Pacific Western Brewing was the first, and now they are back in the game.
The Prince George brewing company was the first in Canada to make a regular line of malt liquor. It was 1969 and the owner of the day, Ben Ginter, launched the unique beer under the Uncle Ben title with a tartan label.
The company has dabbled in various forms of malt since then (the former TNT and Ironhorse titles, for example), and in the past few weeks they quietly launched the latest incarnation in a red can under the popular Cariboo banner (it also includes Genuine Draft, Honey Lager, Pale Ale, even a couple of sodas for the kids).
"That's why I got hired here, in the spring of 1969, was Uncle Ben's Malt Liquor," said longtime PWB manager Tom Leboe. "It had 10 per cent of the market share, back in the early '70s, because it was the only one. When the company went into receivership under Ben Ginter, it all stopped, and brands like O'Keefe's Extra Old Stock filled the gap into the '80s.
"We brought it back now because there is a market for it. People are wanting it. There are malts out there, but we have history with it and we have a great recipe."
What distinguishes a malt liquor from common beer is the alcohol content. There are techniques available to brewers whereby the intoxicant levels can be scaled: Lite Beer contains lesser amounts in the four per cent range, standard lagers and ales have amounts in the five to six per cent range, and once you cross the seven per cent line the malt liquor term kicks in. However, this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Cariboo Malt is at eight per cent.
"We had the original recipe, we just adjusted it a little, and it worked out to be a bit stronger," said PWB's brewmaster Henrik Braun, a fifth-generation brewer from Germany. He is in his first six months in the position and enjoyed working on the malt project as one of his first assignments.
"It has only been out about four weeks," said Leboe, adding that it was introduced quietly. Pubs and liquor stores got the news without any public fanfare. This was a deliberate move to test the grassroots appeal of the new brand.
"It's working. It's really working," said Leboe.
"The sales figures have been going up and up, bigger each week, and that is based only on choices the consumer is making."
PWB is taking a different approach with a special event later today.
The company is unveiling an all-new flavour and it is reportedly going to again be a historic first.
The details will be disclosed at a formal launch at 1 p.m., followed by a public launch at the Westwood Pub tonight at 5 p.m. with Braun as the special guest.
