Welcome Back, Koholā! A Brewery Destroyed in Last Year’s Fire Reopens
Now in South Maui’s Wailea, Koholā is back in business as a taproom with a new restaurant.
Photo: Alexander Gates
Less than a year after the Maui wildfires destroyed its production facility and taproom, Lahaina’s Koholā Brewery has fully reopened for business at a new site in Wailea. The July 21st opening was a huge milestone, making the homegrown operation one of the first to rise from Lahaina’s ashes. That’s not all: For the first time, Koholā has added a restaurant to its taproom, and it’s headed by Isaac Bancaco.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino
“When the opportunity came up, I jumped,” says Bancaco, a Maui native who was chef at Pacific’o, also destroyed in the fire. Bancaco was already a fan of Koholā beers and hung out at the old brewery on his days off. He gives huge credit for Koholā’s survival to owner Mary Anderson. “They wanted to do food and beer in Wailea. To start from scratch and not only get the financial piece together, but to get the emotional and mental pieces together to bounce back and rebuild, it’s pretty tough, you know? I’m pretty proud of that.”
Photo: Alexander Gates
Koholā’s beers, in danger of disappearing from store shelves and bars around the state after the fire, were flowing again within weeks, thanks to a historic partnership with Kona Brewing Hawai‘i, which began brewing Koholā’s recipes in its own tanks in Kailua-Kona. That arrangement continues, and the beers now include Laulima Session IPA, created at a special collaboration brew day in Kailua-Kona. This light and refreshing lower-alcohol beer, at 5.3% ABV, still has a noticeable bitterness from the hops and a unique purplish tint from locally sourced dragon fruit. Laulima debuted last week at a reopening party hosted by Koholā Brewery that I was lucky enough to attend. On a hot Maui afternoon, it was a delicious way to celebrate with other beer professionals and fans.
SEE ALSO: Koholā Brewery Burned Down. So Kona Brewing Is Making Beer for Them
Photo: Alexander Gates
You can get a flight of all five of Koholā’s current core beers at the taproom for $20; elsewhere around Hawai‘i, look for them in cans and on tap. They are Talk Story Pale Ale, Lōkahi Pilsner, Lahaina Haze, WaterMan IPA and Red Sand Amber. All are bright, clean and refreshing, perfect for a sunny day with sea breezes. The taproom also serves non-alcoholic drinks, including kombucha, cold brew coffee, soda, juice and tea, as well as beer cocktails and tropical hard alcohol-based cocktails.
Photo: Alexander Gates
As for the new food menu, you’ll find everything from shareable pūpū and salads to heartier fare: buttermilk fried chicken with white gravy, pohole fern salad with butter lettuce and local tomatoes, charred broccoli salad with pickled onions and anchovy bagna cauda, handmade musubi, beef sliders with spicy pickle relish, fries with signature dipping sauce and more. Of note is a dragon fruit and pineapple salad with fresh mint leaves, which pairs with the Laulima Sessions IPA.
Photo: Alexander Gates
Laulima, by the way, is currently available on draft only at Koholā Brewery and Kona Brewing Hawai‘i in Kailua-Kona on Big Island and Hawai‘i Kai on O‘ahu—look for the distinctive hand-carved koa wood tap handles by Dan Raike. Koholā is planning a new production brewery, but in the meantime, you can support them by buying their beer in cans at grocery and alcohol stores statewide, including Foodland and Safeway.
The Wailea taproom and restaurant’s opening just shy of one year since the fires makes the renewal a bittersweet event, but one that looks toward a stronger future.
Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., 110 Wailea Ike Dr., (808) 868-0100, koholabrewery.com, @koholabrewery
