Your Comments, Criticisms and Contributions - June 2003
My tongue-in-cheek article 'The Top Ten Reasons for Drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon' moved many people to draft replies, both in favour and against its message. Check the story and then read some of the replies.
In a world of expensive imports and "fruitful" micro's (that fill you up after two or three pints) the domestic pilsner is left out of the mix. When I was a little boy my uncle introduced Michelob beer to me. It was the newest domestic to offer. Genesee Cream Ale was the smoothest drinking ale around. Pabst Blue Ribbon was award winning. And for the taste, so they said, Old Milwaukee was the leader of the pack, no other beer tasted as good as the great outdoors. Well I say that's bologna. I'll tell you why......because of advertising. Budweiser is one of the best selling beers and if you put Budweiser in an unmarked glass with the other beers that I just mentioned, there really would be a debate. I drink beer. I love beer. All beer. But for taste, price, and principle, I drink Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. I'm not a college student. I'm not a doctor, I'm not a garbage man, I'm not a lawyer (my wife is). I'm a man who likes to drink beer! Who cares what beer is cool. Yeah I like Boddingtons, Sam Smith and Lancaster Milk Stout. But I also enjoy sitting on my porch listening to the birds chirp and feeling simple. Look at it this way, if PBR wasn't brewed today, what beer would guys like you make fun of? Yuengling Lager? That was a low budget beer ten years ago. Now it is one of the hottest beers on the East Coast. All because someone said it was cool to drink Yuengling Lager and some frat boy read the article. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely, - Beer Lover
I disagree with your 10 reasons to drink PABST BLUE RIBBON. Pabst is as good as brew as Bud, Miller or any other lager style beer. I think you owe Pabst drinkers and the workers who brew Pabst an apology. - Ken Roszak
Your article was pretty funny, and I got a laugh or two out of it. Got a major flaw, though. You could punch in any of the major macrobrews in place of PBR and the article'd read the same. Nothing in there that says Pabst more than it does, say, Coors or Miller (or Bud). Personally, I enjoy a can of Pabst now and then. Usually a twelver in my fridge, right next to the 750-ml bottle of Ommegang, and the sixer of Ubu.
Cheers! - Robert Coppen
Pabst Blue Ribbon (The Champagne of American Beers) is so misunderstood. Pabst IS a cult beer, enjoyed by mostly the biker type and such. PBR was the only sponsor (non motorcycle related) that the Harley-Davidson factory race team ever had. During The Prohibition, Harley- Davidson stored motorcycle parts in Pabst's warehouses. I have a few old t-shirts that state that "I Know What Made Milwaukee Famous.....Harley-Davidson and Pabst Blue Ribbon." As a regular PBR drinker (and I am more like my father every day) and a collector of PBR ad items and other "gedunk," I must stand tall and say that Pabst Blue Ribbon IS the true American beer. Made long before Augustus Busch came on the scene, it is truly the "Nectar of the Gods"..............well at least as far as domestics go. ;-) I invite your response and even a sit down for a bottle or two. - Keith
Thanks for your views, everyone. The final word, however, must go to Hop Caen, that irascible curmudgeon who graces the pages of the Celebrator Beer News bi-monthly:
"...isn't PBR the brewery that was managed for years to maximize the value of a multimillion dollar trust fund whereby breweries were closed, workers fired and retirement funds reneged on?"
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