The Swill: Primo Island Lager
The Still: Primo Brewing and Malting Company
Irwindale, California
http://www.primobeer.com/homePage.aspx
Pabst Brewing Company
Woodridge, Illinois
http://www.pabstblueribbon.com/AgeVerification.aspx
The Drill: Lager, 12oz bottle, 4.65% ABV
The Spill: Pours copper with a thick white head. The nose is pilsner-like and sweet, perhaps due to the addition of "pure island cane" according to the label. The flavor is generally lagerish, if nondescript, though a slightly sweet aftertaste follows if you believe hard enough. It's definitely a chuggable beer, but it's not very big on character.
Says Bill: I saw this for the first time just a couple weeks back. Suddenly, I started seeing it everywhere, which raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, just a little searching turns up the fact that the beer is made by Pabst. Just another attempt by a commercial beer giant to remarket their cheap beer to get craft beer drinkers to buy it, and they pulled one over on me. I bought a six pack because it boasted cane sugar and had a neat label with the profile of a Hawaiian king that reminds my of one of my favorite local resaturants. Looks like I need to pack a laptop with me next time I go looking for new beers so I can do my research onsite.
Refill?: The big boys are getting crafty. Too bad their beers aren't: 1.5 taps out of 5.