Big Wave Golden Ale | Kona Brewing Co.
Brewed by:
Kona Brewing Co.
Hawaii, United States
konabrewingco.com
Style: American Blonde Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 4.40%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
Big Wave is light golden ale with a subtle fruitiness and delicate hop aroma. A smooth, easy drinking refreshing ale. The lightly roasted honey malt contributes to the golden hue of this beer and also gives a slight sweetness that is balanced out by our special blend of hops.
20 IBU
Added by Sixpoint on 03-19-2005
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 1,901 | Reviews: 331
3.86/5 rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5
3.4/5 rDev -5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A very rich golden color. Looks like a glass of honey. Nice white head that disappeared quickly. Tastes sweet, but not too fruity. Easy to drink. Very enjoyable.
166 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A very rich golden color. Looks like a glass of honey. Nice white head that disappeared quickly. Tastes sweet, but not too fruity. Easy to drink. Very enjoyable.
166 characters
3.39/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.34/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Got it from a friend. Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Clear yellow color with decent white head and lacing. Pleasant sweet grassy smell. Clean crisp taste. Pretty good beer.
182 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Got it from a friend. Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Clear yellow color with decent white head and lacing. Pleasant sweet grassy smell. Clean crisp taste. Pretty good beer.
182 characters
2.5/5 rDev -30.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
3.05/5 rDev -14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.88/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
Serving: Can: dated July 24, 2017
A: Clear medium golden color, medium-high carbonation. Medium+ head. Head retention & some lacing in a chilled glass.
S: Fruity hop aroma.
T: The Very light maltiness brings a tasty hop flavor combination to the forefront of tropical fruit (peaches) with some citrus. Very clean, dry lager like with a watery aftertaste. Very refreshing and sessionable lite ale.
O: Great hop flavor but too overpriced for a 4.4 abv lite ale. If priced lower I would have this beer stacked high in my Keezer.
530 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
Serving: Can: dated July 24, 2017
A: Clear medium golden color, medium-high carbonation. Medium+ head. Head retention & some lacing in a chilled glass.
S: Fruity hop aroma.
T: The Very light maltiness brings a tasty hop flavor combination to the forefront of tropical fruit (peaches) with some citrus. Very clean, dry lager like with a watery aftertaste. Very refreshing and sessionable lite ale.
O: Great hop flavor but too overpriced for a 4.4 abv lite ale. If priced lower I would have this beer stacked high in my Keezer.
530 characters
3.75/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.21/5 rDev -10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
3.65/5 rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Crisp, light, citrusy beer. Perfect by the beach.
49 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Crisp, light, citrusy beer. Perfect by the beach.
49 characters
2.94/5 rDev -17.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
3.48/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
4.25/5 rDev +18.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.6/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.82/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
355 mL bottle from a six-pack purchased at The Beer Store; best before May 30 2018 and served well chilled. Never thought I'd see a Hawaiian beer being sold here in Ontario, but I suppose the times are a-changin'. And yes, it was almost certainly brewed in New Hampshire, anyhow.
Pours clear pale golden-yellow in hue, with its initial half-finger of loose, soapy white head quickly receding down to a collar of creamy-looking foam; an uninterrupted curtain of lacing is laid down during this process. Pineapple, passion fruit and apricots on the nose, along with citrusy orange peel and lime zest, all of it underlain with crackery, bready pale malt sweetness.
A fine blonde ale, though I'll add that the flavour profile is somewhat less compelling than the enticing aroma might've first hinted. Clean cereal grains, crackery pale barley malts and light honeyed sweetness are immediately apparent, with the Galaxy and Citra hops soon jumping in, providing characteristic hints of stone fruit, pineapple, orange and passion fruit. The hop bitterness is very much minimized throughout, with only a touch of pithiness towards the finish - and even this is thereafter overcome by the pale malts and residual fruitiness of the hops. Off-dry aftertaste. Light in body, with middling carbonation that softens over time, giving this brew a smooth mouthfeel and pleasant texture. Nothing to write home about, but a properly-constructed blonde ale nonetheless.
Final Grade: 3.82, a B+. Kona's Big Wave Golden Ale is a respectable mainline offering, albeit a fairly conventional one - the hops are used rather conservatively, but in the end, that only makes it more approachable (to non-beer geeks) and more sessionable (to all beer drinkers). This is the sort of beer that is worth keeping in the back of the fridge - specifically so that you have something on hand to offer to visitors who would otherwise be inclined to reach for a macro. As you'd expect for a beer imported into Canada from the States, the premium price point does sting a bit... but this is still a good blonde ale that is well worth a spin.
2,106 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
355 mL bottle from a six-pack purchased at The Beer Store; best before May 30 2018 and served well chilled. Never thought I'd see a Hawaiian beer being sold here in Ontario, but I suppose the times are a-changin'. And yes, it was almost certainly brewed in New Hampshire, anyhow.
Pours clear pale golden-yellow in hue, with its initial half-finger of loose, soapy white head quickly receding down to a collar of creamy-looking foam; an uninterrupted curtain of lacing is laid down during this process. Pineapple, passion fruit and apricots on the nose, along with citrusy orange peel and lime zest, all of it underlain with crackery, bready pale malt sweetness.
A fine blonde ale, though I'll add that the flavour profile is somewhat less compelling than the enticing aroma might've first hinted. Clean cereal grains, crackery pale barley malts and light honeyed sweetness are immediately apparent, with the Galaxy and Citra hops soon jumping in, providing characteristic hints of stone fruit, pineapple, orange and passion fruit. The hop bitterness is very much minimized throughout, with only a touch of pithiness towards the finish - and even this is thereafter overcome by the pale malts and residual fruitiness of the hops. Off-dry aftertaste. Light in body, with middling carbonation that softens over time, giving this brew a smooth mouthfeel and pleasant texture. Nothing to write home about, but a properly-constructed blonde ale nonetheless.
Final Grade: 3.82, a B+. Kona's Big Wave Golden Ale is a respectable mainline offering, albeit a fairly conventional one - the hops are used rather conservatively, but in the end, that only makes it more approachable (to non-beer geeks) and more sessionable (to all beer drinkers). This is the sort of beer that is worth keeping in the back of the fridge - specifically so that you have something on hand to offer to visitors who would otherwise be inclined to reach for a macro. As you'd expect for a beer imported into Canada from the States, the premium price point does sting a bit... but this is still a good blonde ale that is well worth a spin.
2,106 characters
4.25/5 rDev +18.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.41/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
A very smooth refreshing beer for those hot and humid days. Living in Hawaii this is a daily occurrence.
Look is a nice golden yellow/brown
Smell is sweet, with hints of tropical fruit
Taste is refreshing
Is is available at every store in Hawaii, bit for those mainlanders who want a bit of a taste of Hawaii while it's hot at home, this isn't a bad beer to reach for.
369 characters
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
A very smooth refreshing beer for those hot and humid days. Living in Hawaii this is a daily occurrence.
Look is a nice golden yellow/brown
Smell is sweet, with hints of tropical fruit
Taste is refreshing
Is is available at every store in Hawaii, bit for those mainlanders who want a bit of a taste of Hawaii while it's hot at home, this isn't a bad beer to reach for.
369 characters
3.66/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
4.32/5 rDev +20.7%
look: 2 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
The bottle and label looks plain, but the beer taste delicious. Reminds me of a rebel IPAA.
91 characters
look: 2 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
The bottle and label looks plain, but the beer taste delicious. Reminds me of a rebel IPAA.
91 characters
4.29/5 rDev +19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Very easy drinking beer. Very light in the glass, but it didn't get a nice, foamy head. Flavor has a bit of a tang that comes across as grapefruit at first, but as you drink it seems generally tropical. It's not heavy on the smell and the feel is smooth and light in the mouth.
277 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Very easy drinking beer. Very light in the glass, but it didn't get a nice, foamy head. Flavor has a bit of a tang that comes across as grapefruit at first, but as you drink it seems generally tropical. It's not heavy on the smell and the feel is smooth and light in the mouth.
277 characters
3.16/5 rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.52/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Big Wave Golden Ale from Kona Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
39% out of
100 with
1,901 ratings
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4