One of Hawaii’s craft beer breweries has filed for bankruptcy and is expected to wind up with new ownership under a plan to continue operations that encountered financial trouble amid expanding production.

Hawaii Nui Brewing LLC, a Hilo-based company that produces Mehana and Hawaii Nui beer brands, filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday to restructure its debts.

The company estimated the value of its assets between $100,000 and $500,000, and debts between $1 million and $10 million.

Andy Baker, Hawaii Nui’s president, said double-digit distribution growth over the past six months created difficulty and extra expenses for the company to obtain bottles and packaging, which led to financial shortfalls.

“It created a bit of a hole for us,” he said. “The company needs to reorganize so that we can bring some new capital into the company to sustain the growth. The brands have been growing very well in the market.”

A lender has committed to provide Hawaii Nui money to keep the business running without interruption, and aims to acquire ownership of the brewery, according to Baker.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge will oversee a process that could attract competing bids and reorganization plans for Hawaii Nui under bankruptcy law.

The brewery, with about a dozen employees, produces about 5,200 barrels, or about 71,650 cases, of beer annually and has sales of about $1 million.

The beer — about a dozen different brews — is sold in the state, except for one brew distributed to Japan.

Hawaii Nui is one of the few Hawaii brewing companies that bottles or cans its beer locally — an issue that made its way to the Legislature this year over complaints that breweries brew and bottle much of their beer on the mainland but still market their beer as being from Hawaii because they are based here and produce draft beer locally.

House Bill 1126 attempted to require beers that aren’t produced in Hawaii to indicate so if their labels suggest that they are produced in Hawaii. But the bill was deferred by the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee.

Baker said Hawaii Nui intends to continue 100 percent local production to support other local businesses and represent Hawaii. “We are proud to be 100 percent local production,” he said.

Hawaii Nui was founded in 2007 by Baker, Keith Kinsey and Nina Lytton to acquire Keoki Brewing Co., a Kauai brewery established in 1998.

In 2009, Hawaii Nui acquired Mehana Brewing Co., a Hilo beer producer established in 1995, and merged operations that involved shifting Keoki’s bottling from California to Hilo, where Mehana was produced, and re-branding Keoki beer under the Hawaii Nui name.

Kinsey, former director of finance for Kona Brewing Co., resigned as president of Hawaii Nui last year.