The PBR Candidate

Barack Obama gets fake in touch with the working man:

At the Raleigh Times bar in downtown Raleigh yesterday, Mr Obama arrived in the late afternoon with his wife Michelle only to find himself momentarily beerless.

"Where's my beer?" he asked, loud enough for the reporters to hear.


"PBR," he said, choosing Pabst Blue Ribbon, an inexpensive lager, before working the crowd.

Zeroed in, that is, on the inexpensive mass market lager of . . . elitist hipsters. Jonathan Kulick calls our attention to this relevant clip:

Now what's fascinating and terrifying about the country we live in is that were it to happen to be the case that Barack Obama had tasted amber Maharaja IPA in the past, really loved amber Maharaja IPA, and therefore decided to order an amber Maharaja IPA that fact would have featured prominently in cable news coverage for days and doubtless been the subject of at least one Maureen Dowd column.

Comments

Just so you know, the Raleigh Times is an elite hipster kind of place. Barack was not fake getting in touch with the working man, he was real getting in touch with the hipster dudes.

Posted by Eric Stevens | May 8, 2008 12:49 PM

Seconding Eric Stevens. Nothing "working-class" about that joint.

Posted by live | May 8, 2008 12:54 PM

Clearly given the incorrigible elitist bias of our culture, it is time we send the educated into the rice paddies to learn of the glories of work. After years of honorable egalitarian service, the re-educated former elitists now TruProle people will much more appreciate a cold beer, any beer.

Posted by El Cid | May 8, 2008 12:56 PM

Yeah, the Raleigh Times is definitely not working-class. But it's a fun place to grab a beer nonetheless.

Posted by Milind | May 8, 2008 12:58 PM

PBR is gross.

Posted by Anonymous | May 8, 2008 12:58 PM

Wow. PBR. Why not go all out on the crapitude and drink Milwaukee's Best?

And for the record, I only make 25k a year. I'm not an elitist, I'm poor. I'm just not such a drunk I need to buy the cheapest beer I can find and get wasted every night.

Posted by soullite | May 8, 2008 12:58 PM

im not even sure raleigh times offers any other "working class" beers other than PBR. it must have taken so much strength to turn down the hundreds of belgians they offer.

Posted by erg | May 8, 2008 1:02 PM

I love me some hoppy beer, but I wouldn't go around drinking too many IPAs if I were on the campaign trail and trying to avoid drunken mishap...

Posted by Curly | May 8, 2008 1:03 PM

PBR is pretty effeminate of him. A real man would have asked for a 40 of Mickey's Ice.

Posted by Spike | May 8, 2008 1:05 PM

When is someone going to slap Dowd and make her come up with some new material? She's been writing the same damn "democratic candidate is effeminate" column for almost ten years.

Posted by Helter | May 8, 2008 1:06 PM

I'd like to say its funny that a reference to a probable Dowd column shows up in a post on what kind of brew Obama grabs, but I actually expect her next column to address it. Its simply unbelievable that she is absolutely obsessed with these kinds of stupid things. For instance, last Sunday, she wrote about Obama:

"Checking out what the vets were drinking, he announced, 'I'm going to have a Bud.' Then, showing he's a smart guy who can learn and assimilate, he took big swigs from his beer can, a marked improvement on the delicate sip he took at a brewery in Bethlehem, Pa."

Obama sipped his beer in Bethlehem but it was because he was tasting a sampler of six different beers! I've actually had that sampler before, and no one takes 'big swigs' of this beer. It's not how it's designed to be drunk.

Of course Dowd couldn't care less. She never met a distortion or outright lie that couldn't be squeezed into her preferred narrative of the likely Democratic nominee as an out-of-touch, effeminate, elite liberal.

permalink

Posted by WFG IV | May 8, 2008 1:07 PM

I'm just not such a drunk I need to buy the cheapest beer I can find and get wasted every night.

Pussy!

I used to drink PBR because it was cheap, but then I brought some to a party and some fat friend of a friend who really wanted to be a hipster wouldn't shut the fuck up about it. He actually wanted to trade what he was drinking for it. So now I just drink the equally cheap but less obnoxious High Life.

Posted by mark f | May 8, 2008 1:07 PM

I'd like to say its funny that a reference to a probable Dowd column shows up in a post on what kind of brew Obama grabs, but I actually expect her next column to address it. Its simply unbelievable that she is absolutely obsessed with these kinds of stupid things. For instance, last Sunday, she wrote about Obama:

"Checking out what the vets were drinking, he announced, 'I'm going to have a Bud.' Then, showing he's a smart guy who can learn and assimilate, he took big swigs from his beer can, a marked improvement on the delicate sip he took at a brewery in Bethlehem, Pa."

Obama sipped his beer in Bethlehem but it was because he was tasting a sampler of six different beers! I've actually had that sampler before, and no one takes 'big swigs' of this beer. It's not how it's designed to be drunk.

Of course Dowd couldn't care less. She never met a distortion or outright lie that couldn't be squeezed into her preferred narrative of the likely Democratic nominee as an out-of-touch, effeminate, elite liberal.

permalink

Posted by WFG IV | May 8, 2008 1:08 PM

Even when I drank PBR more often, I never got the point of the whole Blue Velvet thing. My identification with Jeffrey is strong enough that the scene made Heineken look more awesome to me.

Posted by Neil the Ethical Werewolf | May 8, 2008 1:09 PM

erg is right:

http://0062110.netsolhost.com/images/BeerMenu_Sm.pdf
http://0062110.netsolhost.com/images/drinkMenu_Sm.pdf

PBR was the only way to go.

Posted by lemmy caution | May 8, 2008 1:10 PM

"Where's my beer?" he asked, loud enough for the reporters to hear.

With a knowing smile, the barkeep bent his head so Obama could whisper his selection. Nodding, the inscrutable Southerner reached under the bar and presented the candidate with a label-less brown bottle containing a non-viscous liquid (probably beer) which Obama proceeded to consume--afterward disposing of said bottle in a high-temperature kiln specially designed to obliterate any identity of the bottle's brand or former contents.

Posted by James Gary | May 8, 2008 1:10 PM

PBR is a hipster beer (or, it was three years ago). and the Raleigh times is a hipster bar.

lay off.

Posted by cleek | May 8, 2008 1:11 PM

At least he wasn't wearing a trucker cap.

Posted by dude | May 8, 2008 1:11 PM

PBR used to be brewed by Miller, so at least for a time it all came from the same crappy trough.

Posted by freddiemac | May 8, 2008 1:13 PM

If one has to choose from a menu of cheap domestic lagers, and PBR is on that list, I would always choose PBR. It's sort of "flatter", slightly maltier, mellower, than the Millers or the Buds, and doesn't have the stomach acid edge of true bottom of the barrel beers like Milwaukee's Best or Natty Light. It's relaxing and soft, and tastes like good times. More than simply a gesture, PBR is a nice beer.

Posted by CG | May 8, 2008 1:15 PM

So now I just drink the equally cheap but less obnoxious High Life.

The champagne of beers?

Don't get me wrong, I love the High Life. But if you're going to claim it's not obnoxious, you can't be drinking the champagne of beers.

Posted by Trigger | May 8, 2008 1:17 PM

PBR was the only way to go.

Looking at that menu: no kidding. I almost feel sorry for Obama. On one hand, the "right answer" was obvious. On the other hand, any other answer would have been resulted in destructive reverberations to his campaign for days. For goshsakes there was a "Surrendermonkey" beer on the menu!

(I would have tried the Milk Stout, myself)

Posted by Tyro | May 8, 2008 1:18 PM

WHoa, I just looked at that menu and I stand corrected. It's sad that they've bullied Obama into choosing PBR over basically everything else on that menu.

Posted by CG | May 8, 2008 1:19 PM

Yeah, Freddiemac, but when it comes to beer I am not a man of distinguished taste. I like to have a few beers and get decently buzzed without spending a whole lot of money. Every now and then I'll have something a little better if I'm out to dinner, but on an average night it's value that I'm primarily after.

So High Life and PBR are equal to me on that scale, and since High Life offers less association with scenester meatballs or grief from scene-haters, I go with that.

Posted by mark f | May 8, 2008 1:20 PM

That beer list is indeed horrible. Here in California, I think the perfect beer for a candidate would be Sierra Nevada. Domestic, classy but real folks actually drink it, brewed in a hippie-ish college town, but in the Central Valley amongst salt-of-the-earth farmers.

It's funny that today, the douchebag from the movie would probably be ordering PBR.

Posted by too many steves | May 8, 2008 1:25 PM

For the love of God, can't a man drink an ironic hipster beer in peace in this country anymore?

Posted by Psittakos | May 8, 2008 1:26 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-zrYou8bRg

Posted by JSG | May 8, 2008 1:30 PM

I'm with Curly. For example, I am partial to Belgian beers, but if I drank those on the campaign trail I would: (a) become a gaffe machine; and (b) need a lot of naps during prime campaigning time. So, I would probably choose American lagers just for the low alchohol content, even if that wasn't also smart politically.

Posted by DTM | May 8, 2008 1:31 PM

One column???????

MoDo would make it his new nickname.

Posted by Mike | May 8, 2008 1:33 PM

That's not Lucky Lager!

Posted by ligedog | May 8, 2008 1:33 PM

That place has a solid beer list, too bad he had no choice but to pick the crappiest option.

Posted by Roman | May 8, 2008 1:36 PM

That's not Lucky Lager!

Posted by ligedog | May 8, 2008 1:38 PM

I'm disappointed that he didn't ask for a King Cobra -- 12 proof high octane brew favored by ghetto alkies. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Cobra_(malt_liquor)

Posted by Don Williams | May 8, 2008 1:39 PM

Um, PBR is an incredibly popular beer. I think it's a little lame to call it a "hipster beer." I live in rural upstate New York and the local beer preference tends to go from Budweiser first, to Coors light, to PBR.

Hipsters are an anomaly of the city, and there are plenty of PBR drinkers around. It's my favorite cheap beer.

Posted by B | May 8, 2008 1:43 PM

King Cobra in a 40 oz bottle, of course.

Posted by Don Williams | May 8, 2008 1:43 PM

PBR is hipster beer? Man, I am getting old. I thought that only rednecks drank it.

Posted by ostap | May 8, 2008 1:44 PM

I definitely have hipster Northeastern elitist tastes in things like music, movies, etc., but I can't stand PBR. It's sad how so many hipsters use it to score irony points. At least go for Two Buck Chuck and have the grape pigments make you thinner if you want to drink cheap ironic crap. Crappy beer just makes you fat.

Also, can we not have all of our tastes in everything reduced down to our political identities? There are libertarian and Republican hipsters. There are Northeastern elite educated Democrats who find foodies to be pompous. How much does it say that my Republican dad drinks Stella and Democratic me drinks Guinness? Fuck David Brooks and Maureen Dowd for foisting this crap on us. We know why Brooks is an idiot (an effete Republican intellectual living in Cambridge and teaching at Harvard Law who wants to fit in with white macho working-class guys who beat him up when he was a wimpy socialist with asthma), but why is Dowd so worthless?

Posted by Reality Man | May 8, 2008 1:45 PM

Pabst was Billy Carter's beer of choice, before some marketer persuaded to cash in with his own brand of horse urine.

For a cheap obsolete brand, I prefer Schlitz.

Posted by DHN | May 8, 2008 1:53 PM

He should've ordered a shot of whiskey with the PBR "back", as they say. That would've made him really blue-collar tough, I'll bet.

I don't know- Obama doesn't strike me an much of a drinker. I'll bet McCain can still put it away, though...

Posted by P | May 8, 2008 1:54 PM

Can anybody rescue Obama from this stupidity?

The last thing Obama needs to do is act that he is just a regular guy. He won't look like a regular guy because he is not, whatever regular means. He can't chop wood, clear brush, go bowling, drink in bars, or hang out at McDonalds and look 'regular.'

He'll just look fake.

Now, Americans are most certainly vulnerable to accepting fakes, but the fakery has to be credible. Even though W is a twit, he looks like someone who might actually clear brush for more than photo-ops.

In addition, it is possible that the more 'regular" Obama gets, the 'blacker' he is perceived. Americans can love Obama, but when he becomes Black Obama, some white citizens get nervous.

Clinton has spent months and millions, her political crediblity and moral standing, to try to make Obama black and to draw him into her fakest-fake competition with white workers.

If it has to come down to a distorted view of Obama, a distorted view of a real Professor Black-Obama is preferable to a distortion of a fake Black-Obama hanging out in white bars.

Why would Obama be so foolish to enter that arena on those terms? Who is advising him? Paul Begala?

Posted by Barbara M. | May 8, 2008 1:54 PM

How many columns would Dowd have written if Obama had ordered a Nectarini?

Posted by blah | May 8, 2008 2:02 PM

The regular guy brew in Pennsylvania is Yuengling Lager - just ask for "Lager". If you want to take it to the next level of regular guyness, try a quart of Yuengling Premium and a 10 oz glass.

Posted by Decided | May 8, 2008 2:03 PM

"PBR is hipster beer? Man, I am getting old. I thought that only rednecks drank it."

In 99% of Boston bars you can't even find PBR... in hipster/indie rock bars you can get it on tap. That's pretty much how you can identify you're in one if the guys wearing their girlfriend's jeans don't tip you off first.

Posted by J.W. Hamner | May 8, 2008 2:04 PM

whatever happened to Rolling Rock?

Posted by vanya | May 8, 2008 2:08 PM

Er--In case y'all haven't noticed it--politics is, among other things, theater. All the Dowd-bashing that goes on around here really misses the point; her schtick is politics as theater, and it has been at least since she and Frank Rich teamed up to review the 1988 Democratic Convention as Broadway show. And her approach is arguably as least as informative as y'all's notion of politics as properly a high-minded debate about policy [albeit well spiced with obscenities in the blogosphere's case]. Most voters, after all, don't follow policy debates, feel at sea as to whether a proposal will actually help them or not, and confront politicians, pollsters, and consultants who do their dead level best to keep them confused. That being the case, they want to know who they can trust. Alas, that often means the politico who's the best fake [see Bush, George W.]. Complain about it all you want, but that's what you're facing. Dowd's just the messenger.

Posted by David in Nashville | May 8, 2008 2:09 PM

Why can't Obama, or anyone else, metaorder his beer? For example, he could say, "I'd like to try the Surrender Monkey, so Maureen Dowd won't write about my health care plan this week."

Posted by matt | May 8, 2008 2:17 PM

whatever happened to Rolling Rock?

i drank it all

Posted by cleek | May 8, 2008 2:17 PM

"Complain about it all you want, but that's what you're facing. Dowd's just the messenger."

So Americans are confused about policy, and there are vast business enterprises devoted, in theory, to informing Americans, and we shouldn't be the tiniest bit annoyed when they handle their position of influence with all the social responsibility and intellectual heft of a high school cafeteria clique?

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | May 8, 2008 2:27 PM

I vote for no man who orders shitty beer. Thus endeth the Obamania.

Posted by James F. Elliott | May 8, 2008 2:31 PM

LaFollette Progressive

Ditto to your post!

Posted by EWard | May 8, 2008 2:31 PM

Bah, you ignorant, young, and likely drunk coastal elites.

PBR was an Illinois beer long before it was a hipster beer. The blue ribbon they boast about was supposedly awarded at the Chicago World's Fair in 1898--which was Chicago's great triumph, symbolizing that it had joined, or perhaps even surpassed, the great cities of the East. PBR put it on the can as part of a marketing scheme to associate themselves with an event that stirred the regional pride and the ideas of regional greatness in the upper Midwest that the World's Fair had symbolized. It worked, and the region has identified PBR as "our beer" for pretty much forever.

He was giving a shout out to his peeps! Not YOUR peeps! His peeps! In the windy city with big shoulders!

Damn hipsters. Now, get off my lawn! And take your empties with you!

Posted by anon | May 8, 2008 2:39 PM

"Complain about it all you want, but that's what you're facing. Dowd's just the messenger."

You're way, way off. The problem isn't that Dowd presents "politics as theater." Agreed, Rich does the same, but much more effectively, mainly because he actually criticizes the macho posturing of Republicans in equal share to showing the troubles that their more compassionate, intellectual Democrat counterparts have with the "regular Jane and joe" portions of the electorate.

Rather, Dowd writes as if she's watching the damn play every time. No matter the circumstances, the Democratic candidate is ineffectual and effeminate (unless they're a woman, in which case they're a ballbusting harpy, and possibly lesbian). She offers no insight at this point, rather she shoehorns everything into an already-decided frame, and it's unfair for her to substitute her own limited perceptions for the truth. It's like a theater critic telling people that Long Day's Journey into Night and Oklahoma! are both feel good musicals.

Dowd's a cancer on our political discourse. She really should be retired for it's health.

Posted by brewmn | May 8, 2008 2:42 PM

David in Nashville: "And her approach is arguably as least as informative as y'all's notion of politics as properly a high-minded debate about policy [albeit well spiced with obscenities in the blogosphere's case]."

Shorter David in Nashville: I don't care if Dems lose elections.

Just. Shoot. Me.

Or at least give a very strong rum-and-coke.

Posted by Andruw | May 8, 2008 2:49 PM

I used to work grounds maintenance in the summer. A giant cold PBR was great right after work. Its like slightly flavored water.

Posted by LazyWhiteGuyForObama | May 8, 2008 2:57 PM

Actually , real men smoke!

Posted by novakant | May 8, 2008 2:58 PM

For a cheap obsolete brand, I prefer Schlitz.

Blatz crushes Schlitz. Honestly, Blatz in bottles (which I've never seen outside of Wisconsin) is a pretty respectable beer. By far the best really cheap beer I've ever had.

The regular guy brew in Pennsylvania is Yuengling Lager - just ask for "Lager".

Yuengling, on the other hand is just flat out nasty. But then, no one ever accused Pennsylvanians of having good taste...

Posted by J.B. | May 8, 2008 2:59 PM

The irony in this whole ordeal is that Obama is probably as "regular" as it gets, when it comes to presidential candidates. Up until the point that he won the Senate seat, his family was squarely in the upper-middle class bracket. Compared to Hillary and McCain, they lived in outright poverty, relatively speaking. This regular guy stuff is utter nonsense.

Also, real beer drinkers know how regional the alliances are. You have Sam Adams and Harpoon in New England, Brooklyn Lager in New York, Yuengling and Steel City in PA (Yards in Philly, Sierra Nevada in Cali, a whole host of micros in the Northwest, etc....So I wouldn't be surprised if PBR was a local Chicago thing, though that's the first time I heard that.

Posted by Roman | May 8, 2008 3:00 PM

anon is right - in Chicago PBR is still a working dude's beer. Its what my brother-in-law always shows up with when he knocks off re-building an airport. Quit trying to project your elite coastal hipsterism on our man -- he was only slumming at Harvard.

Posted by SoxSide | May 8, 2008 3:02 PM

Yuengling isn't just PA anymore. A few years ago they moved into New York in a big way. Yuengling completely knocked out Rolling Rock as the downtown anti-Budweiser.

That's not a bad beer list, and I'm insanely jealous of the draft prices (in NYC you'd probably pay $6 for a 12 oz.). But PBR was really the only safe draft choice for Obama. Ordinarily Big Boss would have worked since it's the local, but with a name like "Surrender Monkey".... what idiot put that on tap?

Posted by AlanC9 | May 8, 2008 3:09 PM

"in Chicago PBR is still a working dude's beer."

As a Chicagoan who has regular exposure to the hipster crowd, I respectfully disagree. PBR made a big comeback amongst the twenty-somethings in wicker Park and Bucktown (hipster central in Chicago, for the unfamiliar) a couple of years ago.

There are several bars in the city that still have $1.00 PBR nights, and alot of people who haven't gotten sick of the taste of domestic monkeypiss flock to these events.

Posted by brewmn | May 8, 2008 3:10 PM

Thanks anon! That is exactly what I was thinking, giving a shout out to the Chicago history by drinking PBR. For this and more illuminating aspects of things invented there I highly recommend "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. I hope I didn't #$*% up your grass. Pretty clever political theater, if you ask me.

Posted by colleeniem | May 8, 2008 3:11 PM

"Also, real beer drinkers know how regional the alliances are. You have Sam Adams and Harpoon in New England, Brooklyn Lager in New York, Yuengling and Steel City in PA (Yards in Philly, Sierra Nevada in Cali, a whole host of micros in the Northwest, etc....So I wouldn't be surprised if PBR was a local Chicago thing, though that's the first time I heard that."

Even more so when you aren't in your..."home region" if you will.
I'm from MA and always liked Sam Adams. But now that I live in the American Midwest, I seem to drink it a lot more.

Posted by Raindog | May 8, 2008 3:21 PM

Of all the indignities of running for President I now believe that the requirement to drink sucky beer is the worst. How do the candidates do it?

Posted by Steve | May 8, 2008 3:21 PM

"Also, real beer drinkers know how regional the alliances are. You have Sam Adams and Harpoon in New England, Brooklyn Lager in New York, Yuengling and Steel City in PA (Yards in Philly, Sierra Nevada in Cali, a whole host of micros in the Northwest, etc....So I wouldn't be surprised if PBR was a local Chicago thing, though that's the first time I heard that."

Even more so when you aren't in your..."home region" if you will.
I'm from MA and always liked Sam Adams. But now that I live in the American Midwest, I seem to drink it a lot more.

Posted by Raindog | May 8, 2008 3:23 PM

If I remember right, and it's been a while, the proper Chicago local call would be Old Style.

Posted by snoey | May 8, 2008 3:28 PM

"Of all the indignities of running for President I now believe that the requirement to drink sucky beer is the worst. How do the candidates do it?"

The true salt-of-the-earth candidates do a shot of Crown Royal first, makes the dirty water do down easier.

Posted by Andruw | May 8, 2008 3:38 PM

PBR? If he wanted flavoured water he should have ordered an ice tea. A better choice would have been one of the Carolina Brewing beers as it would have been another moment for him to savour and remember the big victory in NC. Of course, if he were not campaigning we know that he would be all over the Belgian side of the beer menu.

Posted by pm | May 8, 2008 3:44 PM

oh my god, that last paragraph is perfect

Posted by Will | May 8, 2008 3:46 PM

So I wouldn't be surprised if PBR was a local Chicago thing, though that's the first time I heard that.

*DING* - roman gets the prize. PBR is, with Old Style, Chicago's cheap beer of choice.

Posted by Will Divide | May 8, 2008 3:48 PM

The regular guy brew in Pennsylvania is Yuengling Lager - just ask for "Lager".

Is this an Eastern PA thing? I'm pretty sure that I never heard anyone order just "Lager" in Pittsburgh (up to 2003).

whatever happened to Rolling Rock?

One thing that happened is it got bought by Anheuser-Busch, which moved production out of Latrobe -- which is probably why when he was in Latrobe Obama wound up drinking Yuengling.

Posted by Matt Weiner | May 8, 2008 3:49 PM

So I wouldn't be surprised if PBR was a local Chicago thing, though that's the first time I heard that.

*DING* - roman gets the prize. PBR is, with Old Style, Chicago's cheap beer of choice.

Posted by Will Divide | May 8, 2008 3:51 PM

"Is this an Eastern PA thing? I'm pretty sure that I never heard anyone order just "Lager" in Pittsburgh (up to 2003)."
Yup, most definitely. Though it's true that it's spreading to other east-coast states as well. Would be cool to see the drink of choice for all the different regions in the states and Canada. I'm sure it's out there somewhere. Just for fun- Eastern PA: Yuengling
Philly Beer snobs: Yards, Victory and Flying Fish

Posted by Roman | May 8, 2008 4:13 PM

Though the beer of my homeland used to be Henry's (the closure of which brought PBR up in Portland, which is where the hipster status comes from), I must defend it in the words of Jimmy Breslin: "It's a good drinking beer."

Also, the bottles and cans are all union made.

Posted by outlandish josh | May 8, 2008 4:16 PM

PBR might actually taste better than IPA. IPA is nasty shit across the board. But what do I know, I'm doing a multiday taste test between 2 Pinot Noirs from different regions of New Zealand. Beer wise, a hefe, bock or oatmeal stout, depending on mood and weather. I am unelectable! Yay!

It is a shame that the press shames all candidates to pander to the tastes of the common man. Me, I'd run on a "people should be able to afford the relaxing beverage of their choice" brand of populism but it would never fly. I don't look down on people just because I won't drink something foul to pretend to have the same tastes as them, but on this point unfortunately the press is representing the people pretty well.

Posted by nicestrategy | May 8, 2008 4:27 PM

You mean he didn't order Colt 45 Malt Liquor? I guess he really is transcending race.

Posted by Jim W | May 8, 2008 4:33 PM

Thank you, Reality Man, I thought I was the only Guinness drinker here. Of course my friend Brad brews the best stuff.

Posted by Persia | May 8, 2008 4:34 PM

Don't mess with the IPAs, those things are tasty hop flavored love.

PBR? If he wanted flavoured water he should have ordered an ice tea.

Or a Coors Light.

Yuengling is all over NYC. I like the flavor well enough, but it gives me the worst hangovers. I'll drink PBR or Old Style when I want to experience flashbacks to high school.

Posted by daveNYC | May 8, 2008 4:45 PM

What? no one gets the electoral connection? Did you not see the interview when Obama says the closest state on 2004 was Wisconsin? The home of Pabst Blue Ribbon? Clearly, this is just pandering--to WI, hipsters and whoever else thinks it's any good.

Posted by kajey | May 8, 2008 5:19 PM

Strange selection of Belgians. No Duvel, no Leffe, no Chimay, no Belle Vue.

"How much does it say that my Republican dad drinks Stella and Democratic me drinks Guinness?"

Not a lot. Here in the UK, Stella is known as "wife beater", because of its association with drunken violence. For all the "classy" advertising and premium price, it's a mass market product with a taste to match.

Posted by Ginger Yellow | May 8, 2008 5:28 PM

So has Pabst Blue Ribbon made the inevitable jump from working class to gay?

Anyway, I would have dropped out of the race and ordered Rochefort 10. You gotta have priorities in life.

Posted by Ronnie P | May 8, 2008 5:32 PM

Re Roman: The beer of choice in southern Ontario cities would probably be Keith's IPA for the university crowd, Labatt's Blue for the blue collar crowd and Molson Canadian for the tourists (Stella and Heineken for the female and male snob-poseurs, respectively). PBR is just something to laugh at when one sees it at the beer store (I don't think I've ever seen it served in a bar in Canada).

Posted by pm | May 8, 2008 5:55 PM

Brewmn said:

"Bucktown (hipster central in Chicago, for the unfamiliar) a couple of years ago"

I thought Bucktown was the home of the original gun-clappers?

No more I guess... fuckin hipsters.

Posted by laborlibert | May 8, 2008 5:57 PM

Brewmn said:

"Bucktown (hipster central in Chicago, for the unfamiliar) a couple of years ago"

I thought Bucktown was the home of the original gun-clappers?

No more I guess... fuckin hipsters.

Posted by laborlibert | May 8, 2008 6:00 PM

"(Stella and Heineken for the female and male snob-poseurs, respectively)."

Heh. Gotta love arbitrary cultural differences. Stella's definitely a blokes only drink over here.

Posted by Ginger Yellow | May 8, 2008 7:13 PM

So the first thing Obama did was ask for a beer.

I guess now we'll hear how he can't be elected because he's a black DRUNK from the next Clinton supporter to post here.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | May 8, 2008 7:40 PM

Pabst Brewing is now a retro marketing firm that contracts out brewing to Miller. They own most of the "old man" American lager labels.

HQ is in a suburban Chicago office park so "getting in touch" with a hometown company might have been the motivation rather than the identity politics.

Posted by PanAmerican | May 8, 2008 8:05 PM

Yuengling is an East PA thing. In Pittsburgh, you'd order an Ahrn (spelled "Iron City").

Posted by DTM | May 8, 2008 8:39 PM

I would point out that my beer is "foreign" beer (Corona) from Mexico no less.

"Why?!" the Media would ask.

And I would answer, "Because it has more alcohol."

And then I would buy them a round.

Posted by MNPundit | May 8, 2008 9:41 PM

For taste, I'd argue that a Sierra Nevada Pale, an Alaskan Amber and a Redhook ESB are the kings of the microbrews.

But for drinking all night in a bar? There's nothing wrong with a PBR. Nothing wrong at all.

Posted by ARW | May 8, 2008 9:49 PM

Bill Clinton stopped by the same bar - ordered a Carolina Blond.

Posted by ew | May 8, 2008 10:58 PM

I had no idea Yeungling started out as a working-class Pennsylvania thing. You learn something new everyday. Ironically, a lot of people who have never had it before seem to think it's an Asian beer because the name is vaguely Asian, so when a Korean-American friend of mine ordered it, he got called a FOB. It's not the best beer in the world, but it goes down fine and a whole lot better than PBR.

We need more Dogfish Head love on this thread. If you're anywhere near Delaware, it's definitely worth trying, especially their IPA.

"Thank you, Reality Man, I thought I was the only Guinness drinker here. Of course my friend Brad brews the best stuff.

Posted by Persia | May 8, 2008 4:34 PM"

Yeah, we definitely need more Guinness love around here. That's the best famous beer to have in the winter.

"Not a lot. Here in the UK, Stella is known as "wife beater", because of its association with drunken violence. For all the "classy" advertising and premium price, it's a mass market product with a taste to match.

Posted by Ginger Yellow | May 8, 2008 5:28 PM"

Yeah, I ordered that in a bar out here in Beijing and a British friend of a friend asked me if I was going home to beat my wife. Why they had that guy in a wifebeater drinking Stella in that commercial I'll never figure out.

Posted by Reality Man | May 9, 2008 12:00 AM

I just got back from several months in Beijing, China, where a popular brand of bottled water is - I kid you not - Pabst Blue Ribbon. The logo is exactly the same and even carries a copyright notice! So if you think PBR tastes like water in the US...

DJD

Posted by djdevvydev | May 9, 2008 12:14 AM

Wow, Obama even has good taste in beer. In Portland, Oregon, PBR stands for 'Portland's Best Refreshment.' Living there, I met a lot of professional microbrewers, the kings of beer snobs, and they all loved Pabst. It's just good beer.

Posted by mullingitover | May 9, 2008 1:46 AM

For taste, I'd argue that a Sierra Nevada Pale, an Alaskan Amber and a Redhook ESB are the kings of the microbrews.

Just putting in a shoutout for Abita here. Amber especially, but also Turbo Dog.

But really I'm a Belgian fan from way back. Whoever referenced Rochefort 10 upthread: word. Westvleteren even more, but good luck getting hold of a bottle of that these days.

Posted by live | May 9, 2008 4:35 AM

Amstel,Rolling Rock,Sierra Pale all respectable and unassuming brews.

PBR, Bud, fair cheap beers.

he'd a been safe ordring any of them

Posted by judson | May 9, 2008 12:52 PM

A couple years ago I was staying at the ultra-hip Jupiter Hotel in hipster city Portland, Oregon, and their "Doug Fir" bar was packed to the gills with hipsters, about 90% of whom were drinking PBR.

I actually went through practically my entire life without drinking a single beer because I didn't like the bitter aftertaste (plenty of wine & Southern Comfort, though), until finally last year at the age of 34 I was introduced to Newcastle Brown Ale, which lacks said aftertaste and which I actually find enjoyable to drink.

Posted by Adam Villani | May 9, 2008 4:00 PM

A couple years ago I was staying at the ultra-hip Jupiter Hotel in hipster city Portland, Oregon, and their "Doug Fir" bar was packed to the gills with hipsters, about 90% of whom were drinking PBR.

I actually went through practically my entire life without drinking a single beer because I didn't like the bitter aftertaste (plenty of wine & Southern Comfort, though), until finally last year at the age of 34 I was introduced to Newcastle Brown Ale, which lacks said aftertaste and which I actually find enjoyable to drink.

Posted by Adam Villani | May 9, 2008 5:09 PM

When in PBR land, you drink PBR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb8bCClW3uA&eurl=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Beer_track_in_Beaverton.html

Apparently, Oregon is IPA land....more like micro-brew land.

Posted by Roman | May 9, 2008 5:26 PM

A couple years ago I was staying at the ultra-hip Jupiter Hotel in hipster city Portland, Oregon, and their "Doug Fir" bar was packed to the gills with hipsters, about 90% of whom were drinking PBR.

I actually went through practically my entire life without drinking a single beer because I didn't like the bitter aftertaste (plenty of wine & Southern Comfort, though), until finally last year at the age of 34 I was introduced to Newcastle Brown Ale, which lacks said aftertaste and which I actually find enjoyable to drink.

Posted by Adam Villani | May 9, 2008 5:32 PM

A couple years ago I was staying at the ultra-hip Jupiter Hotel in hipster city Portland, Oregon, and their "Doug Fir" bar was packed to the gills with hipsters, about 90% of whom were drinking PBR.

I actually went through practically my entire life without drinking a single beer because I didn't like the bitter aftertaste (plenty of wine & Southern Comfort, though), until finally last year at the age of 34 I was introduced to Newcastle Brown Ale, which lacks said aftertaste and which I actually find enjoyable to drink.

Posted by Adam Villani | May 9, 2008 5:41 PM

Never had that beer. Love my belgians though. And I agree with Adam, except that for me I can't stand hops. Anything 'fancy' is good for me (stout, double bock).

But someone up thread was right. Belgians on the campaign trail is a mistake.

Posted by Miako | May 12, 2008 1:01 PM