Beer of the Week: Pbers

Sunday is Father’s Day. Not only am I a dad…I’m a grandfather of two. If I had my way come Sunday, beer would definitely be part of the celebratory equation. And if I could choose what type of beer, it would for sure be something of the Belgian variety, preferably a farmhouse-style ale with some rangy, peppery Brettanomyces thrown into the mix. Now I realize that this is just one dad’s preference, and a rather oddball pop at that. For most paternal individuals (i.e., dads), beer is that straw-hued, spritzy, low-alcohol American adjunct lager that for so long was essentially the sole representation of beer in this country. And that’s fine…kinda cool even. Not just because of the nostalgia involved, but the fact that even craft brewers love these types of beers. Enough that some take a stab at recreating them at their breweries. Such is the case with South O Brewing and this week’s featured beer, Pbers. For the past three years, the south Oceanside concern’s head brewer, Kyle Boruff, has released an American lager emulating a beloved standard. In previous years, he produced his version of both Hamm’s and Stroh’s (going so far as to package them in “stubby” bottles), and this year he’s taking on a certain blue-ribbon beer. That’s right, PBR. But not the version that’s widely available in the present day. Thanks to friends with familial ties, Boruff managed to secure the recipe for the pre-Prohibition Era version of PBR, before the inclusion of rice. That’s pretty cool, especially considering the original brewmaster for San Diego’s first post-Prohibition beer company, Karl Strauss, was VP of Production for Pabst Brewing and is credited with reformulating PBR in the 1950s, helping it grow in popularity and achieve the iconic status it holds today. Liquid Americana or not, I really can’t stand the beer, but I must say, I really like Pbers. Aromas of bread dough transition to a brisk beer with subtle flavors of lemon zest and jasmine. Balanced, even and easy-drinking, it’s as ideal for consuming on Father’s Day as it is over the course of numerous World Cup soccer matches. Game on!

Pbers is a true American classic style of beer; one of your granddad’s original hype beers. This pre-Prohibition era recipe was brewed with 100% American malt and American hops, made to the specifications of the original malt and hop bill. Pbers is a crushable lager with notes of damp cedar, bright lemon-grove mist, floral aromatics, low bitterness and fucking shit up.”

Kyle Boruff, Head Brewer, South O Brewing

South O Brewing is located at 1575 South Coast Highway in Oceanside