Pabst Blue Ribbon
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Pabst Blue Ribbon is an American brand of beer with a long history and a reputation for popularity among the working classes.
In 1906, the Pabst Brewing Company first began to use caps on bottles instead of corks. In 1935, Pabst was the first brewer to put beer in cans. This was Blue Ribbon beer but it was called "Export" when sold in the can. The PBR cans had a picture of a can opener on the side with instructions on how to open the can with the can opener.
During World War II, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans were painted olive drab at the factory for military use. All the canned beer was for the military. Pabst Blue Ribbon beer was not sold to civilians in cans during the war because of tin rationing.
In 1999, the Pabst Brewing Company began transferring its production to Miller Brewing on a contract basis, and, in 2001, it closed its last brewery, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Light yellow in colour and very sweet with a slightly fruity smell, Pabst Blue Ribbon was originally called Pabst Select. The name Pabst Blue Ribbon came from a blue ribbon tied around the bottle neck, a practice that ran from 1882 until 1916.
Pabst Blue Ribbon, or PBR, is considered by some to be the unofficial beer of the Indie Rock music movement, a status largely perpetrated by references to the beer in the parody guidebook The Hipster Handbook. Prominent references in the 1986 David Lynch film Blue Velvet give it additional cachet.