Pabst Blue Ribbon—you have a fan.

That’s right; Richmond has dubbed you the working man’s brewski. PBR, formally known as Pabst Select, has long been known in River City as the underdog beer that we love to drink—it not only tastes pretty good, but it comes with a good helping of street cred. And everyone from scenesters to button-down types are touting its comeback.

“Back in the early 90’s it was Black Label that was known as the beer of Richmond…now we have PBR,” says David Garrett, beer buyer for Carytown Beer & Wine. “It’s cheap—that’s why it’s popular.”

In fact, Pabst has become so synonymous with our capital city that one of the top definitions on UrbanDictonary.com pegs PBR as the “People’s Beer of Richmond.” And on the popular social networking site MySpace, a “Richmond” page proudly sits with over 8,000 friends, boasting a vintage PBR can as its logo for our hometown. 

Christian Detres, Marketing Director for RVA Magazine, created the page as a personal nod to Richmond, and picked PBR to represent the city. “It’s the perfect synthesis of party and smart. It’s cheap, plentiful and does the job just as well as those high-falutin’ fancy Yuenglings,” explains Detres.  “Carrying a PBR around says to onlookers: ‘I’m not going to let being poor keep me from having a good time, and I’m not going to let having a good time make me poor.’ Not to say Richmond doesn’t know good premium beer—we know all about Miller Lite.”

All jokes aside, Pabst Blue Ribbon is enjoying a healthy blue collar resurgence. With sales sinking steadily for the past thirty years, many drinkers had counted out the brew until “The Hipster Handbook,” a manifesto of cool, began to bring attention back to PBR once again. By the turn of the century some of the trendiest bars were pouring PBR—from New York, Chicago, and even Portland, which is typically known for its taste for fine microbrews. 

What a difference a few decades make, as now the beer is among the fastest-growing of the top-50 domestic beer brands. It trails only Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Corona.

Despite the buzz, the smart folks at Pabst Brewing Company, have resisted the urge to exploit this beer of choice for dissenters and fans of counterculture. To fuel its feisty base, a different form of publicity tactic has been unleashed—such as PBR CD compilations, as well as vinyl singles, that promote local music rather than the fat cats in the music industry. And instead of sponsoring large corporate events, PBR has popped up in small scale neighborhood tattoo parlors, local record shops, and bike rallies.

Here in Richmond, beer drinkers are finding PBR in cans at the likes of Emilio’s, Sticky Rice, and Mars Bar, to name a few. And on tap, we have such hometown heroes as The Hill Café, Galaxy Diner and Roxy Cafe to thank.

“PBR is by far our biggest seller,” confirms Steven Brown, a bartender at Roxy Cafe in the Fan District.

Preston Duncan, a local songwriter and visual artist, was so moved by his love for the good beverage that he penned a note, entitled “An Open Letter to the Noble Brewers of Pabst Blue Ribbon,” that he recently sent to Pabst Brewing. In it he sums up River City’s passion for the brew by writing, “The empty cardboard packaging of a PBR twelve pack is as much of an indication of a Sunday morning as the pastel clad churchgoers that pass our sleepy windows just after our evening has ended.”

Duncan, who admits that he has yet to receive an official response, concludes, “PBR, you are a shimmering gesture of defiance to an industry that bases merit on price and fancy labeling and clever marketing campaigns. There is no PBR Super Bowl ad, no stupid frog enchanting suburban living rooms across the nation. And we don’t want there to be. We like your honesty, your modest presence in the beer aisle, your dusty banner at the gas station.”

I literally grew up drinking Pabst.  It was one of only a few that was available as a 3.2 beer.  Which was the kind you could but and drink at age 18 in Richmond.  many a Friday and Saturday night was spent sipping the suds in establishments along West Grace Street in the Fan.  Or the Tempo Room at Grove & Libbie Ave in the West End.
Glad to see it’s made a resurgence.

Literally grew up drinking Pabst, because at that time it was one of only a few beers that where available as 3.2 beer.  That’s the one you could buy and drink at age 18 in Richmond.  Glad to see it has made a resurgence, as it was/is not a bad beer at all.  The BIG Plus, the price is right!!!!

Best selling beer around town as far as the biker scene also

Not to say that Richmond doesn’t know good premium beer, we all know about Miller Lite?? 

Since when have the words “premium beer” and “good” ever been used to describe Miller Lite?  That stuff is piss water.  And if it weren’t for the hip factor, PBR wouldn’t be too far down the line.

Stop drinking crap beer peddled by big breweries people!

Nothing warms my heart more than going to a bar and seeing PBR on tap or in the can.  It’s cheap and it’s better than most of the beers out there (take that Heinekin!).  Here’s to PBR.