I enjoy watching this great review when I have a PBR. My Grandfather used to drink PBR. PBR is a classic working man's beer in the U.S., refreshing, drinkable, and affordable for everyone. I would certainly agree that there is a great deal of similarity among the American lagers, but having drank them all for years, there are differences. To me, PBR is the best of the bunch. A cold PBR is even better with your great review. it's a great story. Cheers!
They used to have a brewery in Oakland, CA where my family used to live, back in the days. My Dad told me a story how every Friday my Grandfather would come home with a case. Also, his friends that worked there would bring over a case, so they would have a barbecue. In San Jose CA there used to be a bar (The Longest Bar) they closed it. Super old school Americana. They had those 70s paintings of topless women on black velvet. Afros and flowing hair everywhere. Tiny little bar box. My friend had his 25th birthday there, a pitcher of Pabst for 5 bucks, (man what a deal). We got all sloshed that night. Great old school juke box. Great times... Now I feel sad. Places and things like that are all gone now. Replaced by souless sanitized places. No more grit, grime, or, skin.
I’m probably 40+ years younger than you but you’re singing my song!! Everything I see culturally from the 70s looks so real and raw. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall man
Ivan, did any of your old school relatives or family recall Regal Pale Beer out of San Francisco? It was a working man's (I'll never say cheap --- a hard working man gets what he can afford, no shame there) beer for the end of a long day's hard work. Just asking.
They're not all gone! There's a brilliant dive bar in Brooklyn called Duffs, open since '99, which plays heavy metal on the jukebox and sells cans of PBR for a dollar.
Hell down 146 here in Baytown Texas there's a place like that called The limelight I go in there every other Friday and have a few beers and play pool they've been in the same spot since 1957
I smile because I just picked up a 30 pack cube last night on sale at my local grocery for $15. This is just as you describe it. A working mans end of the day beer where you just sit down and have a few while you sit and forget all about work and begin to enjoy your time.
I’ve learned that a beer is sometimes only as good as the environment you’re drinking it. America in the summer is freaking hot. Have a cold one of these at a ball game with 90 degrees outside and you’ll swear it’s the best beer on the planet.
I've tried many Pabst Blue Ribbon variants, since 1996: Pabst Ice, Pabst Genuine Draft, Pabst Easy, Pabst American Pale Ale, Pabst Old Tankard Ale, Pabst Blue Ribbon Extra, & Pabst Hard Coffee.
In the south we call this a paw paw beer, meaning an old time beer our grandfathers would drink. For what it is it is good, it gets over 32 Celsius everyday in the south during the summer. It works in that environment.
I was introduced to PBR working as a rafting guide on the Ocoee river. You had to buy a case for the other guides if you fell out of your raft. It was called “swim beer.”
I believe this is the only American adjunct lager you can buy here in Sweden that's actually brewed in the US. Millers, Bud and Coors are brewed under license at various locations. Not that it makes a huge difference, but if for some reason you crave a "genuine" American adjunct lager, this is the best choice.
Just watched The Food that Built America with Adam Richman on the History Channel. Actually at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Schlitz won honorable mention. Captain Frederick Pabst made little blue ribbons that went on the necks of each bottle of Pabst that was sent to the competition. It was sort of a subliminal message to everybody that his beer was the best. It is and was common in the Mid West to award prize winning cows and produce, etc with this "blue ribbon" demarcation, Le Cordon Bleu, if you will. Pabst got SOME of the highest reviews of the competition but not the most! Captain Pabst actually declared his beer the winner himself in the newspapers AFTER the competition was concluded!! The beer that scored the highest in that head to head was GUINNESS STOUT, from Ireland!! It's still the best in the world and in a class by itself and always, my personal favorite!! These two beers can not stand up to Guinness. Sadly, no mass produced American beer can! The closest thing to a great American beer is Sam Adams.
Drinking PBR right now. Got 2 6-packs of tall boys and one cooling in the freezer. PBR goes great with different foods, especially spicy curries, etc. I would puke if I drank Bud or Miller with most foods.
Back in my bar hopping days, this was my go to pregame beer. Had a few to get buzzed, hopped in a Lyft, and enjoyed whatever the night brought. Man do I miss those days.
The reason it is successful is that although it's just a typical American light lager with adjuncts, it does have a bit more flavor than say a Bud, yet it's actually cheaper. The flavor to price ratio is what has made it successful and particularly popular with the younger hipster generation because of that and the retro appeal that it has. It costs like it should be one of the worst beers, but it tastes like an OK beer. Drinking a Bud isn't considered hip or cool, but drinking a PBR is. And that factor is what's made them successful in recent times.
Picked up another 6 pack of PBR here in the North Georgia mountains. So I thought I would watch this review again, with another can of Pabst. Really a great review. Loved the story. Very inspiring. Thanks for the great reviews. Keep them coming! Peace brother.
This is my favorite beer, I don’t really care, I’ve drank a tone of different beers but this one is the only one that just hits the spot better than others, well this one and Sapporo. Love PBR! ❤️❤️
I don't know why, but this beer has specifically become the beer that I take fishing. A couple of tall cans. The low ABV is good for fishing (which includes day drinking)
Pabst Blue Ribbon was my first beer and like my Father and his brother it was the only beer that would ever wet their throats. However somewhere since then the brewing recipe was changed because it just doesn't have the same taste or appeal as it once did. But I remain a loyal drinker to Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer😊.
How has PBR changed? My first beer was Busch - because that is what grandpa drank - and later I drank Bud Light when I was over 21. I did not try PBR until a few years later.
Pabst was a well received beer dating back to the turn of the 19th century being served in many of the working man's bars and at gatherings continuing in the same endeavor right up to the end of the 1960's when it began it's decline as more 'upper-crust' beers began to be popular with the younger crowd now coming up the ladder. Soon the beer drinking tastes changed and beer companies began to move away from the 'working-man's' beers and into the more refined beers with new companies coming along to replace those that fell by the wayside. It seems a salesman has bred new life back into the age old Pabst - but as a former Pabst beer drinker from the 60's and before - it's not the same Pabst of old .... but I do hope Pabst will get the message and bring back the Pabst - that many that are still around still remember = " What'll you have ? Pabst Blue Ribbon " !
The History Channel has a great episode featuring Pabst vs Schlitz and how Pabst reworked their formulation ship outside the Milwaukee market. Ironically at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair, Pabst came away in second place as the “best beer” to Guinness as the American best beer. “Best beer” is still on the label.
You hit the nail on the head. Not the worst beer ever. Great to drink 6 or more at a big American style event like a BBQ. Or after a hard days work. Refreshing. I like them because it's one of the only ones that doesn't give me a massive headache. And a side note, it's a WAY better beer out of the can than it is the bottle. Not sure why, probably science.
In my area of Illinois, Pabst was huge in the 60’s-70’s and we drank a lot of it. My recollection is the recipe changed in the years of decline. New ownership brought back the original formula and it remains a nostalgic choice for me. Always preferred Pabst in the bottle just seemed better. Try that if you get around to it. Thank You for discussing this blue collar beer.
Nah. You're thinking of Schlitz. PBR never changed. I never had one out of a bottle that didn't taste good. Now, the old tin cans were a different story- for EVERY beer.
Played a few basement shows and dive bar gigs here around Chicago and let me tell you it's also the beer of punks and misfits having a good time. You know you're in the right place when there's crushed cans and a well broken into "dirty 30" of PBR. All for $12-$15 bucks??? Too good not to pass up.
It started with his dirty glass & went south from there. No filtration...lol Love the PBR, have nearly my entire life. This great beer is truly appreciated when served on tap. It really is delicious from the keg. Side note : He might have mentioned PBR's other stronger, darker & even tastier brother, Andeker.
"Never be the greatest beer int he world.." Negative sir. That's what the Blue Ribbon is about. It WON the 1893 WORLD BEER FESTIVAL. Making it, at that time, the best beer in the world.
Good on ya, Mish-tuh! Beats out Bud, Coors, Miller & most other Yank go-to brews, and it actually tastes like beer --- 70 now, I've honestly enjoyed PBR since I was 5 yrs old & plan on showing a big frosty fridgefull at my funeral --- alwaysThe Life of the Party!!!
Good job! Yes, it's light, watery pale lager. It's not supposed to be anything more than that. For some reason, many reviewers trash it expecting this to be some kind of cryptic heavy dark craft beer. This thing costs like $13 for 30 cans. lol. Cheaper than Coca Cola.
Beer for the common working man. It's light with a hint of sweetness. It's easy to drink, nothing fancy, I'll have it served cold please. I can drink 4 or 5 cans and I won't have a nasty hangover the following morning.
Super cheap beer here in Canada, and way better then Bud or Miller or Coors light or any of that shite....(no hipster movement with it here in Canada, its just cheap good beer) Want to see hipsters? go to Seattle
Not even going to lie , I dranked Pabst since a teen you couldn't refuse a cold beer in the summer , but now they upgraded with 6.5% alcohol level now I buy it all the time 😁
It's an American pale lager. Coors Light is an American light lager. I don't think Pabst even makes a light beer anymore. For many years it was the best selling beer in the Midwest. Every bar had PBR on tap. If you've ever had German beer, Pabst is the closest thing to their pale lager.
Sometimes it’s good to have light lager. I am enjoying a Molson Canadian right now. I know that there are better tasting beers out there but sometimes it’s good to have a cheep low flavor and simple beer.
Simon, can you comment on naming rights. As Scotch can only be from Scotland, and Champagne from that part of France, I presumed the same with Hefeweizen. Recently I discovered one from Denmark (which tasted foul) though, to be fair, Denmark was fairly clear on the can; another was from the Czech Republic, but you really had to squint to find any national name at all. I get Weiss/Wit/White beer is just a style, but thought Hefeweizen was uniquely German. At least the Czech can should not have gone out of their way to appear 100% German.
I drank none of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the 80's nor the 90's when I was legal in '96 to drink but in the past couple years is my number one consumed beer. I mostly consume the stronger 5.9% which has a nicer fuler favour that is less "wet" and thin favoured then the regular one is. It's great price is a deciding factor as it beats all other cheep beers in the same class. It is on the "same shelf" as Budwiser but a few "blocks" before it ;) Better then Bud and cheeper in Montreal then Bud is. But it is still no Miller Genuine Draft! I did have an early 2000's Pabst Blue Ribbon Santa Cruz skate board from the blunder years of there ad campaine which worked.
I love my PBR... I hope like Hell they don't go WOKE. So far it has survived this cancer of American marketing. Here's hoping it makes it out the other side of this Dark Age.
I'm from the States and have been lucky enough to spend a bunch of time in Europe and have fine cask ales in the UK and great pilsners in Germany and the Czech Republic, and some of Belgium's finest. PBR is shit if you compare it straight up to those, HOWEVER- for the money in the United States among national brands it's simply unbeatable. It's not supposed to be the best beer you've ever had. We prefer PBR to Budweiser because it's actually American owned and there's something about it that won't leave you hung over, unlike Bud.
The taste isn’t bad for a cheap beer but it’s been on the same level as Milwaukee best when it comes to the feeling of hangover as you drink it. I’m not a fan of beers that make me feel like I’ve had the crap beaten out of me after only a couple of drinks.