Pabst Blue Ribbon: Does It Still Deserve The Prize?

Jeff

I am a craft beer fanatic. However, (almost) all of us have a day here and there where we maybe have $ instead of the $$ needed to get something nice and local. But when I'm feeling a little tapped in the wallet department, I still want to drink something good. PBR, which has undergone a cultural resurgence in the last couple of decades, is a beer I haven't had in a long time. So the question is: will it hold up against the more carefully crafted brews that I usually drink now?

Right out of the can some things are very obvious. PBR is very clear, very processed looking. Because it's a huge brand you know every batch is going to come out nearly identical. It has almost no smell and the taste is incredibly mild. It is the most mild tasting non-light beer I can think of.

PBR has subtle hints of nothing. It tastes more like slightly bitter water than beer. To its credit it isn't skunky or iron-tasting like some other cheap beers. It's taste is completely non offensive but it's also non-anything else: non-interesting, non-exciting, non-flavorful.

PBR is a beer to buy when you are looking to get drunk. They've carved out a space for themselves in the public's perception that they care a bit more than companies like Bud or Miller, and their marketing has been less in-your-face than those other big beer companies. But make no mistake: they are a big beer company and their brew tastes like it. 

So if you want a cheap beer for a Saturday night that will turn a party up without setting your bank account back, then PBR might be for you. But if you really enjoy the taste of beer and want something with more flavor and body, then search on my friends. Search on.

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Haley

History is important. It would be easy to dismiss this can because it is such a common design in the here and now- Americana colors, simple designs. But for a beer that's been around since 1844 and did indeed used to come with a blue ribbon around its neck, these design choices make sense.

The ribbon, the colors, the wheat design at the bottom- all harken back to the history and legacy of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Its less old-fashioned than it is old-timey.

With that I say, while I don't personally find this can exciting in this day and age, it is iconic and recognizable at the least. But be warned: anybody new to the scene coming at me with some wheat stalks and red, white, and blue colors isn't going to get the same level of acceptance found here.