Primo Beer 2.0

As economic troubles sweep famous brands like Pontiac into the memory holes where sleep Pan Am Airways, Oldsmobile, F.W. Woolworth, and Ipana toothpaste, the revival of a relic from Hawaiian history, Primo Beer, shows that life after death is indeed possible in the consumer world.

Primo, as Jeanne Cooper writes, was cheap and easy to guzzle. To penny-pinching young people--yes, son, it was once legal to drink at 18--who needed to keep ourselves, er, hydrated in the hot Hawaiian sun, drinking Primo was a rite of passage. When I came to the Mainland, I forsook childhood ways for bright lights, big cities, and big-city beers. Many of my status-conscious peers (moi? mais non!) did the same. Its lack of distinctive taste, the high cost of production, and its over-familiarity to its Hawaiian niche led to Primo's demise in 1998.

Pabst Brewing may have sensed a tremor in the zeitgeist, if not the Force, that makes the time ripe for Primo's revival. However, today's more discerning palates will require more than nostalgia and a colorful logo to garner repeat sales.

For [Primo promoter and surfer champ Keoni] Watson, that meant the new version "had to be something that said Hawaii, but was also accessible, meaning you could drink it if you fish all day or surf all day and then want to have some beers. It couldn't be something that knocked you out. We definitely didn't want it to be heavy to keep you from doing your activities all over the next morning. Everyone wants to get out there early to surf or to go fishing the next day."

And more specifically, it had to pair with poke [Blogger's note: pronounced POH-kay], the raw fish, sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger dish: "The beer's got to go well with that or it's not going to be a Hawaiian favorite," Watson said. [Blogger's note: poke ain't cheap, so if he's serious about poke-Primo pairing, Primo is definitely moving upscale.]

The end result uses a "a little touch" of Maui cane sugar, while Kauai's Keoki Brewing Company, known for a variety of specialty beers, was chosen to produce Primo in draft. Bottling, however, is done on the Mainland.

Primo's special ingredient, cane sugar, is now supposed to have a higher nutritional value than corn syrup or even sugar from beets. Scrap sugar cane was plentiful along Island rural roadways and used to be regarded as rubbish, but now it's a delicacy. Sugar cane and Primo Beer---examples of how every dog has its day in the sun if it can wait long enough. © 2009 Stephen Yuen