# What the fuck is it about hipsters and PBR? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036 "2009-08-28T15:45:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/61 "2009-08-29T16:24:00Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Tsingtao? _Obscure_? It’s Chinese Budweiser, and I see it at every Asian restaraunt that serves beer. Yeah, it’s junk here, but the person who posted that is in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/62 "2009-08-29T16:49:30Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > So if I get this right, you’re drinking PBR as an expression of your elitism? No it just means I don’t care for Bud. It’s cheaper than Bud, and, on my personal taster meter anyway, rates a few notches above Bud. It’s still swill, but it’s inoffensive swill that doesn’t have the chemical piss taste of many AB products. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/63 "2009-08-29T17:35:35Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Yeah, it’s junk here, but the person who posted that is in Australia. Yeah, I know. I’ d still be pretty surprised if it really is obscure there, though. It’s the largest brewery in China, and Australia has a pretty large Chinese population. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/64 "2009-08-29T18:05:40Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Yeah, I know. I’ d still be pretty surprised if it really is obscure there, though. It’s the largest brewery in China, and Australia has a pretty large Chinese population. Shrug, but I’m more likely to take the Australian’s word about Australia than the guy from Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/65 "2009-08-29T18:35:52Z")
I’m not contradicting him. It just seems strange. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/66 "2009-08-29T20:31:00Z")
Until the hipster onslaught, Pabst was no longer widely advertised. This had to be an advantage for those under the spell of “nonconformist groupthink.” Frankly, my pissbeer of choice is Miller Lite. Tastes great in comparison to any other light pissbeer; less filling than anything with actual taste. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/67 "2009-08-29T22:56:29Z")
I could have written this OP. I was actually considering it a week ago. Hipsters bug me to no end anyway, but this thing with PBR is just plain ridiculous. The stuff has a bad taste. I have no problem with Bud or whatever…the taste of those beers isn’t totally rank. Most of the time they lack flavor. But PBR is disgusting. All the places in Portland where hipsters hag out serve PBR in bottles or cans. (If any serve it draft, I’ve never seen it.) I think if hipsters had to buy it in draft they wouldn’t. Part of it is walking around with the bottle (or even worse…a can). I can totally understand someone not wanting to play $3 or $4 for a pint of craft beer, but PBR now costs almost as much! And I’m sick of the way they dress and their rectangle glasses. I can’t ever remember a group of people who looked more alike–potheads, hippies, 50-something-women driving subarus–not of them are as homogeneous as hipsters. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/68 "2009-08-30T00:28:59Z")
Of course, you all realize that Corona was the cheapest swill that a Mexican brewery had to offer. It was the PBR of Mexican field workers that got paid next to nothing and wanted/needed a beer at the end of a long day. I’m talking about the Mexicans that hadn’t made it across the border to the USA. A case of Corona cost less than $2. The California “hipsters” decided to make it a “cool” beer. The lime was added to make it drinkable. Like any fad, it spread. Now it is selling for something like $12 a six pack depending on where you live and the taxes. So, enjoy your PBR, your Corona, your Rolling Rock, or whatever else you think is “hip”. It all costs about the same to brew. It’s a matter of how much is spent on marketing and how impressed you are with trends. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/69 "2009-08-30T00:43:31Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > So, enjoy your PBR, your Corona, your Rolling Rock, or whatever else you think is “hip”. It all costs about the same to brew. It’s a matter of how much is spent on marketing and how impressed you are with trends. Enjoy! What kind of beer should I drink to look as sophisticated as you? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/70 "2009-08-30T00:50:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What kind of beer should I drink to look as sophisticated as you? I don’t drink beer to look sophisticated. Duh! Your “putz” rating has just soared into the stratosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/71 "2009-08-30T01:07:31Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Yeah, I know. I’ d still be pretty surprised if it really is obscure there, though. It’s the largest brewery in China, and Australia has a pretty large Chinese population. Most of the people in Australia aren’t Chinese, though. 😉 Your “Average” Australian has never heard of Tsingtao, and it’s generally only available in Chinese restaurants and sizeable liquor stores. So, if I rock up at someone’s backyard barbeque with a six-pack of Tsingtao, suddenly I become the super-cool erudite dude of the world with the exotic beer that no-one else has ever heard of. The odd thing is that there’s an Indonesian (yes, I know, a brewery in a Muslim country) beer called Bintang that everyone from Australia who goes to Bali gets shitfaced on, and so you can get it in bottle shops here and you see heaps of people who’ve been on holiday to Indonesia coming back with “Bintang” T-shirts. So, I’d say everyone here knows what Bintang is and knows it’s the Pilsener consumed by Aussie tourists in Bali, but if you showed up at a US party with it I suspect everyone would think “WTF? Indonesian Beer? That’s some exotic shit right there!” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/72 "2009-08-30T01:10:21Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > Your “putz” rating has just soared into the stratosphere. I can see your house from up here! ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/73 "2009-08-30T01:18:55Z")
FWIW… PBR became the hipster-contrarian beer of choice in Athens, GA, back in the '90s. In addition to being a college town, Athens is also a farmtown with a large redneck population. PBR was the #1 selling beer in Athens, with brisk sales at “townie” bars, black bars, and country bars. Of course, the hipster-contrarian crowd loves to appropriate “authentic” venues, and they proceeded to invade several of those locales, such as the Manhattan, and PBR became popular with them in the process. This was long before any marketing campaigns. In their defense, a lot of those folks really don’t have much money. A lot of them are teaching their way through a degree and making up the difference with loans or sidework. And I can’t see that their thrift-store fashion is any more or less ridiculous than any of the other groups (ironed jeans, anyone?) except for the local nine-to-fivers who tend to just show up in whatever they wore to work, be it button-down and tie or blue collar and work boots. When I heard a sponsor slug by PBR on NPR earlier this year I like to fell out. I wonder if the hipsterization of PBR got kicked off in Athens, or if it bubbled up in several cities, or if Athens had nothing to do with it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/74 "2009-08-30T01:55:17Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > I don’t drink beer to look sophisticated. Duh! > > Your “putz” rating has just soared into the stratosphere. Wait…we’re being _rated_? Are the standings published? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/75 "2009-08-30T01:58:47Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > Of course, you all realize that Corona was the cheapest swill that a Mexican brewery had to offer. It was the PBR of Mexican field workers that got paid next to nothing and wanted/needed a beer at the end of a long day. I’m talking about the Mexicans that hadn’t made it across the border to the USA. A case of Corona cost less than $2. > > The California “hipsters” decided to make it a “cool” beer. The lime was added to make it drinkable. Like any fad, it spread. Now it is selling for something like $12 a six pack depending on where you live and the taxes. > > So, enjoy your PBR, your Corona, your Rolling Rock, or whatever else you think is “hip”. It all costs about the same to brew. It’s a matter of how much is spent on marketing and how impressed you are with trends. Enjoy! Where did you find this “factual” information? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/76 "2009-08-30T02:24:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Most of the people in Australia aren’t Chinese, though. 😉 > > Your “Average” Australian has never heard of Tsingtao, and it’s generally only available in Chinese restaurants and sizeable liquor stores. > > So, if I rock up at someone’s backyard barbeque with a six-pack of Tsingtao, suddenly I become the super-cool erudite dude of the world with the exotic beer that no-one else has ever heard of. Hm. Have you actually done this? The small (~40,000) town I live in has two sushi joints, and probably three or four Chinese buffets, and all of them offer Tsingtsao, but I visit all of them on a semi-regular basis, and due to my own familiarity with the brand, I wouldn’t consider it anything special, so I’d honestly be a little flummoxed by anone consdiering it an obscure brand. Keep in mind, I am not doubting you. I’m not someone who thinks I don’t have I have sophisticated tastes. I actually tend to assume I have pretty generic tastes so I am surprised when I discover those that don’t. It just seems weird to me that something that seems so familiar to me would be exotic to someone who is in a pretty similar situation. PS: I am drinking Natty Ice right now. Does that make me the ultimate hipster? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/77 "2009-08-30T03:20:33Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > I don’t drink beer to look sophisticated. Duh! > > Your “putz” rating has just soared into the stratosphere. Base level sophisticate: Duvel Intermediate sophisticate: A saison that isn’t available more than 5 miles from the point of production Advanced sophistication: Sierra Nevada Pale 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/78 "2009-08-30T03:24:06Z")
The _only_ true hipster beer is [SCHAEFER.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3QBcrliFNk) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/79 "2009-08-30T06:08:20Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Hm. Have you actually done this? The small (~40,000) town I live in has two sushi joints, and probably three or four Chinese buffets, and all of them offer Tsingtsao, but I visit all of them on a semi-regular basis, and due to my own familiarity with the brand, I wouldn’t consider it anything special, so I’d honestly be a little flummoxed by anone consdiering it an obscure brand. Yes, I’ve done it before, and yes, people wanted to know A) What the beer was and B) Where it was from since they’d never heard of it. And this was a group of fairly average people, too. The thing is, just because a Chinese restaurant here offers Tsingtao doesn’t mean your average (white) Australian is going to drink it or pay any attention to it beyond “Some beer with an Asian name I’ve never heard of”. There’s plenty of other perfectly good or even excellent (IMHO) Imported Beers with the same problem- Kirin, Dos Equis, and Kingfisher, to name three off the top of my head. Most of the people I know drink what they know, which is usually VB, Tooheys, XXXX, Pure Blonde, or Hahn. It’s only when someone they know (usually me) comes along and says “Hey, this stuff is really good, try it” that they start opening up a bit to the wonders of the World Of Beer. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/80 "2009-08-30T10:22:09Z")
PBR is HUGE in Portland. I have no idea why. Neither does anyone here that drinks it. Neither does PBR. They just know that it is, and aren’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. I like it, it’s a good lawnmower beer and I have a six pack in the kegerator for a lark (or beer philistines). I’ve always wondered how many hipsters go to the Professional Bull Riding show by mistake at the Rose Garden when they come into town. > [@silenus](#): > > Base level sophisticate: Duvel > > Intermediate sophisticate: A saison that isn’t available more than 5 miles from the point of production > > Advanced sophistication: Sierra Nevada Pale > 😃 …clone that you made yourself. Nothing screams beer snobbery more than brewing your own beer. Unless you’re a wine snob, but I repeat myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036.md?page=5)