Once again time to open a beer provided for my comment. Today, I’m pouring a big beer from Kona Brewing Co.
Kona came to the Chicago market just less than one year ago, and I profiled their president Mattson Davis in this article. This Hawa’ii brewery, started by the same folks behind Kettle brand potato chips, is a member of the Craft Beer Alliance, which contracts its beers for mainland consumption at breweries in Oregon, Washington, or New Hampshire.
Longboard Island Lager: This is Kona’s flagship beer usually sold in 12 oz. bottles, but this past summer it came out in packs of cans, including this attractive 24 oz. can. They sent me a matching “Big Kahuna” glass to pour the whole thing at once. Of course, a big tall, narrow glass like that helps kick up a pretty frothy head. And the glass couldn’t take the whole can, but it did come pretty close. The smell is just a little sweet, and could tip to the sugary side. A golden lager color. Mattson had told one factor that’s hard to replicate in the Mainland brewed Konas is the water profile, which percolates through a different sort of rock strata before coming into the brewpot. My impression is of a soft water pilsener, perhaps. They list the usual German style hops: Mt. Hood, Hallertau, Sterling, and Millennium, but only at a strength of 20 IBUs (the alcohol is a basic 4.6% by volume). But that also seems enough to keep the base malt profile in check. Consider that its primary buyers have been tourists and beachgoers looking for an alternative to Corona, and you can see where this would be a decent refresher.
