Malt Liquor

G. Heileman Brewing Co. is introducing a malt liquor similar in content to the brewer's high-alcohol PowerMaster, which was rejected by federal regulators last year, a government spokesman said Monday. The company denied that the product was the same. But a spokesman with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said Heileman's latest malt liquor, Colt 45 Premium, is the same formula as the brewer's rejected product. "Our information is this was the new label for the product PowerMaster.

Peter J. Marcher Jr. , a master brewer who developed the formula for Colt 45 malt liquor for the National Brewing Co. of Baltimore, died of pneumonia Feb. 2 at a retirement home in Lancaster, Pa. He was 92. Bella Itkin-Konrath , a nationally known acting teacher at De Paul University whose students included Kevin Anderson, Linda Hunt, Harvey Korman, Joe Mantegna and Elizabeth Perkins, died of natural causes Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in...

The potent malt liquor has yet to hit the market shelves, but already it's raising a furor throughout the country. A national boycott of G. Heileman Brewing Co. products is being organized in at least six major U.S. cities. But so far, the troubled brewer isn't budging from its plans to target its new high-alcohol malt liquor toward blacks--and to name it PowerMaster.

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has banned the drink Four Loko and dozens of similar alcoholic drinks from being sold in the state. Known as "blackout in a can" for its combination of caffeine and 12% alcohol, Four Loko is one of 55 drinks that the state banned Thursday. The commission reversed its approval of all energy drinks that contain alcohol, citing safety reasons, and is giving manufacturers of the beverages 30 days to remove them from store shelves. "The commission's concern for health, safety and welfare of Michigan citizens and the fact that there is not enough research to validate that these products are safe for consumption has made me believe that until further research is done by the FDA, they should no longer be on Michigan shelves," Michigan Liquor Control Commission Chairwoman Nida Samona said in the statement.

"PowerMaster" cannot be used as the name of G. Heileman Brewing Co.'s new malt liquor because it sounds too much like an advertisement for its high alcohol content, the government said Monday. The decision by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is a reversal of the agency's earlier approval of the name. Spokesman Tom Hill said the bureau decided that the name alludes to the beverage's 5.9% alcohol content, compared to the 5.

Legislation that would restrict the sale of fortified wines and malt liquor in South-Central and in certain parts of Northern California suffered a setback last week in the Assembly. Assembly Bill 2698 was expected to go before the Governmental Organization Committee for a vote Tuesday, but the bill's supporters postponed any action, acknowledging that they lacked the necessary votes.

A group of black, Latino and health officials on Wednesday demanded that brewers reduce the alcohol content of malt liquor and drop sexually suggestive marketing campaigns that pitch the products to minorities. The demands are part of a long-running battle between brewers and critics who contend that advertising aimed at blacks and Latinos increases the relatively high levels of alcoholism and related ills suffered by those groups. Brewers have denied such claims.

Mickey Mouse, Colt 45 and Night Train. In Orange County, these names mean more than, say, a Disneyland character, a gun or an evening train. They are brand names for malt liquor and highly potent, fortified wine products. Malts (beer made with sugar for an extra alcoholic kick) range in alcohol content up to 8.0%, compared to regular beer at 4.5%. State legislation was recently passed to label all products "beer," providing more gray area for consumers to know exactly what they are buying.

Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello on Tuesday called on the marketer of a potent new malt liquor beverage named PowerMaster to change the product's name and scrap a sales campaign that appears targeted at minority consumers. PowerMaster is a high-alcohol drink that has drawn criticism from health and minority activists, who charge that its maker plans to promote it to poor blacks and Latinos. The product, made by the G. Heileman Brewing Co.

You won't find Kapone savoring the taste or aroma of his beverage of choice. The young gang member from the Imperial Courts housing project in Watts offers a simple explanation for his loyalty to malt liquor, in particular Olde English 800: "It does the job the fastest." Kapone, a lanky 23-year-old who sells drugs for a living, started drinking when he was 10. To him, beer tastes like water. Even some malt liquors no longer give him a kick.

Even by the extreme standards of typical college mayhem, the small-town college party in central Washington this month looked bad. Police were initially called to a supermarket parking lot, where they found a girl passed out in the back seat of a car next to a boy with a bloody nose. At the private house the two had just left, three girls were sprawled on a bed, a barely conscious young man was being dragged out of the backyard, a girl was prostrate on the bathroom floor and three young people were splayed senseless in a car outside.

Steven Schulman, the man who made his way from skid row to winning a huge cash verdict after being run over by a semi, was found dead Tuesday. The 55-year-old was discovered in his Van Nuys apartment among several empty bottles of malt liquor. Schulman's bizarre rags-to-riches tale was recently chronicled in The Times . Soon after becoming homeless in 2007, the former plumber's legs were crushed by an 18-wheeler as he slept near the parking lot of an Encino market. The accident hobbled him and left him struggling to recuperate.

It was just like the old days, when the Lakers were winning championships and reporters crowded around players to soak in the latest update on Shaq vs. Kobe. But in this season's first chapter of a Ron Artest controversy, there was no mud-slinging. No hint or allegation that the media was at fault. No finger-pointing at other players. Artest basically confirmed that he drank too much alcohol earlier in his NBA career, backing up his statements in a Sporting News story Wednesday that he sometimes consumed Hennessy cognac during halftime while playing for the Chicago Bulls.

MillerCoors has said goodbye to Zima. The joint venture between SABMiller's U.S. unit and Molson Coors Brewing Co. told distributors in a letter that production of the malt liquor beverage was discontinued Oct. 10. Chief Marketing Officer Andy England attributed the decision to weakness in the "malternative" segment and declining consumer interest. He said Zima inventories would probably last through December.

The federal government will provide helicopters to help protect revelers during the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, authorities said Monday. It was not revealed how many helicopters would be made available from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or how they would be deployed. "The Department of Homeland Security has granted New York's request for air support to help enforce the temporary flight restrictions over New York City on New Year's Eve," agency spokeswoman Rachael Sunbarger said Monday.

It's last call for Adolph Coors Co.'s Vibe, one of several malt-based beer alternatives that flooded the market this year with limited success. "With the major 'malternative' brands peaking over the past few months, we no longer see sufficient potential for the brand to continue investing in it," a Coors spokeswoman said. Shares of Golden, Colo.-based Coors gained $1.18 to $69.66 on the NYSE.

Peter J. Marcher Jr. , a master brewer who developed the formula for Colt 45 malt liquor for the National Brewing Co. of Baltimore, died of pneumonia Feb. 2 at a retirement home in Lancaster, Pa. He was 92. Bella Itkin-Konrath , a nationally known acting teacher at De Paul University whose students included Kevin Anderson, Linda Hunt, Harvey Korman, Joe Mantegna and Elizabeth Perkins, died of natural causes Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in...

"The little guy has won again. I told them if they renamed it 'Gentle Lamb,' we'd still boycott it." --The Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor at St. Sabina Church in Chicago, after G. Heileman Brewing Co. said it was dropping PowerMaster, a new high-alcohol malt liquor. Pfleger had warned that his group would boycott Heileman's Colt 45 Malt Liquor brand if the company marketed the new brew.

* The artist and writer of the syndicated cartoon La Cucaracha. On the Way to the Post Office: My life revolves around errands. A big day out for me is going down to my P.O. box in Boyle Heights. Sometimes, on the way there, I will get a pan dulce at a bakery in Pico Rivera. There's La Imperial Tortilleria y Mercado on 1st Street in Boyle Heights, which has carnitas tacos, which are real big, like double stuffed. I usually get two tacos and that's enough for two hungry cholos.