craft beer or with Hawaii?’. We really do like to shine the light on the really cool things that are happening in Hawaii in both the food and beverage scenes.” Their restaurants also play a role as a yardstick for measuring the popularity and viability of their brews. Their original pub in Lahaina, Maui is still a going concern; they have recently opened a new restaurant inWaikiki, Oahu. Their plans to open two further locations, a second one on Maui at the brewery and another on Oahu, are in full swing. Marrero explains that they get just as psyched over opening restaurants as they do with producing their beverages for distribution. “We’re excited to grow both on the beverage production side, but also on the restaurant and food side as well. It’s nice to partner the beer with a service capability. As fans of craft beer, we want to have the opportunity to talk to them directly. Having the restaurants allows us to do just that.” “We’ve really put Hawaii on the map when it comes to craft beer.” So which came first? There is a popular trend amongst craft brewers and distillers to cross-pollinate and open restaurants that feature their products. Just as common, it seems, are the pubs that throw some tanks in the basement and start brewing their own concoctions to sell up in their restaurants. But Marrero states without hesitation that his goal has always been to brew good, unique beer. “Yeah, we wanted to brew beer. In Hawaii at the time, the term ‘craft beer’ didn’t even exist until we started using it. Back then there was ‘big beer’, ‘micro beer’ and ‘local beer.’. And the local beer was being brewed in the mainland. So it was that flaw that we sought to expose and create an authen- tic local brand.” Realizing their strengths and partnering in areas where experience may be lacking was important for the company to move into the direct-serving industry. “By default, because of our success, the restaurants made sense for us. We have some great partners that operate our restaurants. We’re really proud of our entire team, both on the restaurant and the brewing sides.” For Maui Brewing Company, success means having the con- fidence in their unique beers to share a sense of community with other producers. They are anything but insular when it comes to their customer experience. “We usually have a few guest beers on tap in our restaurant. Frankly, they don’t move as quickly, typically, because visitors and resi- dents alike, when they have an opportunity to drink a cold, new local beer, that’s usually where they gravitate. Espe- cially visitors, when they’re coming from, say Colorado or California, they’ll try beers that they can’t get back home.” And Marrero will proudly stack his beer up alongside some of the better- known mainland beers. In fact, he encourages visitors to taste-test the difference. “When we have those guest beers on tap, it becomes a symbol of quality for us because they may know that beer really well from back home. Then when they taste it up
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