Oh, that Pabst story is so funny. Omigod -- "Hey, there are all these people out there who hate marketing – and we should sell to them." I live near the Laurelthirst Pub, where I have actually seen a table full of the target demographic order a pitcher of Pabst Mimosas with their breakfast burritos at 2pm (the servers kept their faces straight, mostly). The Bishops hair place that serves Pabst is a few block away.
PBR used to be the one industrial brew you could buy at Bottleworks up here (which doesn't even carry Red Hook or Widmers, since they're distributed by Budweiser), and it was packaged in an ironic brown paper bag. On the other hand, the Elysian brewpub used to offer Rainier as the ironic industrial swill option, which made more sense to me as a local brand.
It has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but according to the linked article: "Originally invented during the Depression as a way to make a potent brew cheaply, by replacing some of the expensive malt used in conventional beer with less expensive dextrose, and using heartier yeast strains that result in more alcohol and less flavor ... " Although from my limited understanding the idea that "less flavor" is a result of "heartier yeast strains" is non-sensical. The key thing about malt liquor is that it had more alcohol than 3.2 beer and was just as cheap or cheaper.
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