In college, my buddies and I were always trying to find something cheaper than Old Milwaukee that was still drinkable. We tried Hudepohl, Fox Deluxe, Hauenstein, Meister Brau, Cold Spring, Buckhorn, Pfeiffer, Red White and Blue, and probably a few others. Try as we might, there was nothing cheaper than Old Swill that we could drink. Brewers of the cheap shit have been replaced by regional craft breweries, and the huge conglomerates have bought out the regional brewers of the shit beer.

First, though it's a little pricier than a standard American brew, Fat Tire is rapidly becoming a Midwest standard (now that it's available out here).

Second, what about Leinenkugel's? Like this "Yuengling's" y'all speak of, they're not distributed country-wide... but the craft varieties are pretty tasty, while the basic brew is more drinkable than Bud or Miller, and is usually cheaper than Busch.

The notion that PBR "reinvented" itself as a hipster beer in Portland in the early 2000s is at best an oversimplification. That may be when PBR itself became aware of (and began to market) the phenomenon, but hipsters had embraced PBR way before that. As someone who grew up in Portland and spent a little time fraternizing with "hipsters," I can tell you PBR was "hip" long before Lutz Tavern began serving it for a buck--probably as far back as the late 80s, when I was in college. Seems like a more plausible origin--though to look for one single source is pretty reductive--is when the Dennis Hopper character Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (1986) famously proclaims Pabst Blue Ribbon his drink of choice over foofy Euro-import Heineken ("F**k that s**t"). Maybe what's changed over the past few years is that bohemian hipness has gone mainstream, appropriated by corporate culture and frat boy types.

Blind tastes tests show that most beer drinkers can't tell one beer from another. What does that tell us?

Thanks, Ed - you personally will be responsible for my Yuengling Black and Tans to cost more. They were the best kept secret wedged between the Busch and Miller monoliths.

Dave in VA

large breweries in the U.A. no longer know how to make beer. Budwiser & Coors are both crappy tasteless beers.

i must be uber hip. i would drink a pabst when i couldn't afford anything else - and we're talking the 70s here, folks, in florida. it tasted easier than most without an aftertaste, though granted that can be a subjective statement. i couldn't abide bud, but i drank my college town dry of miller in the mid-70s, because - again - it was pretty cheap.

i've enjoyed going down the memory lane of cheap beers here in the letters - brought back a caseload of fond remembrances. (from growing up in the 50s, let's have a moment of silence for mabel - she, of the "hey, mabel, black label!" commercials. and to my dad, who used to tip a schlitz when he watched the fights on tv....and ale, oh, god, how i loved ballantine ale, one of the first alcoholic beverages i bought when i turned legal. we won't discuss my short adventure with champale....omfg....)

but for the last 20 or more years the beer i reach for when a beer mood strikes me (hey, i'm old now and it only takes one or two to make me feel loopy; god, how i hate how things like metabolisms change...)is a dos equis. tastes good, no aftertaste (a big thing with me). though i must admit i am pulling down the newcastle brown ale from the shelf more often than not lately...kinda similar in taste to dos equis, to me, which, again, is entirely subjective.

damn. is it too late for a beer run?

So glad to see Yuengling gain this recognition, I think another poster clued folks in to this, but in most parts of Pennsylvania tell your bartender you want a "lager draft" and you'll get this great beer. It is worth mentioning that the $14 case you reference is Yeungling Premium which is a whole different beast, Lager is king and is a bit more expensive, but still entirely affordable, $2 pints is not unheard of.

Great article

I nominate National Bohemian. I've been swilling PBR down as both a Milwaukee-ite and semi-failing hipster for years now. And I enjoy it. Always will. In Los Angeles I would say PBR loses to Tecate more often than not, both for taste and price.

Recently I was in Baltimore and sampled some of the fine, cheap brew National Bohemian. Interestingly enough, tho a proud B'more tradition it is also owned and operated by Miller and Pabst.

It's a drinkable beer in the same tradition as PBR, and equally cheap. It doesn't seem to be available to far beyond Maryland, but I think it's time to bring it out. For no other reason than the instant street cred of their logo, the creepy-by-way-of-cute Mr. Bo. He looks like the creepy mustachioed Mr. P Pringles guy with one eye. Seriously a flat 2d face with one eye. No reference to where that other eye might be. It ain't perspective that's hiding it.

If that's not waiting to be swept up in an irony laden hipster hug I don't know what is.

So tho I love some Yuengling and think it would certainly help the hipster cause, I think Natty Bo will be more entertaining across the board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bohemian

Rolling Rock. Out of Latrobe, PA. But that brand fell to AB (and In-Bev).

So now there's Leinenkugel's. Good ol' Leinies. The aroma of old socks. A definite old world tradition, from the heart of Wisconsin, which is the heart of U.S. brewing....

Cheers,

Speaking of Stone Brewery, their Ruination IPA is about the hoppiest beer available and one of my favorites. With the exception of the beer wasteland between LA and Sacramento, there's good beer to be found up and down the West Coast. Portland is, of course, the capitol of Beervana.

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There are a few good beers 'tween El Lay and Sacto- tho not the plethora of them there are once you get to where the big conifers grow. In Santa Barbara Co there's Firestone- they make several great beers, some of which we are starting to see here on the the East side. SLO Brew in San Luis Obispo brews beer up in Paso, and some of their bottled stuff is pretty good. Avoid the brew pub tho! They contract brew the Humboldt ales there now and they remain supremely drinkable. We used to get St. Stans out of Modesto- they made an alt amber that was my favorite beer at the time and I would kill to get a case of now if I could find it now. Then up in Davis there's Sudwerks, whose lager is prolly the best in the land. Or was- I haven't had one in awhile. Mammoth Brewery in Mammoth makes a good amber, and a (surprisingly) good hefeweizen as well.