Pabst Blue Ribbon - Pabst Brewing Company

    Just like ironic facial hair, fixed-gear bikes, and bands that don't even exist yet, Pabst Blue Ribbon has been a mainstay of hipsters for years. Now that I live in Chicago's most hipster neighborhood, it was only a matter of time before this review happened. I debated not even reviewing the beer, seeing as it's so popular nowadays..

    PBR is brewed by the Pabst Brewing Company, located in Los Angeles, California. The beer is an Adjunct Lager, using large amounts of corn in the brewing process rather than all barley.

    The beer pours a golden straw color with a thin foam capping it. This brew is super-clear with lots of bubbles rushing to the top of the cup. A thin film of bubbles on top of the beer stays around for a surprisingly long time for a macro brew. These bubbles clearly don't realize foam isn't cool anymore.

    PBR's aroma is very faint, but light malts and sour corn make up what odors can be smelled. To it's credit, the beer actually smells more like beer than other macros which tend to just smell like soda water.

Hipsters only drink warm beer, they grab it before it's cool.

    The Adjunct Lager is medium-light bodied with a medium level of carbonation. There is a bit of a wateriness to the beer, but it is also strangely syrupy. Even more confusing, the beer finishes extremely dry, just like the hipster sense of humor. There is an alcohol content of 4.74% ABV in the brew.

     Pabst Blue Ribbon's flavor has plenty of sweet grain flavor. I'm surprised the beer finishes so dry with how sweet the flavor starts. There really isn't any hops flavor worth mentioning here. The large amount of corn used in the brewing of this Adjunct Lager becomes obvious with the pronounced, roasted corn flavor of the beer. In fact, this is the corniest tasting beer I've ever had. Don't hipsters know that the use of corn hasn't been "underground" since the early 2500's BC?

    Overall, PBR is actually a bit better than some American macro brews. The corn flavor can be a bit off-putting at first as it's so strong, but you eventually settle on it just like most other things in life. I suppose if you're looking for a cheap, ok-tasting beer (or if you're a hipster), PBR isn't a terrible choice. I can only hope that hipsters eventually move on to local craft beer instead of this, but until then I'll keep blaming Frank Booth from Blue Velvet for causing my neighborhood to be inundated with PBR cans...

Amulets and Ale Rating:

(I would have rated it higher if it weren't so mainstream..)

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