# How did Pabst Blue Ribbon become hip? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173 "2011-06-03T06:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/41 "2011-06-03T23:32:49Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > One of us doesn’t know what a hipster is. She said unpretentious, what she means (even if she debt know it) is closer to uncool. It’s that trying to hard thing. Microbrews are trying too hard to like something. PBR is cool because it is both uncool and non mainstream. Unpretentious is less of a mouthfull. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/42 "2011-06-04T00:29:37Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Oh my God that sounds awesome! It’s like Russian Roulette in reverse! [The Beerhunter.](http://youtu.be/ILYTMMTZF_8?t=16s) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/43 "2011-06-04T01:27:57Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > When I was in high school Schaefer could be purchased for $6 a case. It is an undrinkable beer. It is fit only for beer bonging. Drinking a PBR on the other hand can be an enjoyable experience. Back when I used to drink a lot of beer, Schaefer was the only brand that ever made me throw up without getting drunk first. That was my first and last 6-pack of that. I always enjoyed PBR. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/44 "2011-06-04T01:48:29Z")
“I’ve got Pabst Blue Ribbon on my mind…” I don’t drink beer but I miss beer commercial jingles. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/45 "2011-06-04T02:12:51Z")
It’s a drinkable beer and it leaves me with a hangover like few other beers can generate. Maybe a horrendous hangover makes some people feel like they had a wild night before. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/46 "2011-06-04T03:35:43Z")
Traditionally a working class beer that gives those drinking it a bit of the feeling that they too are one of the lunch pail crowd. Schlitz will be next. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/47 "2011-06-04T08:41:47Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Schlitz will be next. Whaddaya mean will be? Schlitz has made some inroads in the last few years, having gone back to the “old” formula. It’s actually not a bad beer–a clear level better than PBR in its new old incarnation. Problem is, it’s priced almost like a craft brew these days, at least the stuff in bottles–$6-$7 a six-pack. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/48 "2011-06-04T12:18:15Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > One of us doesn’t know what a hipster is. I live in the Pacific Northwest. I know what liking something ironically is. So it looks like it’s you. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/49 "2011-06-04T16:09:19Z")
> [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](#): > > Hence the spike in sales, as the mass of lemmings who look down on lemmings for being lemmings all did the exact same thing for unique reasons just like everybody else. Thank you, truly, for encapsulating everything I loathe about hipsters in one sentence. Very well put. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/50 "2011-06-05T02:54:28Z")
Isn’t this question-begging, really? PBR isn’t exactly hip (at least anymore) in the PNW; it used to be in places where for some reason you couldn’t find it, certain places on the East coast, but that’s just my recollection. Fuck Heineken – I think I’ll hit the grocery for a sixer after dark and, having nothing going on tonight (shitty stupid economy fucks rats), have a few at my place. The hipster beers of record at local dive bars/bike-messenger hangouts/hobo holes are anything cheap in a can. Hamm’s could be it one day, Olympia the next. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/51 "2011-06-05T04:49:57Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’ll drink PBR before I drink any AB beer. But not because I think PBR is good. To be honest, I think it tastes like a watery mixture of corn and rice. I just cracked my second tallboy, and I never really paid attention to the taste before. I think you might have opened my mind a little – it kind of does resemble how you describe it. Still tastes better than how I remember a High Life or similar. FWIW I don’t drink beer really – I go out, have a microbrew or several jammed with hops the way I like it, and maybe if I want something at home I’ll have a Camo 9% 24 oz. can (or several). Haven’t had a can of Pabst in quite a while. Live and learn, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/52 "2011-06-05T06:50:15Z")
Update: one left of the six, and it still tastes … there’s a bitter component, but not like a bitter ale, more like black pepper as an aftertaste. Not disgusting, but it’s a sharp, unexpected aftertaste. It fills the palate like I imagine pureed, diluted corn or cooked white rice might. However, I’ve noticed this effect much more with the Miller High Life type things (especially when had warm), so, all in all, not terrible. At least it’s cold and since I don’t have my teapot up here where I get WiFi, or a glass for water, it’s something to drink. It’s odd, but the hangover-talking folks might have a point – I’ve only had, what, maybe the equivalent of six or so 12 oz. beers over the course of a few hours, but I feel slightly light-headed. Maybe it’s the carbonation, or maybe dehydration from having to piss every ten minutes or so, but it’s odd that so little alcohol would have any effect on me at all. Maybe somebody put something in these ones. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/53 "2011-06-05T09:42:00Z")
Obviously it is due to my favorite [Mary Chapin-Carpenter song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCKhcsYza34). ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/54 "2011-06-07T00:16:56Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Hamm’s could be it one day, Olympia the next. Good call. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/55 "2011-06-07T06:25:38Z")
Might have been the cool [Asshats](http://www.etsy.com/listing/26983315/crocheted-beer-can-hat-pabst-blue-ribbon). I had a Bud one, way back in the day around 7 or 8. It was a differnt design than that… wider brim… more boonie.Got it at the Vollmar’s park picnic. I wonder where that hat went? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/56 "2011-06-07T07:35:41Z")
PBR - how can you not love a beer that has been using the line “Voted Americas Best Beer in 1893.” Before that year, believe it or not, Pabst Blue Ribbon was just Pabst. But they won a first-prize, blue ribbon, and the name was forever changed. Woo hoo! Many people have hit on its main selling points - it’s cheap, it’s a national beer, and it’s not bad tasting. Especially cold. I don’t mind PBR, and would choose it over such popular choices as Rolling Rock, which is and always has been western PA swill. When Rolling Rock went national, I was amazed. I was even more amazed that people still drink it and still charge a premium for it. You couldn’t give me a case of that crap. It remains the only beer that consistently gives me mind splintering headaches and hangovers, and I never drink enough to ever get drunk. I think it’s poison. So, bring on that PBR - America’s Best since 1893 indeed! And it also (allegedly) won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2006. According to Wikipedia, the 1893 award is also dubious. Sounds like sour grapes to me. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/57 "2011-06-08T18:20:02Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Posers. 😃 It was the hipster beer of choice in the Star Bar in Atlanta at least from the mid-90s. Some Seattle kid passing through must have picked up on it. This. I first started drinking it in Atlanta in the mid-90s. You could get tallboys for $1 at any bar with a punk or rockabilly crowd, and rockabilly was king in Atlanta back then. When I moved back to Florida, I took a taste for it with me, but it wasn’t until the mid 2000s that you could find it here. Now it’s everywhere, which is good - I’m poor, and I like to drink beer. Whoever up thread that mentioned Natty Light is right - I’ve noticed that being the new beer of choice among the hip and broke. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/58 "2011-06-08T18:41:46Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I don’t mind PBR, and would choose it over such popular choices as Rolling Rock, which is and always has been western PA swill. No argument that Rolling Rock is bad beer. I’m from western PA and never liked the stuff. [However, it is New Jersey swill and has been since 2006.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Rock) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/59 "2011-06-08T19:21:19Z")
My response whenever I hear people talking about Pabst Blue Ribbon is, “Psh, I stopped drinking that when I was 6.” When I was a small child, my grandfather, a plasterer all his life, drank PBR and would pour me a little Dixie cup of beer from his can. I always thought of it as blue collar/working man beer. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173/60 "2011-06-08T19:56:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > One of us doesn’t know what a hipster is. Hipsterism is about being pretentious about how unpretentious you are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-pabst-blue-ribbon-become-hip/584173.md?page=4)