I recently stopped by one of Hawaii’s newest breweries, Pacific Breach Brewing, to check out their operation and learn more about their beers.  The brewery is located in a large warehouse in the Pearl City Industrial Park and can easily be spotted by the huge sign on the front of the building.  I met up with Brian Paisley, the founder and brewmaster at Pacific Breach, who gave me a tour.

Although only in operation for 6 months, they are already expanding and adding new fermentors and bright tanks which will allow them to produce more beer.  They currently are brewing on 2 two barrel systems and doing multiple batches per day, which means their days are long.  Up until a few months ago, Brian was the only employee doing all of the work himself.  Brian came to Hawaii from California while in the military and decided to stay when he got out.  While stationed here he was an avid home brewer and realized that there were not many craft breweries in Hawaii.  After his time in the military was complete he decided to go for it and become a professional brewer.  It took two years to get the project up and running and he recently has grown the team with the additions of Kevin Powell, Nathan Wright and Emile Stanford.

Currently Pacific Breach is producing three beers for market: Hawaiian Pale Ale (HPA), their take on an IPA with orange zest, Green Tea Ginger (GTG), a light ale brewed with green tea and ginger, and Brun, a brown ale brewed with a secret spice blend.  They plan on eventually release up to 9 year round beers as well as feature many seasonal and one-off beers.  I was able to try one of their newer beers, a chocolate stout brewed with local chocolate.  Brian pointed out that they are committed to using as many local ingredients as possible in their beers.

There are also plans to produce mead from locally sourced honey.  Although mead is gaining in popularity elsewhere in the country it is still relatively new here in Hawaii.  They anticipate releasing their first limited edition meads in late April or May.  I sampled a bottle of 2 month old lilikoi mead, which was dry, crisp and full of soft tropical fruit flavors.  There is a lot of potential for mead in Hawaii and I’m excited to see more come to market.

Not long after opening they picked up distribution with Hansens and you can now find their 22oz bottles in places like California Pizza Kitchen, Liquor Collection, SWAM, The Wine Stop, Hibachis, California Rockin Sushi and Real.  The brewery is open to the public and visitors are welcomed to stop by and check out the brewing process.  So stop by and say hi.

Pacific Breach 96-1233 Waihona St. Pearl City Hi, 96782