Dozens of Colorado breweries will raise money for Maui fire relief with charity beer

By Steve Graham

Sean Bambei has been visiting Maui since the 1990s with his family. When wildfires ravaged the island, he felt personally connected.

“We have some friends who lost everything and decided we wanted to help,” he said.

Bambei recently opened Superior’s first brewery, Bambei Brewing, which is joining dozens of other breweries in helping Lahaina fire victims by brewing a charity beer.

Maui Brewing Co. launched the Kokua Project, which “will be one beer, brewed by many, to support our Maui ‘Ohana who have been affected by this tragedy,” according to the project website.

At least 36 breweries have committed to brewing the Kokua session IPA, and donating proceeds to the Global Empowerment Mission, a disaster relief nonprofit that has worked in 52 countries and all 50 states.

Barrels and Bottles Brewery in Golden has already raised and donated $4,000 to the Maui Strong Foundation. Co-owner Abby George said she visited Hawaii many times during her military career, and still values Hawaiian culture.

“Not only do we try to inject the Aloha spirit in our everyday lives, our food offerings at our Camp George West location are heavily inspired by Hawaiian culture as well,” she said.

Barrels and Bottles will brew the Kokua beer on Sept 20, and release it on Oct 14 at a party with live music and food.

Black Forest Brewing Company, which has two locations in the Colorado Springs area, is another Kokua brewery. Donovan Routsis is the head brewer and owner at Black Forest, and he also feels personally connected to the cause.

“Growing up in Seattle, I was able to get to Hawaii a few times, including Lahaina,” Routsis said. “And while the tragedy is in people's minds now, it's important we provide mechanisms to keep the support enduring as it's going to take time and resources to recover. Brewery patrons are among the most caring and generous people, which is one of the reasons they continued to support so many breweries during covid and help so many of us survive.”

Brewers said they are starting to brew Kokua, and many will have the beer on tap by late September. Watch their websites and social media for release dates and related fundraising events.

For example, Horse & Dragon Brewing Co. in Fort Collins will host a Hawaii-inspired beer dinner on Oct. 15, with 100 percent of ticket sales going to the relief fund. Tickets will be on sale tomorrow. The H&D head brewer had his first brewing job at Maui Brewing Co.

Jennifer Perez of Cheluna Brewing in Aurora said she knows one of the Maui Brewing owners personally, and was eager to participate.

“Our hearts go out to the people of Maui and the fire victims, and we look for ways to help when we can (our tagline is ‘focus on the good’), so when we received an email about Kokua we signed on immediately,” she said.

Other participating Colorado breweries include:

AC Golden Brewing Company

Avery Brewing

Bent Barley Brewing Company

Bristol Brewing Co

Carbondale Beer Works

Dolores River Brewery

Down Range Brewery

Elevation Beer Co

Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company

Goldspot Brewing

Joyride Brewing Company