Pabst Blue Ribbon

D

dogstar

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
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Does anyone like them some PBR? I hear it's the hipster beer of choice these days, which means it's sufficiently unpopular to be popular with the alternative mindset.

I'm one of the least hip people you can find. I was introduced to PBR 20 years ago in college, and kept drinking it because it was a) cheap, b) didn't taste like piss. But nowadays I get labeled a hipster for buying this stuff. At least it's easy to find; the local 7-11 stocks it.

Remember "Blue Velvet?" Dennis Hopper does PBR a solid here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhiofL2Rh4
...And I agree, Heineken is garbage.
 
PBR is pretty good, but I much prefer Hamm's

hamms.jpg
 
Heineken I always found was excellent with fish. Somewhere I read that Pabst doesn't make beer anymore but buys from someone else ?

When I was in HS I sometimes operated the switchboard. Our principle's name was Pabst. If I was asked to spell the name I always said 'p a b s t ' as in Pabst Beer.
 
While I'm not a big fan of Pabst - in my opinion there are much better beers, even at that price point - I am somewhat in awe of the brand's climb back into some sort of popularity (from a serious, and steep, decline).

Beer tends to be marketed (and priced) in categories: at one time those categories were ..

Import
Super Premium
Premium
Popular
Local

The modern categories would necessarily include yet another category - craft brewed beers. This newer category might also have sub-categories in which various pricing strategies are implemented.

The price/level of certain brands would sometimes differ in various areas of the country, but Pabst Blue Ribbon was, at one time, in the premium category and held a price that was very similar to other brands in that category (think Bud, Miller, Coors).

The 1970's onward saw major changes in domestic breweries and Pabst Blue Ribbon was one of the brands that began free-falling as far as market share goes.

Sometime in the 1980's the brewery - rather the owners of the brewery (it had changed hands several times) - decided to market their main brand (PBR) at a lower price point. This was largely in response to the then popularity of Old Milwaukee Beer (a very popular and fast growing brand at that time). Other brands had attempted to do the same, but had failed miserably.

The brand made a big push with younger drinkers - specifically college-age drinkers - and managed to catch hold despite some rather fierce competition from the bigger players (AB had Bush and Bush light, Coors had Keystone and keystone light, and Miller brought out Milwaukee's Best). The market leader, at that time, was Old Milwaukee (from Stroh's) - but they were overtaken by Bush fairly rapidly. The last I knew, PBR trailed all of those brands, but that has likely changed since I was involved in the business.

Hamms - a beer that I do like - was bought out by Pabst and marketed in the popular priced category but it never really caught on and never regained its popularity with the public. Stroh's tried to do the same thing with Schlitz, but that effort really didn't go anywhere at all; Schlitz had sullied its image so badly that nothing worked to resurrect the brand (they changed the recipe back to the original and that too failed - despite the fact that it was an excellent beer).

Today there are no major domestic-owned breweries: all have been sold to larger conglomerates and in some cases the numerous brands have been split up and sold to various conglomerates. Pabst is one such example; its brands were split up and sold to several companies that brew beer (I believe Miller is now brewing Pabst Blue Ribbon). Some brands have remained somewhat independent, contracting their brands out to another brewery and marketing them as best as they can. Others have managed to continue on as they have for decades - Yuengling is the best example that comes to mind - and brew their own beer as they always have (an excellent beer, by the way).

The one constant, in the brewing world, over the past 30-40 years has been change. Breweries have been bought and sold, regional favorites have all but disappeared and the giants have lost market share to craft breweries (which have sprung up all over the nation). In many ways this change has been very good for the public, as the craft breweries have introduced some truly excellent beers and offered Americans the opportunity to try something other than the somewhat bland and ordinary that was once the mainstay. In a way it is as though we've turned back the clock to a time when almost every town of any size had their own brewery with their own preferred style of beer.
 
dogstar said:
Does anyone like them some PBR? I hear it's the hipster beer of choice these days, which means it's sufficiently unpopular to be popular with the alternative mindset.

I'm one of the least hip people you can find. I was introduced to PBR 20 years ago in college, and kept drinking it because it was a) cheap, b) didn't taste like piss. But nowadays I get labeled a hipster for buying this stuff. At least it's easy to find; the local 7-11 stocks it.

Remember "Blue Velvet?" Dennis Hopper does PBR a solid here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhiofL2Rh4
...And I agree, Heineken is garbage.
Click to expand...

When I saw the title to this thread... I actually said out loud "Heineken SUCKS... PABST BLUE RIBBON!" PBR isn't bad, tastes better on tap than in a can. Schlitz is actually decent on tap too. For me... it's gotta be OLD STYLE! I loves me some Old Style. Think Local, Drink Local. Tahts.... nice synopsis.
 
Love PBR. I've been drinking it for at least 20 years. Thats whats in the fridge at the moment. You are right about the Hipsters though... Funny thing about kids these days. Not much they do is new but it's hip to be new to it.

I'm not old... Your music really does suck.
 
My boss keeps some beer in a fridge, in the shop. They have been stocking it with PBR for awhile now.

A while back,I ended up having a day off work, so I just cleaned on the truck a little, and cracked open a PBR. I couldn't drink it. I took a few drinks of it, and dumped the rest of it out. That stuff is horrid....
 
You guys drink some craptastic beer. As soon as I could afford too I stopped drinking that stuff. For American Lagers Yuengling is awesome! That other stuff gives me a headache.
 
Ugh, I didn't know anyone actually liked the taste, or lack thereof, of beers like pbr and hamms. I thought the only purpose of drinking dishwater like that was to get drunk.... I drank my fair share of it at twenty when I didn't know any better, but I'm really glad to see so many craft breweries gaining popularity.
 
I grew up on the stuff. I've tried beers from all over the world, and like many of them, but sometimes (OK, most of the time) I just want a crisp light American lager. I don't give a hoot if it's hip or not, as long as the price doesn't go up too much. (Leinie's used to be cheap as dirt when I was a kid, now they want "premium/import" prices for it :thumbdn:)

Daft Slice 1986 said:
PBR is pretty good, but I much prefer Hamm's

hamms.jpg
Click to expand...

Me too! Unfortunately no one stocks Hamm's down here... whenever I go back to WI to visit I bring some back, but it never lasts long.

The best part of this thread is that it reminded me to check my fridge... wayyyyy in the back there's a sixer of PBR tallboys I had nearly forgotten about! :D :thumbup:
 
PBR has become more of a fashion statement than a beer of choice...
 
Around here PBR is $1.50 a pint, only thing cheaper on tap is High Life, $1.00 a pint. Olympia(now made by Pabst) has become popular with college crowd.


Kris
 
dogstar said:
Does anyone like them some PBR? I hear it's the hipster beer of choice these days... I'm one of the least hip people you can find.
Click to expand...

I can tell. These days? Try like 10 years ago.

Fast forum fact... I used to live in Milwaukee when they still brewed PBR there. One always knew a batch was being brewed because the entire inner city smelled like malt and yeast. Milwaukee is called the "Brew City" for a reason. At the time, you could get pony kegs from the factory for $20.00! Those were the days.

Yes, PBR is still my beer of choice after all these years. It's common in these parts. Drink! I love WI!
 
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PBR is popular now? Love the stuff...there was a pizza place at FSU that had PBR on tap. A slice of pie as big as your head and a draught PBR...mmmm
 
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