For generations, the familiar blue-and-white Pabst Blue Ribbon sign on Main Street in Center Moriches marked more than a place to buy beer—it stood as a local institution built by the Mentz family.
“My father started out driving a truck around 1949 or 1950,” recalled Ed Mentz, who later ran the business himself. “Back then, they sold Pabst Blue Ribbon and Hoffman soda in wooden crates. Around 1951 or ’52, they moved into the building on Main Street, where it stayed for decades.”
In 1952, Ed’s father and a partner purchased the business, turning it into a bustling wholesale distributor that supplied area stores and taverns. When Hoffman Soda ended local distribution in the early ’60s, the operation focused solely on Pabst. “By 1969, Dad switched from wholesale to retail,” Mentz said. “He ran it until he passed away in 1981, and I took over from there until selling it in 1984.”
After serving four years in the Navy—working in the engine rooms aboard the USS Bennington and the USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam era—Mentz joined his father full time in 1975. “The plan was for me to buy him out so he could retire,” the Medford resident said. “But when he passed, it became part of his estate, and with my family involved, it was easier to sell than to keep it.” The current owner, Rocky, has picked up where the Mentz’s left off, serving up the suds for the last 10 years.
The family’s beer legacy didn’t end there. “My youngest son works in sales for Manhattan Beer,” Mentz noted. “My oldest worked for Clare Rose for years before moving to Florida.”
Looking back, Mentz remembers Center Moriches as “a very nice little town.” He recalled summers as a boy catching frogs in Red Bridge Creek behind the store. “We did good business and knew everyone—firemen, shopkeepers, neighbors. It was a close-knit place.”