# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/81 "2009-08-30T10:59:34Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > [Hipsters in Space!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_7eEY_9bg8) Fritz Leiber wrote [The Beat Cluster](http://www.collectorshowcase.fr/IMAGES2/GY_6110.jpg) in 1961. Alas, I was too young to be Beat or truly Hip. So I made do with Hippie-dom. But “Hipster” sounds retro to me. I haven’t studied the drinking habits of the neo-Hipsters, but a longtime tradition is “whatever’s cheapest.” (Damn, we used to drink Lone Star.) Shiner’s [Bohemian Black Lager](http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/143/32575) has quite a few fans in Texas–pretty good, not very expensive & it looks cool. ---
**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, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/82 "2009-08-30T16:51:06Z")
Thanks, **Martini**. Reading back, it looks like I’m grilling you, which wasn’t my intent. Was just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/83 "2009-08-30T17:08:49Z")
[Old article touching on the marketing of PBR.](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/magazine/the-marketing-of-no-marketing.html) ---
**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 31, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/84 "2009-08-31T01:21:54Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Thanks, **Martini**. Reading back, it looks like I’m grilling you, which wasn’t my intent. Was just curious. That’s alright, It’s always nice to share stuff like that with people. Next time you’re at a Chinese restaurant and you order Tsingtao, you can casually turn to your friends and say “Did you know this is considered an Exotic Beer in Australia?” and gain some Beer Cred with your friends in the process. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/85 "2009-08-31T01:24:33Z")
Wow. This thing is still going? I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo over this thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/86 "2009-08-31T18:48:57Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But even as a kid, the few sips I would get of that stuff was vile and I’ve never touched it since I could drink on my own. Maybe it’s not as bad as I remember. I’m not a hipster, but I’ve been drinking quite a lot of Genny Cream Ale lately. Actually pretty good, IMO, although my parents (both from Utica area) are stunned that I like it. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/87 "2009-09-01T01:24:52Z")
FWIW, the new rage in Georgia is Yuengling. That stuff sells like icewater in hell. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/88 "2009-09-01T01:27:00Z")
Now here’s a classic from when I was young: [Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3iVHxP8FQ) That’s how I remember PBR. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/89 "2009-09-01T01:31:00Z")
Pabst is fine for what it is. If you’re looking for a macrobrew American lager, you can do a whole lot worse than Pabst. In my opinion, Bud, Miller, Coors, etc., all taste worse. Personally, my beer of choice for this style is Old Style, especially with their new formulation. I once had a PBR on draft in Green Bay that made me actually do a double take. It wasn’t just passable, it was _good_. (Once again, for the style.) Then again, maybe it was the surroundings that made me like it more. But it’s a decent enough beer, and I’ll drink it completely unironically. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/90 "2009-09-01T01:47:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Pabst is fine for what it is. If you’re looking for a macrobrew American lager, you can do a whole lot worse than Pabst. In my opinion, Bud, Miller, Coors, etc., all taste worse. Personally, my beer of choice for this style is Old Style, especially with their new formulation. I once had a PBR on draft in Green Bay that made me actually do a double take. It wasn’t just passable, it was _good_. (Once again, for the style.) Then again, maybe it was the surroundings that made me like it more. But it’s a decent enough beer, and I’ll drink it completely unironically. Watch it, you dont want to expose yourself to the scorn and derision of random strangers (and self appointed hipster-denouncers) on the internet!!! God forbid that you actually enjoy something that just happens to be going thru a popularity upswing currently, even if its something you have been drinking for years… ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/91 "2009-09-01T07:00:02Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Watch it, you dont want to expose yourself to the scorn and derision of random strangers (and self appointed hipster-denouncers) on the internet!!!God forbid that you actually enjoy something that just happens to be going thru a popularity upswing currently, even if its something you have been drinking for years… [Glory Halleluja humming] This is America dammit, and we should drink whatever beer we want, for whatever reason we want, without fear of judgement or persecution! Isn’t that why the original colonists of this great country fled their repressive homelands? I say that if a goofy kid wants to spend too much money on a trendy product to impress some goofy girl, not only am I going to support his right to be a knucklehead, but I am going to salute him! You know why? Because that is what I did, and that is what my father did, and that is what his father did before him! Bask in the warm glow of your freedom my brothers and sisters and God bless America![/Glory Halleluja humming] ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/92 "2009-09-01T07:36:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Pabst is fine for what it is. If you’re looking for a macrobrew American lager, you can do a whole lot worse than Pabst. In my opinion, Bud, Miller, Coors, etc., all taste worse. Personally, my beer of choice for this style is Old Style, especially with their new formulation. I once had a PBR on draft in Green Bay that made me actually do a double take. It wasn’t just passable, it was _good_. (Once again, for the style.) Then again, maybe it was the surroundings that made me like it more. But it’s a decent enough beer, and I’ll drink it completely unironically. I drank a pint of Pabst on-tap at a local bar and actually thought it wasn’t that bad. It did have more flavor to it than Bud which shocked me on how watery and tasteless it was (club soda has more of a kick to it). That being said, if given the choice of a wide variety of beers, Pabst would still be fairly low down on my list. I’m afraid all the microbrews and imports I’ve consumed over the years have turned be into a beer snob. Also, I generally prefer darker beers over lagers. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/93 "2009-09-01T13:42:28Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > [Glory Halleluja humming] [/Glory Halleluja humming] I’m not trying to “correct” you or anything but this is one of those things you should know . . . it’s called _The Battle Hymn of the Republic_. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/94 "2009-09-01T19:51:24Z")
I love Ribbon. It’s the taste of my misspent youth. 35 cent large drafts (14 oz) at the T&R bar. I hadn’t been able to get it in years, but it just showed up in Houston a little while back. I drink it all the time, now, and I’m far, far too old to be a hipster, whatever that is. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/95 "2009-09-01T20:34:01Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Yeah, it’s been around a while. I first saw it among the rockabilly crowd in Atlanta. I believe that would also have been late 90s. Even before that, back into the 80s, Atlanta hipster dive bar _Moes and Joes_ was lavishly decorated with anachronistic PBR paraphernalia. It’s my beer of choice, and this is exactly where I first got a taste of it - I was a punk, living in Atlanta in the late 90s. Back then you could get a PBR tallboy for $1 in most of the bars we frequented. And that’s the main reason I still drink it. I’m not into thick, dark beers. I don’t care about your craft beers and your microbrews. I’m not about to pay more than $2.50 for a pint, and I’d prefer to pay half that. I like cold lager that I can swill in large quantities to get a healthy buzz but not wind up falling all over myself. If there’s no Pabst to be had, I’ll be happy with a Miller High Life. My import of choice is Red Stripe, and that’s just another cold lager. Bud has an aftertaste that makes me gag, but I’ll content myself with pretty much any other mass market brew if it’s around. Schlitz, Lone Star, Dixie, Natty - hell, I’ll drink a quart of Ol’ E if I feel like getting drunk in the parking lot before a show. For the record, the hipsters here seem to have given up on Pabst and are now obsessed with Rogue Dead Guy and Double Dead Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/96 "2009-09-01T21:34:56Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > For the record, the hipsters here seem to have given up on Pabst and are now obsessed with Rogue Dead Guy and Double Dead Guy. Well fuck even caring in the slightest. Dead Guy has been one of my favorite beers for years, and no one I meet has ever heard of it. That has nothing to do with being elite or cool or hip and everything to do with it being scarce and expensive. I like it because it was recommended to me by the waiter at a very nice restaurant back in 2004 and I found to it be absolutely delicious. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/97 "2009-09-01T22:54:02Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Before that, it was big with the rockabilly crowd (again because of it’s blue collar associations). Star Bar, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/98 "2009-09-01T23:30:21Z")
Pabst Blue Ribbon, eh? What’s next: Old Milwaukee making a come back? I shudder to think of Blatt’s Light Cream Ale coming back… Irrelevant aside: I don’t like this trend of initializing things: PBR; Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC etc. It’s like we all want to speak in code. It’s silly. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/99 "2009-09-02T00:35:47Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I don’t like this trend of initializing things: PBR; Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC etc. It’s like we all want to speak in code. It’s silly. Pizza Hut has now announced they are going to become The Hut. What, are they becoming a Broadway show version of themselves? What would Broadway do if they staged a production of “Z”? Maybe they’d entitle it “\_”. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036/100 "2009-09-02T03:52:53Z")
I’ve always loved Old Style. Can’t ever find it any more. Pabst is fine. Usually, if I’m in the mood for a light lager, I go for Bud Light. Miller Lite tastes funky to me. I went through a brief microbrew phase in the late nineties. It’s entirely possible my tastes are influence by what is “in”. Oh well. I know for sure I’m sick of over hopped beer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-it-about-hipsters-and-pbr/508036.md?page=6)