I don’t know what Blue Velvet’s Frank Booth would have thought about a light version of Pabst Blue Ribbon (aka PBR), but if he was a card-carrying member of Gen Z instead of an amyl nitrite-sniffing boomer, he might have gotten on board as the kids these days aren’t drinking as much, or they’re looking for lighter, sessionable options.
Well, Pabst Blue Ribbon just debuted its latest brew, Pabst Light, a lighter lager that clocks in at 4.2% ABV and 96 calories. Not that anyone is looking to reignite the great light beer wars of the 70s and 80s, but for an industry that has seen a sales decline in recent years, breweries big and small need to meet drinkers where they are, and if that means lighter options for a generation that’s got wellness on the mind, than so be it.
Pabst Light originally debuted in 1983 (thanks to the always reliable Dave Infante because it was genuinely hard to pin that down to a specific year), and while the brand does make a PBR Easy, this is an entirely new recipe with El Dorado hops that has fewer calories and a slightly higher ABV. It’s also a budget option for drinkers looking to save a little coinamid our increasingly justifiable tariff fears.
