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Kona Brewing Company- A fan look into the past, present and future of Liquid Aloha (Part 1 of 4)
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Kona Brewing Company, located on the Big Island of Hawaii, is making waves in the craft beer industry. From an original brewpub location in the town of Kailua-Kona (commonly known as Kona), Kona Brewing Co. has expanded to another brewpub on the island of Oahu. Kona Brewing Co. is also now widely available throughout the mainland U.S. With a large selection of locally brewed beers that embody the spirit of the Hawaiian islands (and a great selection of food to match), Kona Brewing Co. has become a highlight of many vacations in Hawaii that can easily be enjoyed back home as well.
One reason for Kona Brewing Company’s success is its large (and dedicated) fan following. Late last year, this author created a Kona Brewing Co. Fan Club on Facebook. Without any promotion, the fan club has grown to over 500 members. The official Kona Brewing Co. Facebook page launched soon thereafter, and helped setup a fan-driven interview with Mattson Davis. Mattson is President and CEO of Kona Brewing Co. Almost 50 questions were submitted by fans throughout the United States (plus Europe and Australia) for Mattson, who spent a long time talking with me about Kona’s past, present, and future. This is the first installment of a four part series.
Kona Brewing Co. was started in 1995 by father and son Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa. Cameron, originally from Portland, Oregon, setup the brewery on the Big Island of Hawaii. Inspired by the Island spirit, their first beers were Pacific Golden Ale (now known as Big Wave Golden Ale), Fire Rock Pale Ale, Longboard Island Lager (introduced in 1998) and Lilikoi Wheat (now Wailua Wheat). It would be 8 years before they added their next beer: Pipeline Porter. Inspired by brewpubs, their dream was to open a restaurant-- a perfect place for people to enjoy their new beer.
Kona Brewing Company
In 1997, Cameron hired Mattson Davis to help their growing venture. At the time, Mattson was the operations general manager of Pizzicato, a gourmet pizzeria chain in Oregon, and jumped at the opportunity to help build a restaurant from the ground up. He focused on a pizzeria concept (which compliments beer perfectly), and after a year and a half, the restaurant finally opened. Although it took longer than anticipated, Mattson thoroughly enjoyed building a restaurant to showcase specific beers. All of the choices regarding food, ambiance, and setup were intended to spotlight the Kona Brewing Co. beers. Kona Brewing Co. began distributing their beers on the mainland U.S. in June 1999.
In 2003, Kona Brewing Co. opened their second restaurant at the Koko Marina Center in Hawaii Kai on Oahu. Not all visitors to Hawaii make it to the Big Island, and the Oahu location introduced Kona Brewing Co. to many more visitors. According to Mattson, their strategy was simple- “Make sure we made great beer, get it to market, and hand out coasters.” By 2004, Kona Brewing Co. annually gave away 2 million drink coasters. One third of all visitors to Hawaii received a coaster, and Kona Brewing Co. was well on its way to becoming an integral part to many vacations in Hawaii.
In 2002, Kona Brewing Co. created an alliance with Widmer Brothers Brewing. This partnership expanded in 2004 and became the Craft Brews Alliance (along with Redhook Ale Brewery and Goose Island Beer Company). Rather than rely upon a large macrobrewer or corporate parents, these brewers decided to combine their resources yet still remain independent. Their beers represent a wide variety of U.S. craft beers- in both geography and style. This alliance allows the members’ beers to be distributed collectively. If a store or restaurant carries one of the alliance beers, then beers from all other members may be available. To avoid duplication, each of the Alliance brewers provide beers for distribution that do not compete with the other members’ beers.
Examples of Kona Brewing Co. caps
Joining the Craft Brewers Alliance also brought about another unexpected change to Kona Brewing Co. beers. Widmer beers include the German word “prost” (cheers) under each cap. Hawaii is the only U.S. state with its own native language, and Kona Brewing Co. decided to print a Hawaiian word (with English translation) under each cap. Starting with 25 words, there are now 50. Some examples include:
| Wai | Water |
| He’e nalu | Surfing |
| Kâmau | Cheers |
| ‘Ale | Wave Crest |
Drinking a Kona beer from the bottle can be an educational experience, helping visitors to Hawaii learn a little of the native language. For those enjoying Kona elsewhere, the caps help bring some Hawaiian to their neighborhood.
Several fans inquired about the design of the Kona beer bottles caps and labels. Kona Brewing Co. has only used one design company- Flint Design Co. in Portland, OR (examples of their work online). Formerly known as Anstey Healy Design, they created all of Kona’s graphics from the original logo to the full line up of today's packaging. The current design debuted in 2006 with the Pipeline Porter, and the entire lineup sported the new designs in spring of 2007.
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