Do people actually drink this swill?

One of the things that concerns me about the pending trip to Yellowstone, aside from fly selection and hungry grizzly bears, is the selection of brews.

I'm no beer snob but I do react somewhat viscerally to anything that comes in a twelve ounce can. Beer I like usually comes in a bottle. Bass is my current go-to brew but I also like a variety of local brews with Berkshire Brewing Company's Coffehouse Porter being a nice change. I especially like that it comes in big bottles; more for me to share.

Recently the Urban Hipsters and their brethren, Rocky Mountain Angling Hipsters, have rediscovered one of the cheap beers of my youth, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Back in the day, this swill's beer's claim to fame was its price point though I think both Busch (does anyone recall twenty-five cent pitchers of Busch?) and Red White & Blue (also brewed by Pabst and even swillier cheaper) beer were cheaper on most nights.

Two weeks ago I spied a $6 six-pack of PBR sitting on the top shelf of the cooler in my local package store. I just had to see if this was still the beer from those days when cheap beer was the best beer so I grabbed a six.

I've only managed to sample five of the six so I can't say I've given the beer a true taste test but based upon my current sample I can say definitively that this stuff is: cheap, in a liquid state, and contains alcohol. From a flavor perspective, there is none. I suppose on some days, that's enough. 

One thing I had forgotten since I went to bottles is just how good an ice-cold beer can feels in the hand on a hot day. The can doesn't hold the temperature worth a damn (hence the rise of the "koozie") but if the brew is light it can be consumed well ahead of any temperature change.

And that may be the genius of PBR.

Without any appreciable flavor on which to linger, in an ice cold state this beer goes down quick. That both quenches the thirst and also sets you up for another without any lengthy wait. On some days, that's just perfect.