WILK Friday BeerBuzz–27 Jan 2012 Kona Koko Brown Ale w/Mattson Davis

WILKFridayBerbuzz15Craft beer people are an amazing bunch.  The passion we all share for great beer, and the craft beer camaraderie that I find as I meet brewery, CEO’s, master brewers and Presidents shines through in what they do…but today we reached a new craft-beer-passion height.

It’s clear to me when I spoke with our guest today that he is successful for a reason.  Mattson Davis is energetic, but I give him even more credit that this energy and passion for craft beer even managed to shine through at 3AM!  Yes that’s right…Mattson Davis was nice enough to join us LIVE from Hawaii at 3:30AM their time.
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Just a few weeks ago, Kona sent out a press release announcing they would soon be distributing their beer in PA beginning Jan 17th, so the timing was perfect to talk to Mattson.  Kona will be bringing us Longboard Island Lager, Fire Rock Pale Ale and even the first beer from their Aloha Series, Koko Brown.  Also look for the new canned version of Longboard Island Lager, a package that I think is perfect for this beer.

Mattson was also nice enough to join us in sampling Kona Aloha Series Koko Brown.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to try any of the Kona brews in the past, you’re in for a treat.  Koko Brown is an easy drinking, nut brown ale made with coconut.  As the label says it is the first beer in their Aloha Series of seasonal ales and I think this will be a very successful beer in PA….especially with an easy-drinking 5.5% ABV.  This is a great beer and I suspect it will gain a strong following in our area.  The caramel & toffee flavors, have a gentle backbone of nutty aroma and the wonderful balance of the coconut flavors, especially in the first few tastes.

We were also very excited to sample Kona’s flagship Longboard Island Lager.  This crisp, clean easy drinking lager is perfect for anytime, but the new can packaging coming soon will also make it a great summer beer.

Be sure to watch for Kona Brewing beers as they hit Northeastern PA and try them for yourself. 

Thank you to Mattson Davis from Kona Brewery

, Nancy, John, & Joe for yet another fun Friday.

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together.

As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE.

About MyBeer Buzz

Founder, owner, author, graphic designer, CEO, CFO, webmaster, president, mechanic and janitor for mybeerbuzz.com. Producer and Co-host of the WILK Friday BeerBuzz live weekly craft beer radio show. Small craft-brewer of the craft beer news sites and one-man-band with way too many instruments to play........Copyright 2007-2025 mybeerbuzz.com All Rights Reserved: Use of this content on ANY site without written permission is not allowed.

44 comments (click to read or post):

  1. I don't know anything about Hawaii except what I remember from watching Hawaii Five-O.

    "I'm heading north on PeePeeLeeKee Drive, Chin!"

    But I do know that Mattson Davis and Kona Brewing make great beer. The Koko Brown is the best nut brown ale I've ever tried! Thanks for getting up at 3:30am to be on the show Mattson!

    Thanks Bill from MyBeerBuzz.com for our longest long-distance brewer connection to date and most of all thank you for listening!

    Best,
    John
    (webster@wilknewsradio.com)

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  2. Fantastic show once again. WILK has had an amazing beer guest EVERY week now since like October! Cheers to Kona & Mattson for waking up so early. I can't wait to try these beers.

    Ryan W

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  3. Great show guys. Craft beer has arrived in NEPA with Kona. I love that he was willing to get up at 3AM to talk to us in PA. Cheers Mattson!

    Eric

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  4. the WILK Buzz has done immeasurable things for craft beer in PA. Mattson Davis was a great guest and I can only hope to sample a Kona beer in PA and Hawaii too. Amy

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  5. You guys continue to rock out great beers & guests. Cheers Mattson!

    Mark

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  6. I buy every beer you feature on the show so I can't wait to try Kona. This is a new beer for me but after hearing their president, I know it will be great. Cheers buzzers!

    Adam K (Muncy)

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  7. Thanks everyone. Thank you also to Sally Murdoch @ Kona for all her hard work on today's show and of course to Mattson Davis for getting up early to share a beer with us. We really enjoyed the Koko Brown & Longboard Island Lager and I'm excited to see them in PA.

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  8. I had Coco Loco in Hawaii on vacation and if it's the same beer as Koko Brown it is Fantastic. I was amazed to hear Matson on the radio and I love Kona beer. I had no idea they were coming to PA so I'm glad I tuned in. Jim R

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  9. Me too. I'm glad I tuned in today. I wasn't aware Kona would be imported into PA. Exciting news.

    Chris

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  10. I wondered why you said ALoha at the start. Great show and Mattson was really an interesting guy. Can't wait to try a Kona Koko. Kristen

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  11. I love Fire Rock Pale Ale. Cheers Mattson!

    Steve

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  12. Don Ho! What a great show!

    Pat

    PS I love Kona Longboard!

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  13. So which Kona beer is coming to PA??

    Marty

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  14. I visited Hawaii 5 years ago and it is still a fond memory. My husband and I just started learning about craft beer on your show. He just called from work saying how excited he is to have Kona Beer in PA. Thank you WILK fr another great show, but this one has very fond memories for me.

    Kathy

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  15. Thanks Kathy....beer is a very social beverage so I'm glad we triggered some fond memories. Cheers to that.

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  16. I just found you guys so I'm playing catch up. I'll be looking for Kona this week. Who have your other guests been? Martin Ga

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  17. Martin...you can go to fridaybeerbuzz.com and see all of our previous shows on video. The full list of guests & beers is there. Thanks for tuning in.

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  18. Koko sounds amazing. I love coconut so I can't wait to try it. I loved the story of the labels too. Cheers Mattson. We love you in Northeastern PA.

    Sam

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  19. My brother brings me Kona from New York state. I love Longboard and their pale ales it great too. I'll be buying some for sure. John JJ

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  20. I love your show. HOw great is it to have a little slice of Hawaii on a January day. I can't wait to try Kona Longboard. It sounds like my kind of beer. Thank you for alerting us to Kona. Jerry

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  21. I just checke dout your guest list from your show. Amazing! Mattson was a great beer talker.

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  22. Thanks Anon. Mattson is a wonderful evangalist for craft beer...and keep in mind it was 3:30AM for him. He was so much fun to talk to, I'm sure we'll invite him back in the future...and by invite I mean beg! ;)

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  23. I'll watch the show back again and again when the video is ready.

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  24. Thanks Anon. Just a heads up on the video. Our Flip cam batteries died mis show so we switched to Nancy's iPhone. Getting the video off the iPhone and meshing it with the Flip video will take some time...BUT we will get it up on wilknewsradio.com, mybeerbuzz.com and fridaybeerbuzz.com as soon as we can.

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  25. I've only been listening since Dec but I see why you all won the award. The show is not only well organized but I love what you do with the music and you all clearly have a great time doing the show every week. I love that you bring us some amazing craft beer, and we get to hear about the beer straight from the brewery. This show needs to be on TV! Thank you and cheers to Mattson Davis from Kona. He was a lot of fun to listen to. And yes now I plan to buy that Koko brown. Carey

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  26. What can I say. 3:30AM to talk beer. Mattson Davis is a beer god for sure.

    Marcus

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  27. I buy Kona Fire Rock all the time in NY and it's a really underrated beer. Easy drinking in Summer and hearty enough for winter. I live up near the border so now I'll have to go get some this weekend. Mattson was great and really made me excited about Kona too. You guys are doing a great thing for craft beer. Sarah

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  28. I've now heard every show and bought almost every beer. I've never had Kona before and I didn;t know they were coming to PA. I am on a person quest now to try all of their beers.

    Mike

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  29. Thanks Mike....watch for Fire Rock Pale Ale, Longboard Island Lager, Pipeline Porter & Koko Brown to hit PA. I suspect we'll also see their other seasonals as well soon.

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  30. I was blown away when you had west coast guests from Stone and 21st Amendment but you absolutely rule in my book now. Hawaii! Amazing show and I really enjoyed Mattson.

    John

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  31. I love Longboard. The sport and the beer! I visited Kona and it's a great place if you hit Hawaii. My favorite guest on your show so far was Mattson. Kyle (Chase)

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  32. I didn't know Kona was coming to PA. Wow that's great news. My wife and I honeymooned in Hawaii and shared a Kona beer on our first night. We've never been able to find it again so I think Mattson just gave me a great Valentine's Day surprise for my wife.

    Name withheld to protect my surprise :)

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  33. Nice. Your secret is safe with us! I didn't get to relate the story on the air but my pal Moose brought me some Kone Fire Rock back from Hawaii 6 or 7 years ago and we loved it. This morning's show wa sthe first opportunity I've had to sample a Kona beer since this gift many years ago. It was a presonally exciting sho for me and of course wonderful to share a beer with Mattson.

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  34. Wow cheers to Mattson Davis!

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  35. Aloha from HI. I heard about the show and tuned in. You are lucky to be getting Kona and we love it. Mattson is a great guy I had the pleasure to meet.

    Mark

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  36. Thanks Mark. Glad you tuned in and thank you too for getting up early.

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  37. I love fire rock! Nice show Mattson & WILK!

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  38. You keep bringing us great beer on the buzz show. I loved your Christmas beer show and now I'll have to try Kona. Thank you to Matson for waking up so early to talk to PA. We do appreciate it. David G

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  39. I love that our craft beer community is growing and I think we all owe a wave of gratitude to WILK for making that happen. Your beer show has made a huge difference and you would be amazed how many people I meet that say they started drinking better beer because of WILK. Thank You all. Shaun in Scranton

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  40. Thank you Shaun. We're having a great time and really love doing the show. We're all about bringing good beers and good people together...so it's always exciting to hear it happen.

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  41. I love your show. I think Mattson was a great guest too. Aloha to Mattson.

    Tim

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  42. Stay tuned everyone...we are still working on the video!

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  43. If you go to http://konabrewingco.com/find-beer/, you can see which beers are being carried near you. Plug in your zip code. It's not all that easy to use, but I zoomed in on the map for good beer bars and distributors that normally carry craft. I see Voelcker in Danville and the Beer Depot in podunk Iola (near me) have Longboard Lager and Koko Brown. Gonna have to get me some Koko!

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  44. Still working on the video.....technical (battery) difficulties!

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