Tag Archives: hipster

Why do hipsters love Pabst Blue Ribbon?

If you didn’t know, Pabst Blue Ribbon is the hipster beer of choice.  I didn’t used to believe this was possible, but I’ve personally witnessed the prevalence of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the funkier parts of four North American cities in the past two months.  It’s the truth.

I find the popularity of Pabst Blue Ribbon surprising and upsetting.  Surprising because, in Vancouver at least, hipsters are responsible for producing most of the best craft beer and innovative food.  Upsetting because Pabst Blue Ribbon tastes not very good.  It scores a whopping 2/100 on RateBeer.  Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of PBR.

BUT WHY THE HIPSTER LOVE?  I mean, there must be a reason, and I’m quite sure it’s not to do with taste.  PBR was first brewed in 1844, so maybe because it’s old? But then there’s lots of old beers, why aren’t Abbey beers the coolest?  Maybe because PBR is pretty cheap? But there’s lots of other beers in the same price range, or cheaper.  Maybe because it’s so uncool that it’s super cool?  I don’t know, I don’t get hipsters.

Turns out other people on the internets were also wondering why PBR is so cool with the kids who aren’t trying to try to look cool.  As it would happen, PBR is actually popular because it was so uncool that it became cool with the ironic crowd in the late nineties.   A PBR marketing manager jumped all over this and began sponsoring indie music, skate shops, art galleries, weird sports, facial hair clubs, and other hipstery things.  This Quora thread and this Wikipedia blurb do a good job of explaining what went down.  I find it really funny that PBR themselves decline to acknowledge their hipster fan base for fear of becoming inauthentic.

But now that everyone knows PBR is cool, is it uncool? Probably, since hipsters sort of got punked into drinking bad beer. Hey cool kids, maybe start drinking better tasting local craft beer?

Cheers,

Chris

UPDATE: One of my colleagues sent me this fantastic article on the rise of PBR.  Read it instead of this post.

Churchkey Can Company: A Beer Tech Startup?

If you haven’t heard of a church key, it’s one of those old timey beer can openers prevalent before the common place pull tab took over.  The only reason you’d ever have seen one is if you’re old (sorry old timers) or if you pay very close attention to the beer they drink in Mad Men. Now Churchkey Can Co is bringing back the church key opener and can.  Why?  Probably because, as hipsters know well, old stuff is cool.

I came across this new venture not through one of my preferred beer news sources, but from tech sources.  Indeed, Michael Arrington (of Techcrunch fame) is an investor via Crunchfund.  Apparently other tech executives are investing too.  The investors must see a potential gold mine in this to get involved in non-tech investing.

The beer itself is a pilsner and the recipe comes from home-brewers Lucas Jones and Sean Burke.  The reviews on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer are in the range of mediocre to decent.  As a beer geek, it’s hard to get too excited about anything but the best pilsners.  If it’s not about the beer, then what’s this company all about?  Oh right, marketing and making lots of money.  I think they are going to be very successful for the following reasons:

  • Adrian Grenier is a cofounder, yeah the Entourage guy
  • Epic marketing appeal, especially to hipsters
  • The beer is a decent pilsner, a style suitable for the mass market
  • Every six pack comes with a weapon…I mean church key opener
  • Big investment from big people means big budgets
  • They even have an environmental argument to support their old timey steel cans, apparently steel is recycled more than aluminum

The beer and opener are already on sale in the states of Washington and Oregon, apparently selling well.  Excellent launch plan, marketing to a beer obsessed hipstery corner of America.  Now I need to try some.

Cheers,

Chris