Longboard Island lager

https://konabrewingco.com

Brewed by Kona Brewing Company (Craft Brew Alliance – AB InBev) 
Style: Pale Lager
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States

Kona Brewing Company is a brewery in Kailua-Kona, a town on the west coast of Hawaii Island (the Big Island!).

Founded in 1994 by Cameron Healy and his son Spoon Khalsa. Yes his name is Spoon! The pair had a vision to reflect the spirit, culture, and beauty of Hawaii in a collection of locally produced island craft beers. This extends to the way the beers are brewed, harnessing solar energy to power their brewery and brew pubs, use recycled water, and even leftover grains to bake into the pizza crust for their Kailua-Kona bar and restaurant. They also love giving back to the community by supporting local organizations that display an appreciation to the Hawaiian culture and history.

From the 1st of October, 2010, it has been owned by Craft Brew Alliance, a larger brewing company from Portland, Oregon, which itself has been purchased by an even bigger fish, multinational giant, AB InBev!

They mostly produce IPAs, Wheat Ales and Seasonal brews. Kona’s beers are available in most places in the United States, and on occasion you might be lucky to find it further afield. Like myself, picking it up in small town Switzerland in the local supermarket! 

Review: 355ml bottle of Longboard Island lager: 4.6% vol.

Available all year round this quintessential beach beer comes in cans and bottles, and on draft in Hawaii.

Longboard is the name given to a very long surf board ubiquitous on the waves this side of the world! As they say on their site……the Longboard Island Lager was crafted as a tribute to those who continue to practice the tradition of longboard surfing. 

Cool logo on the bottle, of surfers on low tide, the problem with this is that it doesn’t look like a beer at all, more like something that advertises a fizzy pop. Bottle top is cool though as it has a pic of a lizard, the emblem of the company. 

On pour I get a standard looking lager, clear golden colour with a nice frothy white head, which diminishes fast enough. Typical lager look. 

The smell is very light, of grains and sweet malt, it is ok but very faint and weak……..

Nice crispy mouthfuls initially on the taste, a good start and a refreshing intro to this beer.  Tastes like a regular lager and does the business for sure, smooth and easy to drink. 

But was a little disappointed as the price was a bit high compared to the many decent supermarket discount beers that can taste about the same or even better…….

Hops are on the very low level and any flavours are barely noticeable in the taste, the malts do make an appearance as you would expect, and it is a clean beer but is far too thin, a bit tasteless to be honest. I can’t imagine it would even taste any better if I was on a beach in Hawaii as the sun shines down on me head. 

A simple light lager, ok to drink but nothing extraordinary in an otherwise very crowded market…….something my mother would like to sip at I think! Not terrible just disappointing…….

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Brooklyn Brewery

www.brooklynbrewery.com

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: IPA
Brooklyn, New York, United States.

In 1988 Brooklyn, New York City, Brooklyn Brewery was set up by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. Hindy was a Correspondent for the Associated Press and had spent over 5 years covering wars, and what have you, out there in the big scary world of the Middle East. In his down time he liked to partake in social events where home brews were a flowing, as its quite tricky to get alcohol in some of these places. On his return he started to try his hand at home brewing for himself, picking up on some of the skills he had learned on his travels. He collared his downstairs neighbour, Tom Potter, who was a banker at the time, and between the two of them they established the Brooklyn Brewery. 

Originally all their beer was brewed by contract by Matt Brewing Company, it was here that they first developed their famous Brooklyn lager. Other beer types were developed in time, a Weisse to an exciting Black Chocolate Stout to a more standard East IPA.

The pair started their own distribution company and personally transported and marketed their beer to bars and retailers around New York City. All their hard work paid off as the beer was proving to be extremely popular in the Big City’s bar scene. Something new and totally different to the generic rubbish people were pouring down their throats at that time in the early 1980’s.  

In 1996, they acquired a former factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and converted it into a functional brewery. A $6.5 million expansion of the brewery in 2009 allowed them to remain in their “spiritual home” of brewing. The original brewing hobby that turned into a brewery that is known the world over to beer buffs, is still today in the hands of its original owners and proudly independent. 

Their trademark brew is their Brooklyn Lager, an award winning brew that is loved the world over. But the brewery also churns out a whole range of other beers, from all sorts of the more traditional types of ales to more fruitier versions (Pumpkin ale anyone?), to stouts, wheat beers,  and pilsners, selling to thirsty punters all over the globe, from Scandinavia (in partnership with Carlsberg), to the Far East and Australasia, and to mainland Europe and the UK.

The brewery are at the forefront of culture, sponsoring festivals, concerts, food tours and more. They also offer beer education courses in The Art and Science of Brewing with the Culinary Institute of America. Now that’s a course I could get into, a full curriculum on beer which includes the science and practicalities behind brewing and the business and social aspects to it. Beers are produced as part of the course. 

If that wasn’t enough learning for you, the founding duo have released a best selling book, “Beer School: Bottling Success At The Brooklyn Brewery” published by John Wiley & Sons” in 2005. The book is both a guide to entrepreneurship and beer brewing as well as a memoir of the authors’ time together while building the Brooklyn Brewery. 

In 2016, Japanese brewing giant, Kirin, acquired a 24.5% stake in the company. 

I have previously tried their Brooklyn Lager, the award winning beer, which is the Brewery’s flagship label, and found it quite nice, a well balanced beer that hit the spot. 

Review: 355ml bottle of Brooklyn Brewery East India Pale Ale: 6.9% vol.

Bottle, can, or, if you are lucky enough, draft. 

On pour it looks fantastic, a good sized frothy head, some nice carbonation and a lovely dark golden colour, very appetizing, game on! Very good lacing. 

Get a typical IPA aroma, nice and lovely on the nose, fresh.

Has a lagery smell, malty and citrus, also pine and floral notes, and a hint of spice, a bit of everything really, but it works.

Onto the taste, nice and crispy on the tongue, good start, hoppy enough but on the light level.

A very relaxing beer to down, easy to drink and easy to enjoy. Nice creamy tastes, caramel also noted. 

Not extraordinary but does the business and I think that’s the whole point of this brew, an IPA for the everyman drinker to enjoy as well as the craft beer nerd.  

Overall I like it, its nice, clean and well balanced, very drinkable, and has a little bite to it which I always like, of course! A 6.9% ABV. that is well hidden!

Recommended and I will be buying again. I knew Brooklyn Brewery wouldn’t let me down…….

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