still $2 at the bar down the street... not that I would be caught dead drinking that swill.

What exactly is PBR?

@MostlyHarmless: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The hipsters love it.

@MostlyHarmless: PBR is Pabst Blue Ribbon. It used to be a very cheap beer that you drank for the sole purpose of getting drunk

$1.50 PBR cans on Fridays at a local bar. Decided I'd be thrifty and try casually drinking one in a social setting, rather than my usual drinking game inhalation method.

-1

It all started with Frank Booth in Blue Velvet.

@MostlyHarmless: Get out. Now.

@mergatroy6: Hipsters? What?

Pabst
Strohs
Genny Cream Ale

Yup, poor college students make dumb choices.

damn hipsters.

Ahhh, memories of high school, when I was underage and too broke to buy real beer... PBR you definitely have not been missed.

I love PBR. It's great for basically any type of athletic event where you need hydration, because it's mostly water but still gives you a buzz. And it's cheap. The "Blue Ribbon" part of the name comes from the fact that it won the "World's Best" beer honor at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

PBR is often referred to as a highly ranked cheap beer in the beer crowds.

While it may not be exactly the snobby choice, for those on a budget looking for a pretty good beer, PBR is a very good choice.

For evidence, check out beeradvocate.com for their views on it.

All of my friends drink PBR, not because they're hipsters, but because they're poor drunks.

Stroh's has always been my cheap beer of choice.

I actually saw a TV ad for Natural Light (Lite?) recently. Never seen that before. For those who don't know, Natural Light is one (very very very) small step above drinking straight urine. The only real difference is that urine (a) costs more to produce, and (b) has flavor.

While living up in Canada, we drink it for the homesickness factor. Because of the sin taxes up here, it's $8 a 6 pack. Ouch.

I suddendly have a hankerin' for a 30 pack...

@NeverLetMeDown:
(c) Is Healthier.

What kind of beer do you drink, neighbor?

I disagree with the PBR hatred here, but couldn't agree more on the MLH assessment. High Life has been my beer of choice for many years in the value category.

I had noticed PBR's price going up, wondered what the deal was there.

@hypnotik_jello: $1 at my local mexican restaurant. Nachos and PBR is a tradition for us.

@apd09: Since when is buying a decent cheap beer when you're poor a dumb choice? should they instead splurge on whatever you feel is a "good" beer?

Really? The quality of the beer they drink is more important than gas in their vehicles, paying for food, or paying for cell bills?

I'm not saying the above named are amazing, I just think it's a justifiable choice for a poor college student, and a better choice than say Natty ice or the like.

@reservoir_dog: Agreed. High life is my beer of choice at home, or when having a BBQ.

I used to drink a great local microbrew, but its $7 for a six pack, compared for $6 for 12 bottles of high life. Hey, I can't ignore a cost differential that great.

I switched to Utica Club because it's priced like PBR, but tastes a lot better. And no, you can't have any unless you live in central New York. Nyah!

Movie: Blue Velvet

(Dennis Hopper) Frank: Heiniken... thats $#@%^#% beer... PABST BLUE RIBBON!!!

When I drink horrible swill I drink Schlitz (the beer that made Milwaukee famous) because I don't like the hipster connotations of PBR and it has a funny name. Then I realize that ironically drinking something to avoid the bandwagon of ironically drinking something else probably makes me the biggest cockbib in existence. And I have to drink to forget...

@G.O.B.: Come on!: Wow, your username is exactly the comment I was going to make.

MostlyHarmless, you should should try it, it gets a bad rap but it's really a pretty decent beer. This is the first I'm hearing about the hipster connection, but then, I guess I'm not really around any very often.

Good cheap beer. You can certainly pay more for better, of course, but it's truly underrated IMHO. (However, like the author of this post, I do prefer High Life, for my money.)

@Jakuub:

Exactly. I am out of college and still can't bring myself to spend $8 on a six pack of "good" beer.

PBR is good enough for Clint Eastwood. Silly beer snobs.

@carline711: This.

I went on a tour of the Belle's Brewery in Kzoo, MI a few years back and asked the guy giving the tour what beers he drank when he was drinking normal beer and no microbrew or his own.

His reply was PBR and High Life. He said that none of the cheap beers taste great like a handcrafted microbrew, but those had the combination of not being swill and still having a decent taste compared to cost.

@MostlyHarmless: It's a terrible beer unless you're one of those people who think the less you can taste it the better. Even then it's not great. It is (was), however, CHEAP. I'm going to miss $5 pitchers.

pbr is ten times better than miller high life. Everyone I know drinks it often. It's cheap and delicious. I really dislike IPAs. And from my perspective the really crappy ones are natty ice, and budweiser.. rice beer. LONG LIVE PBR!

@EarlNowak:

By me the restaurants offer $2 16oz. Tall Boy PBRs. I like getting the extra 4oz. It works out perfect with a plate of enchiladas.

Never had PBR, but if Miller High Life is better than that, PBR must be crap indeed.

@apd09: You forgot Blatz. It's no longer just a sign on bars, it's back.

When I went to college 20 miles west of Milwaukee, it was an easy decision to head into the city to tour one of the breweries - Miller, Schlitz, or Pabst. There was always copious free beer at the end of the tour. Miller was super-corporate even back then, Schlitz was overly industrial, and Pabst was quaint and historic, with a fantastic statue of King Gambrinus.

I guess it's all been replaced by condos now, as documented here - [freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com]

@Jakuub: I think it depends on why you drink beer. If you're drinking beer just to get drunk, then sure, buying the cheap stuff is logical. (But then the question becomes, why not just buy cheap vodka instead?)

Personally, I drink beer because I like the taste of beer. So I buy the good stuff. But I don't drink as much of it.

@Bitter_Old_Punk: Fuck Heineken!

@mergatroy6: Maybe with it becoming popular, they'll move on to something else. You know how contrarian they are (as a large group).

Fagabeefe?

@nrich239: For that purpose, Natural Light FTW!

@JilliefromChile: Schlitz was the hipster beer of choice in Boston before I left in '03, not sure if it still is.

@sicknick: This blows my mind. I am able to drink lots of beers, from the cheapest lights to the most intense micros....and I really honestly can't do PBR. Busch is the other I can't handle. Coors is my choice for cheap beer if I'm gonna go that route. Although I think I'm going to switch after hearing all that crazy Nazi stuff the Coors family are involved with.

If its over a buck fifty for a tall boy you are getting ripped off. But then I would prefer the Miller High Life, ah the Champagne of Beers!

@hypnotik_jello: Still just $1 at the Lutz...best dive bar I've ever been in, conveniently located a 10 minute stumble from my thesis office on campus.

@MostlyHarmless: Beer of choice for students at my alma mater and blue-collar folks in Portland. Actually palatable if you drink it really cold. Used more to get drunk/maintain a buzz than to actually enjoy.

@apd09: My fiance goes to WIU in Macomb and she sent me a flyer for the liquor store near the campus. they have a 30 case of Keystone for i believe $10.

Please, nobody tell the tiny pants set that Miller High Life is 50 cents cheaper and tastes two dollars better.

Have you ever poured MHL into a glass? The foam turns into chunks after a bit. That shit goes directly to your brain to settle the next morning so you feel like hell.

PBR is one of the few 'cheap' beers I can drink and feel like crap the next morning. As opposed to feeling like death.