St. Ides

St. Ides is a malt liquor manufactured by the Pabst Brewing Company. The beverage contains 8.2% alcohol by volume, which is stronger than many high-alcohol malt liquors. It was launched by the McKenzie River Corporation in 1987. St. Ides gained prominence during the late 1980s and early 1990s through the use of celebrity endorsements by rap artists.

The beer is also available in a number of "St. Ides Special Brews" which have a variety of flavorings, including mint and various fruit flavors.

Marketing

The St. Ides brand has used celebrity endorsements by rappers. Chuck D took a stance against malt liquor advertising and sued the brand's then-owner, the McKenzie River Brewing Company, for using his voice without his permission.^[1]

St. Ides was original called St. Ides Premium Malt Liquor and was 6.2% and 7.3% ABV, then the brew was reformulated in the early 2000s and the alcohol content became 8.1 & 8.2% ABV and St Ides became St. Ides High Gravity Malt Liquor.
St. Ides has been parodied in the movie Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood with the name "St. DiES".
Rappers that have mentioned St. Ides in their music are Andre Nickatina, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Kool G Rap, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Afroman, MC Eiht, Spice 1, Scarface, Wu-Tang Clan, Project Pat, King Tee, DJ Pooh, The Notorious B.I.G., Eric B & Rakim, EPMD, Method Man & Redman, Eazy E, Cypress Hill, RBL Posse, Luniz, Jarren Benton, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Phantom Balance and the Geto Boys.
Comedian Chris Rock has a line in the song "Champagne", "My baby's father, brought me a case of St. Ides (did you like it?)"
Musician Elliott Smith recorded a song titled "St. Ides Heaven" for his 1995 self-titled album.