I'm absolutely appalled that anyone thinks PBR is a cheap beer. When PBR won the blue ribon at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair Best Beer contest, do you think they called it cheap! I think not, I think they called it.... f***ing awesome!
I think the criteria for gauging a cheap beer needs to be explained before we can have a serious discussion about what a cheap beer is. Being from the brew city, Milwaukee, i'm well aware of many of the products discussed here, as many of them are miller owned. Steel Reserve, Mickey's, Old E...etc...
A cheap beer to me is a beer that is drank soley based upon the financial reasons for purchasing it. For example, if you have to choose between a case of Blatz or a case of Miller Lite, and you go with the Blatz cause you'll save 3 bucks... thats a cheap beer. To me, that would disqualify any of the products over $11 a case, including most miller brand products (miller lite, high life, mgd), budwieser, and coors.
Now whoever said Schmitd, thats a tough cheap beer to drink, primarily because its tough to weigh the financial benifits to drinking alcohol infused urine. Milwaukee's best is a solid choice, as is Special Ex, Red Dog, Mickey's Grenades, and Blatz is always a crowd favorite.
But if you ask me what is my favorite cheap beer, it would Hamm's Premium... whoooooo nelly, delicious and wonderfull and you'll still have enough to buy a condom from the novelty machine in the bowling alley!
Great Topic by the way!