Brewery

Maui Brewing, a US-based producer of Hawaiian microbrews, plans to build a new brewery to meet the increasing demand for its beers.

Maui Brewing is closing on a new piece of land that will triple the company’s current footprint.

Founder Garrett Marrero told Brew Bound that the new brewery site is around 35,000ft² and could be operational within the next two years.

Marrero said the initial capacity of the site will be 40,000 barrels and will be capable of being scaled to over 100,000.

"We have always had more demand than supply. We want to maintain that, but we are so far behind the demand that we need to open a new brewery," said Marrero.

He expects the project, which is being fueled by existing cash flow and bank loans, to cost between $10-15m.

The new facility will enable the company to explore more line extensions such as the recently released La Perouse White.

"We were planning to only release 200 barrels but quickly realized we needed more," Marrero added.

Maui Brewing will produce only 1500 barrels of limited release beer this year, which represents less than 7% of its expected volume.

The company’s production volume in 2011 rose 61% to 18,000 barrels, compared to 11,000 barrels in 2010.

Maui Brewing was started in 2005 with a capacity of 400 barrels of beer and after seven years it became the only regional craft brewery in Hawaii brewing with a capacity of over 15,000 barrels of beer per year.

The company entered three markets including Arizona, Nevada and Texas in 2011 and is currently being distributed in 11 states across the US.

Maui Brewing plans to release Sobrehumano Palena ‘Ole (6% ABV), Liquid Breadfruit (7.5% ABV) and Aloha B’Ak’Tun (8.2% ABV) in 2012.

Image: The project, which Marrero estimates will cost between $10-15m, is being fueled by existing cash flow and bank loans. Photo: Pixomar