Bell rates... Pabst Blue Label

type: lager
origin: Milwaukee, USA
ABV: 4.6%
location: house
served: 473ml can to pint glass


I feel sorry for the Americans. Prior to the rebirth of local craft breweries that started in the eighties, and started to gain real momentum in the last decade or so, this is all they'd have had access to.

Bland.

Even Budweiser and Coors light has character compared to Pabst Blue Ribbon.

This is probably why American beer had a reputation for being dishwater before breweries like Sierra Nevada and Anchor started getting a hold on the market with brews that actually taste of something.

I was intrigued by the ingredients list on the can: Water, Barley, Malt, Select Grains, Yeast, Hops. Why is malt listed separately to barley? 'Malt' generally refers to malted barley, but if barley is listed separately, does that mean they're using un-malted barley? And more of it than malted barley? Ludicrous!

And what are these 'selected grains'? Rice, almost certainly, but why not just say that? It's a staple of the American lager to adjuncts, especially rice. Other brands promote the fact they use rice, why does Pabst try and hide it?

smell: very little. a hint of hops, but only if you look for it. 1/4

colour: very pale, very weak looking. didn't hold much of a head either. I even had it in one of those etched-bottom glasses that promotes nitrogenation and hence improves head formation and retention. poor. 1/4

taste: hints of beer. it wasn't offensive, so it avoids a zero, but it really had nothing to enjoy. 1/4

overall: bland blandness. But still better than Carling. 3/12