THE SOLUTION:
He would prefer Bud.
Tom likes short nicknames — Coke for Coca-Cola, A’s for Athletics, and Chevy for Chevrolet. Naturally, he’d prefer Bud (Budweiser) over the other two options as his malted beverage of choice. (He also likes FedEx and KFC… if you can come up with any other brand names that Tom would like, please post them in the comments. Thanks!)