Quick Takes: Kona Brewing Co's Longboard Lager

A couple of weekends ago (the same weekend as my jaunt to the Dogfish Head Alehouse), I found myself looking for beer in an essentially barren liquor store in a shady part of Seaside Heights, New Jersey. I was there because we were moving my brother out of an apartment in said shady part of Seaside Heights, and wanted to find something good to accompany an evening of watching DVDs of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and "The Kingdom."

Sadly, I was faced with a shelf filled with what Glenn Gould might call "variations on a theme" - and that theme was macrobrewed American lagers and their watered-down "light" counterparts. I grabbed a sixer of Heineken Light for my brother (the same one who would order a Miller Light at Dogfish Head later that weekend, the cur) and was resigned to some Sam Adams when I spotted an unfamiliar looking sixer. The red packaging bore a new name for my eyes: Kona Brewing Company. The beer was called "Longboard Lager."

This was perfect for the day - I needed something that was drinkable from a bottle (any pint glasses in the apartment were either packed or dirty to the point of wretchedness). I happily grabbed it and was soon cracking open my first bottle. The result? Not bad. Longboard Lager was an American lager, much like the other alternatives, but this was a tad hoppier than your garden-variety macroswill; not hoppy to the point of being an IPA. Resultingly, the taste was a bit bitter - not a "bad" bitterness at all, but more of an emphatic crispness. The color? A pale yellow.

In short, this was a perfect wild-card beer. I was satisfied with Kona's product and would be intrigued to try other types of their beer. In the meanwhile, Longboard Lager would be a welcome change of pace in a cooler full of macrobrews, and I think it would be an excellent counterpoint to a steamy, beach-bound summer day. On this February night, though, it was a great drink for an evening with my kid brother and some "It's Always Sunny" DVD hijinks.