NRR: Where can I buy PBR bottles in San Diego?

"There's no place that I'd rather be than right here

With rednecks, white socks and Blue Ribbon Beer"

Not An Expert wrote:

bump

any recent leads?

Well, did you go to Whole Foods, or not?!?

washed up has been wrote:

I sadly don't have a source for that to link to but I did read that in Brau International which is a beer industry magazine focusing on sales and trends. I remember this little stat simply because I was a college kid who turned 21 in Portland in 2001 and remember PBR being huge. Brau actually commented that it was that bit of good fortune that really saved the company.

Wait, the popularity of Pabst saved...Miller?

Pabst is a marketing company. They don't actually make any beer at all anymore. All their beers are brewed by Miller, and some other breweries. PBR is brewed by Miller.

Oddly enough, Pabst sold off its last brewery in 2001 - the same year it became "popular" with the hipsters. Thank the good folks at the Miller Brewing Company the next time you toast a glass of PBR.

I like good beer, Usually I drink west coast micro's, Rogue, Laugunitas, Deschutes, Widmer, Stone Brewery (not sure where they are located, but they make some mean beer). If I'm at the right bar I like European beers, usually Belgians. I also have begun, not very good at it yet, to brew my own.

I also am not a hipster, I realize hipsters also deny being hipsters which is really weird.

Anyway, sometimes I'm in the mood for a cheap beer. Sometimes I don't feel like spending 6 dollars for a pint, and sometimes it just sounds good, if that's the case I like PBR. I will not drink Bud or Coors, I may settle for a Miller, it is after all the champagne of beers.

I didn't know that Miller owned PBR, that is interesting to me, and maybe explains why I will drink me some high life from time to time.

eojtlc wrote:

I didn't know that Miller owned PBR, that is interesting to me, and maybe explains why I will drink me some high life from time to time.

Miller does not own PBR, they just contract brew for PBR. PBR, along with a host of other vintage beer brands, has been owned by a charitable trust for quite some time. However, due to some changes in tax law, the charity now has to sell off their beer brands.

Let me chime in on those folks who say they think PBR tastes better than other cheap brands....you are brainwashed! People like to "think" that PBR tastes good, so for them it does. Sorry to be the breaker of bad news, but it just isn't that good. Among cheap beers, Miller High Life and Old Milwaukee are highly rated, but PBR is way down at the bottom.

Let me give one caveat. If you actually like the taste of creamed corn, then odds are you also like PBR. To those folks, I offer an apology about the whole brainwashing comment.

Oh, and my personal favorite cheap beer: Labatt's Blue

Hamms wrote:

Well, did you go to Whole Foods, or not?!?

Yeah--they don't have it in either Hillcrest or La Jolla.

However, me and a buddy did go to BevMo last night just to get memberships (we figure it's a good investment), and while walking out, we saw these cardboard-painted-to-look-like-wooden-carrying-case "Beer World Traveler" sets. And peeking out from the far right side of one of the cases was this little patch of red, white, blue label. I almost screamed, "Dude, wait! Thats a PBR bottle!" Each set consists of 10 bottled beers (from all over the world, obvs), one of which is a PBR.

Since the other friend from my OP plus my girlfriend are coming down for the weekend, we each bought two cases. So, basically, $50 for 4 PBRs (plus 36 random other beers).

We figure we'll have a race on Saturday night: first person to drink all 10 of their beers is the winner (or loser?), and you have to drink the PBR last--it'll be like Asafa Powell on the anchor.

Stone Brewing Co. is in Escondido (just outside of San Diego). It was voted the #1 All-Time Top Breweries on the planet (I'm not making this up:

http://www.stonebrew.com/news/081211/

). You can get cases of their Pale Ale at the local Costcos. It's more cost-effective that way.

You'll realize this as you mature: Life is too short to drink cheap beer.

The thing about PBR is that it's still made with real hops, and no chemicals, exactly as it should be, and just as it was back in 1890-something when it won that blue ribbon. It actually has some real flavors to it, which is why is it especially enjoyable to drink on tap. Strange thing for me though, I can't drink more than three or four in a night without it rotting my guts and giving me a nasty hangover, which doesn't happen often.

Karl Strauss, who founded the chain of same-named breweries in S.D., is actually a former longtime brewmaster for Pabst. The food at his places is crap, but the brews are usually pretty tasty.

My senior year of college my roomates and I did 24 beers, 24 miles, in 24 hours. We each bought a 24 rack of PBR, numbered, and labeled each one and had a wonderful day.

The cans are red, white, and blue. Those colors don't run. I don't care who you are, but you aint Amurican if you aint drinking PBR.

"heiniken, f*ck that sh*t, Pabst Blue Ribbon!"

Dennis Hopper inspired many hipsters, apparently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhiofL2Rh4

Arrogant Bastard wrote:

You'll realize this as you mature: Life is too short NOT to drink cheap beer.

Fixed it for you. It's not that I don't drink good beer--I had a six-pack of Sam Adams White Ale in the fridge most of last week (okay, it only lasted three days), and I've got Firestone's Double Barrel Ale in there right now--but, if you're gonna get really f***ing drunk--or if you're ass broke but still want to grab a drink or three at the bar after work--THEN it's PBR time.

The world is big enough for both really tasty AND really cheap beers. Can I get an amen?

life is a game wrote:

In college in 2000 we used to watch PBR (Professional Bull Riding) on Versus and drink PBR while the rider was on the bull. good times.

So... 8 seconds of drinking did it for u?

Alaskan makes a good IPA. you can't get much more manly than Alaska

Hell,

I ran for the PBR racing team at U. of Miami during the offseason from 90-93. PBR was always available at Winn Dixie and Publix. As for San Diego, try Albertson's as well for PBR. Von's tends to be a bit snootier than Albertson's.

Do you know what the ingredients actually are.

I was pretty sure Stone was in California, no idea where in California, but I knew if I said that's where it was and was wrong someone would eat me alive. Anyway, that is one great brewery. I kinda prefer Rogue, but I've only had a couple of stone's beers, and I've had pretty much everything Rogue has made, so it's not a completely formulated opinion.

eojtlc wrote:

I was pretty sure Stone was in California, no idea where in California, but I knew if I said that's where it was and was wrong someone would eat me alive. Anyway, that is one great brewery. I kinda prefer Rogue, but I've only had a couple of stone's beers, and I've had pretty much everything Rogue has made, so it's not a completely formulated opinion.

Stone is good, but before I was down here I was up in the Northwest, and while I was there I fell in love with a girl named Deschutes. God, Black Butte Porter is heavenly. And Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and their Buzzsaw and Twilight seasonals . . . wow I LOVE that brewery.

Too bad you ain't in Richmond, VA! It's everywhere here and 12 pack of cans go for 9 bucks. I just brought a case and I'm gonna drink all of 'em for you tonight. Hmmm....

BTW, PBR has been around in my town for a long time and it's on tap in various bars/restaurant.

I hate to drown out all the hipster crowd rantings and ravings, but here in Wisconsin I believe we can claim the beautiful Blue Ribbon as a drink of choice far prior to these 1990's latecomers. It's wonderful, and there's no trouble finding it on tap for under $2. Some places even sell the stuff in 16 oz silos, usually the same as a can. It's a wonderous thing.