Things you might want to know about your favorite hip beer. 1. Since InBev bought Budweiser, Pabst is now the largest American-owned brewing company, despite only holding a three percent market share in the US. Hip gone mainstream, but don't worry, most of the Jennifers are still drinking Bud Light.
(So what happened to everyone else? Well its the same old corporate story. Molson bought Coors, and formed the aptly named, Coors Molson which in 2007 merged with Miller to form Miller Coors, which sounds American is actually mostly owned by those pesky Canadians. Miller used to be number two in the US, in sales and sixe. All the other companies got bought out by each other).
2. Pabst doesn't operate any breweries anymore. They outsource all the brewing of all their beer brands to Millers vast network of factories around the country. So in fact your hip can of Pabst is more a cousin to Miller Lite than you ever thought.
3. Pabst owns the following beers: Olympia, Milwaukee's Best, Rainer, Schlitz and Old Style. So basically whatever hip blue collar can of beer you choose to drink, its owned by Pabst, the new "man" in American brewing. This is especially sad for me to discover, not because I love Pabst, but because Old Style is one of my favorite beers, and it's the favored low budget beer of Chicago.
4. Pabst markets its dive beers insidiously because it knows you're too discerning to choose a beer based on television commercials. Around 2000, Pabst almost fell off the map because its sales were so low. Guess what? It starts buying ads in alternative weekly papers and sponsoring indie rock shows, and it's all of a sudden the largest American brewery left standing. Huh, I guess the hipsters won, right?
So I guess in conclusion, things are not as they seem. I guess that's just how things work these days. I won't stop drinking Old Style, that is for sure.
8 comments:
old wine, new bottle? Old bottle, new whine? Same bottle, strange brew? Fuck. My whole identity is shrouded in corporate tom-foolery. Blame Canada?
i guess. the only safe bet was drinking cold smoke with the rest of missoula. or whatever other microbrew is out there.... every other beer is just part of a brand umbrella owned by PR obsessed breweries. and we all thought we could just drink and not aspire to some image.....
I didn't see any black label in MN, otherwise I would have bought it. I've heard rumors it might exist though...
My philosophy is if a beer has a gold top, I'll drink it. Which is why I've all but stopped drinking Pabst.
Anecdote: When I was working for the Indy, Pabst started to send reps to sponsor events - think back to that first show that I hooked the V.S. into - and this was based on the really weird/kinda post-rock/bro that they sent to hype up their subversive image. He had this Sunset Blvd vibe that just reeked of denim jackets with spiked studs and shit-stomping boots. Kind of a roundabout way of attempting to appeal, but mostly just really bizarre.
those corporate assholes are slinking into the one thing we have to try and escape from it all. whats next? weed outsourced from coco cola?
well if anyone could find me some black label beer, that would be awesome. i think it may only exist in northern wisconsin. but i forget to mention how much i still love grainbelt premium from the twin cities. i know they're owned by someone else now, but they stopped making grainbelt for six months when i lived there and it was a sad time. at least companies that eat other keep some of the same brands going. i'd be pissed if pabst ever stopped making schlitz or old style. but i'd be happy never to drink another PBR in my life. chicago gives me so many more options for cheap beer thank god. i mean i can even drink tecate on a regular basis on draft at bars.......
totally got you covered on the black label brah! Its 2 buck for a 40 at the corner store by my apt. I think this means I'll have to drive out when I visit you cats, in lieu of flying.
In other beer related queries, is the 7oz budweiser a new economically savvy device, or have these been around for a while? Someone bought me one tonight, and once I got past the alice-in-wonderland-ness of the experience, I brought into question the generosity of such a gift: is a -slightly larger than half- sized beer a gift, or an insult? Of course its a gift! Beer will thankfully always be beer, and the only thing better than beer is free beer. Even if its a mini beer.
i had no idea they were making mini beers, that's sort of hilarious....i'll have to look into it...
Post a Comment