Maui Brewing Company: Keeping It Green in Hawaii
CrushBrew Editorial · Beer · 6 min read
Key Takeaways
Hawaii’s largest brewery — Maui Brewing Co., based in Kihei, was founded in 2005 by Garrett Marrero and Melanie Oxley.
Fiercely local — It builds beers around Hawaiian ingredients like Maui Gold pineapple and toasted coconut, supporting local farms.
Grid-independent — Its Kihei facility runs on a solar microgrid with battery storage and biodiesel backup, on almost entirely renewable energy.
Ocean-friendly cans — An early canning brewer, it uses recyclable PakTech handles made from 96% post-consumer recycled plastic instead of plastic rings.
Signature beers — Coconut Porter, among the first commercial coconut beers, and Mana Wheat, brewed with Maui-grown pineapple; the company also makes spirits, sodas, coffee, and seltzer.
In This Article
What is Maui Brewing Co.?
Maui Brewing Co. is Hawaii’s largest craft brewery, headquartered in Kihei on the island of Maui. Garrett Marrero and his wife Melanie Oxley founded it in 2005, after Marrero, who grew up around the craft beer scenes of San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, kept visiting Hawaii and finding almost no locally made beer to drink.
What began as a small brewpub in Kahana grew into a full production brewery, distillery, and restaurant. From the start, the company has called itself “fiercely local,” a phrase that runs through everything from its ingredients to its hiring to the way it powers the plant.
“We started our company with the concept of making authentic local Hawaiian Craft Beer and have remained ‘fiercely local’ in our principles.”
— Garrett Marrero, Founder & CEO
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How is Maui Brewing Co. sustainable?
Sustainability at Maui Brewing is not a marketing layer; it is built into the plant. Businesses in Hawaii pay some of the highest electricity rates in the country, since the islands import most of their fuel, so going green was both an environmental choice and a hard financial one.
The brewery runs its Kihei facility on a grid-independent microgrid: a roughly 1.2-megawatt rooftop solar array backed by Tesla battery storage and biodiesel generators, which together let it operate almost entirely on renewable energy. It also captures and reuses the carbon dioxide from fermentation and uses solar thermal systems to heat its water, cutting both emissions and propane use.
Microgrid
An on-site power system that generates and stores its own electricity and can run independently of the main utility grid. Maui Brewing’s Kihei microgrid combines a roughly 1.2-megawatt solar array, Tesla battery storage, and biodiesel generators, allowing the brewery to run almost entirely on renewable energy.
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What makes its packaging marine-friendly?
Maui Brewing was one of the first dozen craft brewers in the country to put its beer in cans, starting in 2007, and it was an early adopter of a more ocean-friendly way to carry them. After reading about PakTech handles in a packaging magazine in 2006, Marrero called the company and started using them.
The handles, used on four-packs and six-packs, are made from 96 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. Marrero considers them safer near the water than the old plastic ring carriers: they are bulkier and harder to lose, so they are less likely to blow into the ocean and easier to spot and recycle. They also cover the can tops to keep them clean, and they nest together so cases stack without shifting.
PakTech Handle
A reusable, recyclable plastic carrier that clips onto the tops of canned drinks, made largely from post-consumer recycled plastic. Maui Brewing was an early adopter, choosing PakTech handles over plastic ring carriers as a more ocean-friendly option for cans enjoyed near the water.
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What beers is Maui Brewing known for?
Maui Brewing does not force local ingredients into every beer, but where they fit, the brewery leans into Hawaii’s tropical pantry. Its Coconut Porter, made with hand-toasted coconut in a robust porter, was among the first commercially available coconut beers; the coconut sits naturally alongside the style’s vanilla and chocolate notes while tying it to the islands.
Robust Porter
A full-bodied, dark ale with roasted, chocolate, and coffee-like malt flavors, richer and more assertive than a milder brown porter. Maui Brewing’s Coconut Porter builds on the robust porter style, adding hand-toasted coconut whose flavor complements the beer’s natural vanilla and chocolate notes.
Mana Wheat is brewed with Maui Gold pineapple, a variety grown only on Maui and prized for its low acidity, high sugar, and strong aroma, which suits the light American wheat style. Both beers reflect the brewery’s habit of showcasing local agriculture and supporting Maui’s family farms. Beyond beer, the company has branched into a distillery, sodas, coffee, and hard seltzer, all made at the same Kihei home base.
Frequently Asked Questions About Maui Brewing Co.
🍺 Maui Brewing Co. at a Glance
A quick reference to the brewery, its sustainability, and its signature beers.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Kihei, Maui, Hawaii (main production facility) |
| Founded | 2005, by Garrett Marrero and Melanie Oxley |
| Distinction | Hawaii’s largest craft brewery |
| Ethos | “Fiercely local” — Hawaiian ingredients and local sourcing |
| Energy | Grid-independent microgrid: ~1.2 MW solar, Tesla battery storage, biodiesel backup |
| Packaging | Recyclable PakTech handles (96% post-consumer recycled plastic) |
| Signature beers | Coconut Porter; Mana Wheat (Maui Gold pineapple) |
| Beyond beer | Kupu Spirits distillery, Island Sodas, hard seltzer, coffee |
