --simply by using those local ingredients. We also made the first breadfruit beer and the first Maui onion beer. We’ve done a lot of firsts here and we’re proud of that. We’ve influenced not only beer culture in Hawaii, but [I think] beer culture around the world. The coconut porter style is often imitated around the world now, and that started right here on Maui with us.
HBG: If you had to pick a beer or two from the portfolio that best represented Maui Island, what would they be and why?
GM: I would probably say the Pineapple Mana Wheat. That’s a beer that we’ve been doing since 2008 or so. It’s a simple, American wheat-style brewed with Maui gold pineapple. I don’t think there’s much of an argument when we say that Maui gold pineapple is the best pineapple in the world. It is the sweetest, lowest-acidity, highly sought-after pineapple, and we’re proud to use that exclusively in our beer. I think the pineapple being the universally recognized symbol of hospitality and Aloha embodies Maui, given that it is a Maui gold pineapple afterall.
I’d also say the Bikini Blonde Lager. Although it doesn’t have any local fruits, I think when you sit back and enjoy a Bikini Blonde anywhere in the world, you feel like you’re on the beach on Maui. As Pete, our national sales guy, likes to say, “We bring you back to Maui twelve ounces at a time.” I feel like that beer really does that.
HBG: In summary, how does Maui Brewing differ from other local breweries in philosophy and approach?
GM: When we talk about the other local breweries, we’re talking about one that existed when we started as well --Kona Brewing Company. I think the differences are obvious. Maui Brewing Co.’s philosophy is to brew locally, to have integrity, and we believe that “liquid aloha” should be made in Hawaii and not imported from the mainland. But, the rest of these breweries didn’t exist when we opened up. I think what makes us different is that we forged the path and cleared the way for many of these new breweries to open up. Whether they know that or not, we changed laws, we put our noses into the grindstone, and we worked very hard to be able to create a craft brewing industry in Hawaii. I think these other breweries are enjoying the benefits of a lot of the work that we’ve done. I’m excited to see the beer scene grow in Hawaii. Everybody has a slightly different take in some ways, but at the end of the day, as long as we’re all making beer in Hawaii, we have that commonality.
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