Posted on 07/19/2006 10:06:47 AM PDT by pissant
'THERE STANDS the Glass," the 1953 country classic, echoed in my mind the other night as I contemplated the glass of beer in front of me. It was Pabst Blue Ribbon , and it's our Beer of the Week.
The old Webb Pierce song, contemplates the oblivion and destruction that lies ahead when the narrator takes the first sip of the day: "There stands the glass/ Fill it up to the brim/'Til my troubles grow dim/It's my first one today."
This is standard American lager, a kind of soulless beast, driven by profits. But it's acquiring a hip, new legend that goes something like this: Bicycle messengers in Portland, Ore., who drink a lot of beer, discovered Pabst and made it their beer. Word spread and PBR's sinking sales began to rise, up 4.3 percent last year to 1.25 million barrels. Now, it's the right thing to drink PBR.
Homebrew experts at Beer, Beer & More Beer in Concord, say it's 20 to 30 percent rice, the rest pale German pilsner barley; hops are most likely Saaz: faint lager aroma, slightly sweet taste, dry finish. You know: a kiss of the hops and high drinkability. This is true, hot-summer-day, lawnmower beer.
The beer was originally called "Select." The company, founded in 1844 in Milwaukee, began tying blue ribbons around the bottles and it became Pabst Blue Ribbon in 1895.
Sales peaked in 1977 at 16 million barrels. A Bay Area takeover artist bought Pabst in 1985. The company wound up in San Antonio, Texas. A few years ago, the company stopped brewing, hired Miller (now SABMiller) to brew the beer. Now the company's moving to a Chicago suburb, because the Chicago area is its best market.
I found this fitting quote in 8bitjoystick.com, an E-zine For Nerds:
"These are harsh times and it calls for a harsh beer. Pabst Blue Ribbon is just the thing. It is not shoved down your throat with multi-million dollar mass marketing, it is simply a decent cheap beer. This beer is America whether you like it or not. It is real for what that is worth anymore."
Utica Club brewery still alive and kicking!!!!( Schultz and Dooley ping)
Well, at least it wasn't Falstaff!
Ahhh... but I didn't say that the first couple tasted good. I just said that I usually can only taste the first one or two. I think it's semantics, but I believe we're thinking along the same lines.
Cheers!
Someone on here talked about Yuengling. I second that, its a pretty good beer.
Or Corona
Krusovice is the best [to my taste] stuff that I have ever tried. A few years ago I went to a photographic vacation in Prague. Photography [of which there was a lot] was interspersed with beer tastings [of which there was also a lot]. Czech darks - Krusovice, Tr[z]ebon Regent - I found even better than their regular beers.
But the corn doesn't detract from the flavor the way rice does. What I mean is, rice seems to be neutral or negative, flavorwise, whereas corn can tend to be a neutral to small positive.
And the exception to that is Miller Genuine Draft, which to my palate seems like the juice from a can of Niblets.
Old Ted Hawkins did one of the best versions of "There Stands the Glass" I have ever heard. What a wail.
We used to drink Old Spil in the fraternity, a decision based entirely on price.
I have blind "taste tested" Old Milwaukee Light against all the popular light beers at the club with guys that only drink Bud, Miller, and all the rest.
They all choose Old Milwaukee Light as the best if they can't see the can first.
I do remember the TZ episode. The only other thing I've seen Hopper in was Easy Rider, at least for the 30 minutes I saw of it.
I'm so pissed at Miller I will never buy their beer again. They bought the Olympia Brewery, then promptly closed it down. grrrrrr
Well, its somehow revived itself and is getting popualr agian.
Drink it fast......... it goes flat faster than a crumby rimmed tire after making contact with a sharp cobblestoned curb in Squirrel Hill.
Happy anniversary (in days).
There are not many regionals still alive and kicking. Rolling Rock is the latest casualty.
My buddy who went to college back east said that Falstaff was atrocious, but was cheap.
I get it.
You got a bad one, or a bad case, or something.
That's not normal behavior for Straub.
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