“The spontaneously hip beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, is loved by all…pictured a group of duck hunters celebrating a successful outing with their favorite beer.”

On a July afternoon, Evan and Daren Metropoulos, the new owners of Pabst Brewing, showed up at the lounge on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental in midtown Manhattan. They had come to discuss their plans for Pabst, which their father and co-owner, C. Dean Metropoulos, bought in May for about $250 million.

The Oriental does not serve Pabst Blue Ribbon, the company’s flagship brew, so the brothers ordered a lemonade and an iced tea. A hotel like the Mandarin may seem an unlikely meeting place for the owners of a beer that has long traded on its working-class image—the Lutz Tavern, a dive in Portland, Ore., is more like it, where 16-ounce tallboys go for $1.75. But the Metropoulos brothers were very much at home. They were passing through on their way to a wedding in Rhinebeck, N.Y., of an old friend from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where they have summered since they were boys.

Evan, 29, divides his time between Miami Beach, Los Angeles, and New York City. Daren, 27, lives in Los Angeles, in Hugh Hefner’s old residence, a 7,300-square-foot English manor house he recently bought for $18 million.

Evan, in a green polo shirt and gold necklace, has a generous build and gregarious manner. Ideas for the future of Pabst’s portfolio of brands spilled out of him in an entrepreneurial stream of consciousness. Daren, who occasionally interrupted, was in a navy blazer and button-down shirt. He is narrower, quieter, and cleaner shaven than his effusive brother. Evan had been thinking about Red White & Blue beer, one of the company’s roughly two dozen defunct brands, which they hope to revive.

“What if we made that the military beer?” asked Evan. “What if we gave a huge portion of the proceeds to military charities—a grassroots program with military families? Why shouldn’t Red White & Blue be the absolute American beer for the American soldier? We’ll bring, you know, the Rotary Club, the veterans.” “To help collaborate and get involved,” added Daren.

“To support our troops,” Evan continued. “We could develop a whole beer brand around our troops. So that when you see Red White & Blue at your barbecue, you know that money’s supporting people who have died for our country. Those are ways that Budweiser will never be able to relate to. They’re not American, like us.” “This is an American company serving the American people,” noted Daren.

Evan began to get worked up, saying: “If you knew that 25 percent of your proceeds from Red White & Blue Beer were going to support these charities, then shame on you for drinking Bud Light! What the hell are you drinking that for? To support some foreigners?”

The brothers went on to lay out the Metropoulos strategy—a series of grassroots campaigns targeting regional markets. Celebrities, musicians, and local festivals would figure prominently. Lone Star, their Texas label, might sponsor rodeo riders. Primo, a Hawaiian beer, might build relationships with big-wave surfers. These campaigns would be supported by their father’s knack for winning over distributors, as well as new product and flavor launches to build out Pabst’s portfolio of brands.

Not present that evening, but central to the plans, was their father, 64, a billionaire known as “Mr. Shelf Space” for his ability to boost the sales of supermarket brands. The senior Metropoulos started out with a feta cheese business in Vermont and has established a long record of turning around names like Bumble Bee Tuna, Perrier-Jouët, Chef Boyardee, Duncan Hines, Aunt Jemima, Vlasic Pickles, Swanson frozen dinners, and Ghirardelli Chocolate. He bought Pabst from the charitable trust of Paul Kalmanovitz, the company’s late owner, acquiring a trove of musty American beer brands, among them Colt 45, Old Milwaukee, Primo, Rainier, Schaefer, Stroh’s, Schlitz, Schmidt, Lone Star, National Bohemian, and the flagship, Pabst Blue Ribbon. The company, based in Woodbridge, Ill., has about 200 employees and more than 80 trademarks and 42 beer brands, fewer than half of which are active.

Read the reast of the story by By Matt Schwartz in Businessweek: http://bit.ly/ho1ILz

Read “Move Over Budweiser – Pabst Blue Ribbon is the New Low Cost, Drinking Man’s Beer” – http://bit.ly/f2NHPY

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Now that your liver has just about recovered from St. Patrick’s Day, we have Cinco de Mayo around the corner. Another great reason to gather in bars and drink beer. Just in case you need to recoup your beer prowess because you ordered a Smithwick’s on St. Paddy’s Day and pronounced the ‘W’ vs. the proper annunciation that looks like Smidicks, here is your chance to get back your street cred on beer. To look like an expert on Mexican Beers on Cinco de Mayo, it is only fitting to sample the best from Mexico in advance. After all, perfect practice makes perfect. Therefore, my recommendations for the best Mexican beers are:

Carta Blanca (Can you find the vintage bottles with the bottle opener built into the bottom of the bottle?)

Modelo (Negro and Especial)

Bohemia

Pacifico

Tecate (in a can…see below)

Dos Equis (Stay thirsty my friends!)

Note Corona is not listed but if you want a decent light Mexican beer, Corona Light is not bad. As for the fruit additive (limes), the only combo that must be tries as described below:

Get a Tecate in a can…cut a lime in half and squeeze the juice in the beer and on top so that their is a layer of lime juice on the top of the can…then take salt and shake it on the top of the can in the lime juice. This action can be repeated until the beer is empty. This way of drinking Tecate was introduced to me in Mexico playing golf in Juarez Mexico on Compestre Golf Course. This is one of the better course in Juarez and caddies are required. Before you get your caddie selection, the caddies place wagers on who is the best golfer in the foursome by reviewing the golf clubs, golf bag and player. I was not tuned in on where I stood in the pecking order but I do know that the $2 Tecates were being pushed on be and I was not turning them away. How the caddies served them up for us was cracking open the Tecate, using half a lime and a lime press to squeeze the lime juice into the can and then giving salt packs to add on top as needed. This being my first experience with drinking Tecate like this, I found that I prefer Tecate in a can now and do recreate the Jaurez drinking experience with each can. But as for adding the lime in other Mexican beers, I typically decline unless it is a Corona since this is my least favorite of the Mexican beers…and the whole rumor of why Coronas are filled at varying levels because the brew-makers are pissing in the beer helps to reinforce the lime addition to a Corona.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Banned in 13 States. This has to get your attention now. The cap on beer alcohol content was thought to be 14%. No More. Samuel Adams has its Utopia brew at 27% alcohol.

Paul Gatza, director of the national Brewers Association based in Boulder, Colo., said new yeast research allowed brewers to experiment with the emerging science that pushed the traditional cap of 14 percent alcohol by volume for beer.

“At 27% alcohol or about 6 times the strength of a regular beer, this should knock you on your ass.” – Beereur.com

Just 8,000 of the limited edition 24 oz tipple, sold in a copper kettle, have been brewed by the Boston Beer Company.

A new batch of Samuel Adams Utopias is on the way for the holiday season: “The small batch release comes from just 53 barrels all brewed, blended and aged at the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston. The exclusive, limited distribution brew will be available at select specialty beer and liquor stores starting in November for a suggested retail price of $150.00 per bottle.”

The 2009 Samuel Adams Utopias is a strong, rich, dark beer that, unlike most beers, is uncarbonated and is served room temperature in a snifter glass. The recommended pour is two-ounces meant to be savored like vintage port or a fine cognac. Samuel Adams Utopias is brewed in small batches, blended, and aged in the Barrel Room at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery. Since its first release in 2002, Utopias has held the coveted title of ‘world’s strongest beer’ in the Guinness Book of World Records with 25 percent alcohol by volume. Maintaining the record set by the 2007 batch for commercially brewed beers, the 2009 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias weighs in at 27 percent alcohol by volume. The average beer is about 5%. Source Beer Advocate

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Beer'eur Recommended

Let’s cut to the chase, Stella Artois may be the best all around beer that fits every occasion, especially the holiday beer category. Stella is a great beer that has enough body to go with just about every type of meal and works in the winter and summer and for any type of event. Let’s run down a list of events on the upcoming holiday calendar and see how Stella holds up as a the best beer and best overall drink of choice for the specified event. The rating system below is based on a scale of 1-10 with 10 = the best possible choice to replace the traditional alcoholic beverage served at the following:

OCCASION               Traditional Alcoholic Beverage                    Stella Factor

Halloween Party:            spicy porter/stout, maybe Pumpkin Porter       6 points

Thanksgiving feast:        white or red wine, beer, mixed drinks               8 points

Invited to a friends:       Red Stripe, Guinness and any $7+ 6 pack         9 points

Christmas dinner:          egg nog & brandy, all beers especially

winter beers, all wines and all hard booze        9 points

After work drink:          Anything in the fridge of liquor cabinet                  8 points

Happy Hour:                Cheap beer and rail drink specials                           10 points

First Date:                    If going to their house and you are a gal                 10 points

You are a guy and she’s not a beer fan:              7 points

You are a guy and she’s a big beer fan:             10 points

This post, it must be noted, is a result of an overwhelmingly positive reception from some beer drinking experts regarding Stella as the best holiday beer and any major event. Stella Artois is a can’t go wrong beer to host with or present to the host/hostess of a party or event (even when the host and hostess are not beer fans). The simple reason for this is, you always have the best beer option for yours truly and in some cases there will be more for you. The only area where Stella scored 6 points (still a good score) is for Halloween where a Pumpkin Porter (e.g. 4 Peaks Brewing Company) is a superior choice but it may bot be as universally accepted as Stella. In this case, bring the beer to drink for yourself! If the holidays event calendar has you frazzled and you are not sure what to bring to your upcoming event(s), you can go with a specialty beer and bottle of wine but Stella 6 pack is always a good choice…or check out the Beer’eur Top 5 Beer List.

Comments on this post (from a former online version):

This was the first beer that I entered into www.Chugd.com when I built the Phoenix-based Web 2.0 beer rating site. Check it out: http://chugd.com/beers/show/1

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