Brewery – Maui Brewing Company
Beer – Pog
Style – Fruited IPA
ABV – 7.1%
IBUs – 58

IPA with passion fruit, orange, and guava added.

The name for Maui’s Pog IPA doesn’t come from the game that (if you’re my age) you played as a kid – though the game came from the caps that covered the popular Hawaiian drink that also gave rise to the beer’s name.

Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava combine their fruity forces with Horizon, Enigma, and El Dorado hops to give this beer is fruity, tropical punch that makes it what it is.  The three fruit flavors were the same ones that Hawaiian Mary Soon used while working at the Haleakala Dairy when she invented the drink back in 1971.

This beer came about much later than that (debuting in cans in 2016) but the wonderful piece of the Hawaiian Islands that it tastes like is timeless.

The brewery goes through a lot of trouble to source the three fresh fruits to make this beer.  The Guava alone has such a short shelf life that the brewing schedule for the beer is often determined by the farm’s availability of the harvest.

Is it worth it?  Yeah… I’d say so.

My Thoughts On Maui Pog

This beer is a hazy orange color with a thick, white, foamy head on it.

Aromas are like fruit punch, with the passionfruit coming in front and center for me.  Behind the fruit is a nice earthy grassiness that I find extremely enjoyable, and that pairs wonderfully with the tropical effervescence.

The taste rolls around between a sharp bitter hop bite and a blast of fruity sweetness to keep it tamed down.  I’m not sure that refreshing even begins to cover the qualities that this beer possesses.  It’s a flavor that you have to taste for yourself!