Maui Brewing Tour

I didn't post an update on my hops this past week because I was visited Maui for the weekend.  While I was there I took in a tour of the Maui Brewing Company's production facility.  The tour was ten dollars and came with a tasting tray of Maui Brewing's Big Swell IPA, Mana Wheat, Bikini Blond, and Coconut Porter.  They also put in a fifth beer, an Irish Red.   I had tried the IPA and porter at bars in the past and was disappointed.  But after having the chance to try these beers at the brewery, I think the bars must not have treated their beers very well.  The IPA and porter were amazing at the brewery.  I had never had such a delicious IPA in Hawaii before the brewery tasting.  The tour was along the lines of other great brewery tours I've had (Stone and Anchor), but it really warmed my cockles to see a little brewery doing such great things in Hawaii.  I've added some pictures I took on the tour below (I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the brew system and fermenters.)  The price of the tour also came with a wooden token good for a pint at the Maui Brewing pub, which was at a separate location (see below). 

A day after my tour of the production brewery, I visited the pub.  I won't get into individual reviews of the beers I tried, but I enjoyed everything.  I had a glass of the Freight Train IPA and Chinwig English Strong Ale.  Both were very tasty.  The Chinwig got very tasty when it had a chance to warm up.  Of the Freight Train, I have to say it was the very best IPA I've ever tasted in Hawaii.

It was described as a San Diego style IPA at the pub and I think it lived up to that description.  It was one of those great beers that smells like a freshly opened bag of hops.  My visit to the pub made me really wish there was a Maui Brewing pub on my island.

The pub also let me have a tasting of four beers of my choosing for $6 (they told me it would have been $4 for a tasting of the brewery's four main beers that I already tasted at the brewery tour.)  In regards to my hop experiment, the Nuggets put on a little over six inches while I was away; my stumpy Cascade is still looking stunted, sickly dud.

The Freight Train IPA

The Chinwig English Strong Ale

The four beer tasting