
Here’s a time-honored way to get more people to like your alcoholic beverage: Put more booze in it. Despite the ups and downs of Phusion Project’s Four Loko, the caffeine-fueled drink that got regulators up in arms, Pabst Brewing Co., with help from Snoop Dogg, is set to launch “Blast by Colt 45,” a little fruit-flavored number with twice the punch of the original Pabst Blue Ribbon Colt 45. The rollout includes a Snoop Tour of Southern California, accompanied by a covey of tank-topped female associates. Ah, branding. But at 12% alcohol by volume, Blast is a high-risk venture aimed at youthful drinkers in what has been dubbed the “alcopop” market. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company signed a long-term marketing agreement with the rapper for an undisclosed sum. “This is a lot of booze in one can,” said the executive director of the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog.