Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale

Brewed by Kona Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Kailua Kona, Hawaii USA

cloudy golden/copper with decent white head. Mild hoppy citrus aroma. Bitter hops well balanced with sweet ginger maltiness. Great profile, a bit on the weak side. Solid PA - extremely sessionable.

Though a brewery on Hawaii might seem eccentric, the island’s consumers take it very seriously. I questioned a local about the brewery, wondering whether he found the beer to be any good. That was the most stressed I had ever seen any Hawaiian resident. This review covers Kona Brewery’s "Fire Rock Pale Ale", an allusion to Hawaii’s magnificent geological conditions. In other words, lots of lava, flowing, dried, brittle, whatever. From its porous center springs forth beer for all to enjoy with poi and mahi mahi. The body is a true-to-island magma orange with tips of sunny yellow flares. The head, I think, was white but evaporates very shortly after the pour. I go in for the aroma, but it is weak, and hard to grab. What I do find amounts to the scent of fresh rain, dry, grainy hops, grilled (or raw) sweet corn and maybe a touch of (imagined?) nuttiness. The taste is crippled by a lack of any flavor - bitter, flavorless, a bit like waste water. The beginning has a shade of generic sugar at warmer temperatures, but it is quickly lost as the flavor circuits to the aftertaste with each sip. It is hard to say, simply because I love most anything Hawaiian, but this is possibly the worst pale ale I’ve ever had.

A pretty good beer... went well with the spicy food I ate it with. Spicy and hoppy... with some citrus, but not too much. Great hop presence and well balanced. 12 oz. bottle.

Tasted at EABF. Poured a clear copper color with a decent off white head. Hop profile reminded me a lot of DFH’s 60 minute IPA which is a good thing. Nice hop aromas and flavors. Some grass and grapefruit and resin in there.

Pours light copper with a rather weak, white head. Faint aromas of amber malt and piney hope bouquet. Crisp, hop forward yet well balanced flavor. Medium body and a somewhat yeasty finish. Pretty standard Pale Ale but nothing wrong with that.

12 oz. bottle poured into shaker- poured 20% cloudy tan orange, little if any carbonation, white ring around the glass with a few frog eyes. Aroma of pine, tangerines, and floral. Hits the mouth with a medium body, some sweetness at the start, hops come in the middle and stay for the finish that is slightly acidic. Pretty good for a get together.

Just not great at all. Very drinkable but nothing to right home about.I will probably try the other styles kona has.

Nice copper color with decent white head. Hoppy bouquets of pine and light citrus peel off into the nose, and the taste yields a nice simple, but well balanced mix of bittering herby flavors contrasted with more powerful sugary and toasted malt notes. Not a bad brew, and good for a bbq.