Sadly, I did not take this picture

I love my job! Bob, a colleague of mine, recently went to Hawaii for a relaxation holiday. I was happy for him. Upon his return we went for lunch to talk about work and other assorted things and he presented me with a sampler six pack from Maui Brewing as a gift from his trip. I had neither asked for nor expected such a wonderful present. Good friends and a reputation for loving beer can get you a long way.

As he presented the beer, he informed me that he really enjoyed one of them, found one too bitter and didn’t get a chance to try the third. But he wanted to hear my opinion. So here it is.

There were two cans each of three different beer (Maui Brewing believes strongly in the value of cans). I have casually worked my way through each of them. And (spoiler alert!) all proved to me this is a world-class brewery.

The first beer was the Bikini Lager, clearly their mainstream beer. However, it presented way better than expected. The aroma has a sweet, bready and honey malt sweetness, no real hops and an overall clean impression. In the flavour honey dominates; it is a bit bigger in body than expected. The beer finishes quite sweet, which is almost off-putting. However on the whole this is a solid effort at a North American Premium Lager. If I was sitting on a beach, I wouldn’t complain about this beer in the least.

The second one I tried was CoCoNut PorTeR, a robust porter with coconut added. (Onbeer reader Ernie had earlier pointed this beer out in a comment the first time I wrote about Hawaiian beer).It pours an opaque, burnt dark brown that verges on black. I detect dark chocolate, cocoa, burnt sugar and a touch of roast, toast and fruit. Upfront the beer offers a sweetness of dark chocolate, cocoa, burnt caramel and dark fruit. Underneath there is some toffee and rich sweetness. However, the sharp burnt roast is the dominant characteristic. The finish reminds me of baker’s chocolate and is quite dark and bitter – more roast then some stouts I have tasted. I don’t get any coconut, although it may add to the toasty character of the beer. This is a big, bold beer. Not really what I would associate with a sunny beach, but maybe it is designed for rainy days (does it ever rain in Maui?).

The final beer is their Big Swell IPA, a classic American-style IPA. I find the colour a bit light for the style (it was lighter in my glass than the photo above) – medium gold with decent white head that lays down a light blanket. It offers a soft rounded aroma of citrus and grassy hops, a bit of crystal malt in the background as well as some lemon and fruitiness. The sip presents me with a soft grainy malt upfront transitioning to a fruity, grassy hop bitterness at the back. The hops are dominant but not overpowering. The beer is actually more balanced than I was expecting. Many American IPAs can lean too heavily toward the hops, but this one maintains enough honey and malt smoothness to prevent it from being one dimensional.

All three beer are great craft creations. My friend Bob clearly stumbled across a hidden gem of a brewery. And am I ever glad he did.