Pabst Brewing Co., which owns the Primo brand, said a draft version of the century-old beer will be available at about two dozen local popular eateries and watering holes starting the week of Dec. 10.

The company also said a bottled version will be available in local stores by April.

"People have a lot of aloha for Primo -- there's a ton of passion associated with our brand," said Kyle Wortham, senior brand manager at Primo Brewing & Malting Co.

"Our first priority is to return Primo to the locals and make it available in their establishments."

The new Primo will be a premium version of the beer that was once the state's best selling beer, especially among blue-collar beer-drinkers.

The draft beer will be produced locally by Keoki Brewing of Kaua'i, which will initially produce about 200 kegs a month.

The beer was created by Mainland brewmasters Phil Markowski and Bob Newman, who recently were named brewmasters of the year by the Great American Beer Festival for the second year in a row.

The bottled version will be produced by Pabst in Irwindale, Calif., Primo said. The draft and bottled versions will be distributed by Paradise Beverage Co.

Earlier this week, Primo held a taste testing and several people who attended the event said they were pleasantly surprised by the beer's smooth, light flavor.

"We tasted several rounds as the recipe was being fine tuned, including sessions with poke and other pupus," added Keoni Watson, well-known surfer and unofficial "chief Primo ambassador."

"Primo belongs here; it's as local as spam musubi."

Primo was founded in 1898 by Honolulu Brewing & Malting Co., whose brewmaster Emil Joseph Waterman sought to use Hawai'i's high quality water for brewing.

By the 1950s and 1960s, the locally brewed beer had become the state's best-selling brand.

In 1979, then owner Schlitz Brewing Co. moved production to the Mainland and sold Primo to Stroh Brewery Co. three years later. In 1997, Stroh stopped producing Primo.