Name: Kona Brewing Co Big Wave Golden Ale

Style: Golden Ale

Country: U.S.A.

ABV: 4.4%

Beer description: Kona Brewing Company, located on the island of Hawaii (aka the “Big Island”) is one of the state’s larger breweries. They make a good variety of different styles and are fairly widely available in both Hawaii and the United States.

The colour of Kona’s Big Wave Golden Ale is less golden and more of a straw yellow with a hint of orange. Most golden ales are a sparkling gold colour, while this beer’s colour is more of a pale ale than a golden.

The aroma here is very very mild. With a bit of a hunt the drinker can find the smell of orange and sugar cane. There is also a general oat smell, similar to uncooked oatmeal. There may be a touch of wheat in this beer, and, since everything else is so subtle, it’s coming through. There’s also a crispness about the smell. All of this gives a light and tropical feel to the aroma, but there could have been more.

The taste is also mild, bearing on having nothing. The body of the beer is on the thin side and fairly watery; it feels more like a lager than a golden ale in the body, except for the crispness that one gets from a lager. However, the beer is fairly crisp for an ale. There’s a subtle citrus and barley, with hardly any bitterness to speak of. Some of the oats come through as well.

The taste is left incomplete. It’s all up front with a bit of grains in the middle, but the beer finishes half way through and the drinker is left waiting. The beer needs to complete the middle spectrum at the very least and then have some sort of ending to it.

It’s a refreshing brew, but it becomes unsatisfying because of how light it is. It’s very thin and, to be perfectly frank, a bit on the bland side. It might go well as a Mexican style lager if Kona Brewing decide to tweak the recipe a bit and change up the yeast.

However, this incomplete taste makes the beer exceptionally smooth and it goes down easily and quickly. While this could be nice for some who just want a refreshing drink, for those who want something thoughtful or complete, you’ll find yourself drinking it too quickly as you chase the fulfilment of a well round flavour hit.

Enjoy this beer quickly with friends and don’t think too much on it.

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