Kona Brewing Co. is targeting a big summer push, as it looks to build on the popularity it has gained since launching in bottles in Australia around 18 months ago.
The beer will now be available in 58.5l steel kegs to help increase its on-premise presence and in addition the popular Hanalei Island IPA will also be launching in keg form. The refreshing fruit-forward IPA, is hugely popular in Hawaii along with mainland US and has already proved popular in bottled form here since its launch earlier this year.
Kona’s Senior Brand Director, Cindy Wang says the Hanalei Island IPA will “stand out as a truly special beer that combines the floral hop aroma of a traditional IPA with a uniquely bright and tropical Hawaiian twist”.
Kona is being distributed in Australia by Craft Revolution and NSW State Sales Manager, David Paton, is excited by the growing popularity of American craft beers here.
“It is exciting to see the building momentum around American craft beers in Australia recently,” Paton told TheShout.
“The response to Kona since it launched 18 months ago has been overwhelmingly positive. They are genuinely good beers which really capture the essence of the classic Hawaiian lifestyle. The fresh guava, passionfruit and orange in the Hanalei Session IPA is a great example of this.”
In addition to the new kegs, Craft Revolution is also embarking on its largest international trade event since launching, with a competition to win a trip to Hawaii, the home of Kona.
The event will see 40 Australian on- and off-premise supporters of Kona Brewing Co. win a trip to visit the Kona Brewers’ Festival in March 2018. The competition is open to any trade customer that supports Kona in-venue or in-store and accumulates ‘Kona Points’ which go on all products purchased between 7 August 2017 and 28 January 2018.
The top 20 selling venues will automatically win a place on the trip, and another 20 participating venues will be drawn at random.
Paton added: “I fell in love with the Kona beers when I first visited Hawaii 5 years ago and I’m so excited that Craft Revolution is going to be taking 40 industry people to the source of these wonderful beers. It is going to be a huge summer for us and the Kona Brewing Co.”