BEER REVIEW: Kona Brewery's Longboard Island Lager

Taken from Kona Brewery's homepage:

Longboard Island Lager is a smooth refreshing lager fermented and aged for five weeks at cold temperatures to yield its exceptionally smooth flavor.

It is indeed a brew that goes down smoothly. Out of all of Kona Brewery's beers, Longboard Island Lager takes the cake with the number of awards it has won. Among them include:

2010 Silver Medal: European Style Lager, Australian International Beer Awards
2009 Best of the Northwest/ Pacific: Dortmunder/ Helles category, United States Beer Tasting Championships
2009 Gold Medal: Lager category, Portland Spring Beer & Wine Festival, Oregon
2009 First Place: Export / Helles catetory, Craft Lager Festival, Colorado
2009 Bronze Medal: American Lager/ Pilsener category, U.S. Open Beer Championships, Georgia
2008 Best of the Northwest/ Pacific: Dortmunder/ Helles category, United States Beer Tasting Championships
2008 Gold Medal: Dortmunder/ Export category, North American Beer Awards

I would have to agree; the pale lager is worthy of all the awards it has won. The first time I had this beer was actually at a Hawaiian restaurant in Tokyo, Japan. I took special note of it from then and now I have had the chance to try it in its homeland: Honolulu, Hawaii. It has a smooth texture, slight head, and light hoppy aftertaste as it goes down. What I enjoy about this beer is that it has none of the bitter taste you may be used to from drinking other beer, only a nice sweet, slightly spicy flavor with just enough bite to warrant another glass. Both times I drank this beer was out of the bottle. I look forward to trying it on tap next time.

Kona Brewery's Longboard Island Lager pays tribute to the grand history (of over 100 years) of longboard surfing on the beaches of Waikiki and comes across as Highly Recommended by Ben