6th Annual Maui Brewer’s Festival Offers More Than Beer

By Vanessa Wolf

This Saturday, May 17, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s 6th Annual Maui Brewers Festival is being held in the A&B Amphitheater and Yokouchi Pavilion.

Billed as a “jam-packed value for foodies,” the event doubles as a fundraiser for The MACC’s arts and community programs.

This year, the festival will feature (brace yourselves and your livers) two craft brews each from:

• Anchor Brewing
• Avery Brewing Co.
• Bear Republic Brewing Company
• Big Island Brewhaus
• Boston Beer Company
• The Bruery
• Caldera Brewing Company
• Coronado Brewing Co.
• Deschutes Brewery
• Great Divide Brewing Co.
• Headlands Brewing Company
• Humboldt Brewing
• Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
• Kona Brewing Company
• The Lost Abbey
• Lost Coast Brewery
• Maui Brewing Co.
• Modern Times Beer
• Mother Earth Brew Co.
• Ninkasi Brewing
• OskarBlues
• Pizza Port Brewing Company
• Rogue
• Sierra Nevada
• St. Archer Brewing Co.
• Smog City Brewing
• Stone Brewing Co.
• Uncommon Brewers
• Widmer Brothers Brewing.

Photo courtesy Aubrey Hord.

Not only is it a long list, but the  MACC notes that the participating breweries are selected for their commitment to making craft beer with attention to quality, flavor, and locally-sourced ingredients.

“But I thought the title of this story promised more than just beer?”

Indeed, it does.

So for those of you less hops-inclined, plan to enjoy a variety of island-style dishes from local restaurants, caterers and food trucks such as:

• AK’s Café
• Aloha Events Catering
• Cary & Eddie’s Hideaway
• Donut Dynamite
• Flatbread Company
• Fleetwood’s on Front Street
• Kalama’s Local Grinds
• Maui Brewing Co.
• Maui Catering Co.
• Brigit & Bernard’s Garden Café
• Maui Tacos
• MiGRANT
• Mulligan’s on the Blue
• Outrigger Pizza Company
• Pascual’s Café & Catering
• Sansei
• Smoke & Spice
• Star Anise Indian Cuisine
• Sumo Dogs
• Teddy’s Bigger Burger
• The Daily Grindz
• Three’s Bar & Grill
• Whole Foods Market

Food offerings from a previous Maui Brewer’s Festival. Photo courtesy Aubrey Hord.

The food offerings include Korean braised short rib sliders, corned beef and cabbage, Irish beef stew, mahi mahi tacos, Jamaican jerk chicken sliders, pork or veggie lumpia and ahi poke.

Meanwhile, on stage, the entertainment line-up includes The Throwdowns, LiA LiVE & Hi ground, and Jamie Gallo with Simply Twisted.

If you’ve never met a festival tee shirt you didn’t like, you might be happy to learn that this year’s has been made especially by Crazy Shirts and will be available for purchase and as a prize giveaway.

The festival is limited to those 21 years of age and older and is held from 4 to 7 p.m.

The advance purchase general admission price is $60 per person, which includes eight 4-ounce pours of beer, a commemorative beer glass, food and event parking.

On the day of the festival, the general admission ticket price increases to $70.

Please note a (presumably cheaper) “designated driver” ticket can be purchased upon request.