Today was a big day for
Hawai'i Nui Brewing Company. This morning, we announced our merger with
Mehana Brewing Company in
Hilo, Hi. Check out the story in the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin right
here. Needless to say, everyone here is pretty excited. Today also marked the first time we filled our new
Hawai'i Nui kegs. I had the honor of filling the first 64 half-barrels. I have to say, it felt good to get in the groove and grind out a good-sized day of kegging. Learning the system here is an ongoing process, but it was nice to do something I had done hundreds of times in the past. I only needed about 3 minutes of instructions for the kegging system here. So, I cranked those out and did some yeast management on the next tank to be filtered tomorrow. My next week is looking busy-- We will filter tomorrow, keg on Monday, send out more than 120 kegs on Tuesday, off on Wednesday and then brew 16-hour days
on Thursday and Friday. If the weather is good, I'm all about the beach on Wednesday. I might take the ride into
Hanalei, but
Kalapaki Beach (about a 2 minute drive) is pretty nice. Who knows? Other than work, I hit the YMCA this morning and worked out and pretty much spent the rest of the day at work. My co-worker Curtis is a really great guy. He's been great at providing information on the island as well as Hawaiian history and various words. I try to learn a new word or phrase each day and then tell him what I've learned and see if I'm saying it right. Today, we talked about the word "
Haole (pronounced How-Lee)." For those of you who've been to
Hawai'i, you may very well have been called a
Haole.
Like most, I thought it simply meant "White person or foreigner." Well, there's more to it. Curtis told me today that
Haole, in traditional Hawaiian, actually translates to "Without Breath." To Hawaiian people, this means you have no heart or soul. So, in many cases, it's a very serious insult. From what I've learned,
Hawai'i and Hawaiian culture is really all about the Aloha spirit. Aloha means Love. There are actually no
derogatory words in the Hawaiian language. If someone says "
Mahalo (Thank You)," the proper response is "Aloha." In short, the exchange says, "Thank you (
mahalo) " and in response "Aloha (I love you.) " Aloha also means Hello and Good Bye. I am really trying to learn the language. Curtis has been great to me and is always willing to explain Hawaiian history and culture to me. If you want to see who Curtis is, click
here . I talked to Jess for awhile tonight, she and Berkley had a nice day of hiking. I really miss them and can't wait until they're here. More tomorrow. Aloha.
Today was a big day for Hawai'i Nui Brewing Company. This morning, we announced our merger with Mehana Brewing Company in Hilo, Hi. Check out the story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin right here. Needless to say, everyone here is pretty excited. Today also marked the first time we filled our new Hawai'i Nui kegs. I had the honor of filling the first 64 half-barrels. I have to say, it felt good to get in the groove and grind out a good-sized day of kegging. Learning the system here is an ongoing process, but it was nice to do something I had done hundreds of times in the past. I only needed about 3 minutes of instructions for the kegging system here. So, I cranked those out and did some yeast management on the next tank to be filtered tomorrow. My next week is looking busy-- We will filter tomorrow, keg on Monday, send out more than 120 kegs on Tuesday, off on Wednesday and then brew 16-hour days 
on Thursday and Friday. If the weather is good, I'm all about the beach on Wednesday. I might take the ride into Hanalei, but Kalapaki Beach (about a 2 minute drive) is pretty nice. Who knows? Other than work, I hit the YMCA this morning and worked out and pretty much spent the rest of the day at work. My co-worker Curtis is a really great guy. He's been great at providing information on the island as well as Hawaiian history and various words. I try to learn a new word or phrase each day and then tell him what I've learned and see if I'm saying it right. Today, we talked about the word "Haole (pronounced How-Lee)." For those of you who've been to Hawai'i, you may very well have been called a Haole.
Like most, I thought it simply meant "White person or foreigner." Well, there's more to it. Curtis told me today that Haole, in traditional Hawaiian, actually translates to "Without Breath." To Hawaiian people, this means you have no heart or soul. So, in many cases, it's a very serious insult. From what I've learned, Hawai'i and Hawaiian culture is really all about the Aloha spirit. Aloha means Love. There are actually no derogatory words in the Hawaiian language. If someone says "Mahalo (Thank You)," the proper response is "Aloha." In short, the exchange says, "Thank you (mahalo) " and in response "Aloha (I love you.) " Aloha also means Hello and Good Bye. I am really trying to learn the language. Curtis has been great to me and is always willing to explain Hawaiian history and culture to me. If you want to see who Curtis is, click here . I talked to Jess for awhile tonight, she and Berkley had a nice day of hiking. I really miss them and can't wait until they're here. More tomorrow. Aloha. 
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