![]() ![]() The new ale is not a revival of the old Rainier Ale, aka “The Green Death”, with its green bottles and powerful kick targeted at non-discriminating palettes. Pabst owns scores of classic l brands (Lone Star, Ballantine, National Bohemian), and wants to renew the deep local roots and followings these beers still have. The new ale, named Rainier Pale Mountain Ale, has an interesting background. Old brand, new beer, made again in Puget Sound country. At a massive party this week at MOHAI - where the original Rainier neon sign resides as treasured artifact along with Boeing planes and classic hydros - Pabst will introduce a new product that will be brewed in Redhook Brewery in Woodinville (Pabst has an option to buy the brewery). One problem: Rainier lager, the staff of mossy existence, is no longer brewed in Washington. Whether it be transplants or old-timers, Rainier pours on. Just check Sam’s Tavern in South Lake Union, they said. When I recently asked the current stewards of Rainier if it has cross-generational appeal - were the newly arrived lads of Amazon swilling Rainier like us oldsters? - it elicited a laugh. Their tall boy is a tavern staple, and won an international gold award as the definitive American-style lager. The brand, now owned by Pabst Brewing, has re-installed the famed Rainier “R” on its old brewery along I-5, and it sells briskly in eight states. Rainier thrives well beyond my generational cohort. The smell of Rainier and tobacco on my father’s breath is a pungent memory that can evoke a Proustian response, if I allow it. I grew up near a stadium on Rainier Avenue, named for a brewer - Emil Sick - where my team was named for the beer - the Rainiers - and where the scent of the hops wafted into the grandstands from the bar below them, where dads congregated. Some brands just seem part of the local fabric. ![]() If it rained beer in Seattle it would be Rainier, right?
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