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Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/53439
PLAY-SLUMMING IT WITH PBR A Pabst Blue Ribbon lover named Ross lived in my freshman-year dormitory, and early one Saturday evening he asked if I'd like to try a can. At that point, my 18-year-old immature palate was only familiar with Natty Light. "Well?" Ross asked. "Meaty," I said. And by that I didn't mean it was robust but rather that it actually had a tinge of bolo- gna flavor. THE PBR HIPSTER GO TO THE BEER STORE (746 E. Market St.) Drink: There are about 500 bottled beers on the wall from too many countries to list in this paragraph. Also, a cooler and six rotating taps. (We recently had Bell's Third Coast on draft, which suited the unseasonably warm evening.) As much as we're tempted to suggest it, you should not choose your beer by closing your eyes and pointing. "I have back- ground as a curator," co-owner Lori Beck says. "Each piece of art has an audience, just like each beer has an audience." If you're up for a challenge, go with something from Evil Twin Brewing. "The guy's a nomadic brewer," Beck says. "They're challenging, complex beers. Nothing subtle about these." Sit: It's a cramped space, especially during the Trolley Hop, so head out the back door and through the alleyway that opens into a patio, with a couple of narrow picnic tables and strands of fat-bulbed white Christmas lights. If it's cold, the fire pit will be roaring. Why is the beer trend here now? "A lot of the credit has to go to Roger Baylor and Rich O's in Southern Indiana. He has been the voice of the beer movement," says Beck (she and Tyler Trotter own Holy Grale, too). "People are realizing that they'd rather have a couple of really great beers for the price of a 12-pack of swill." What's in Beck's fridge? "Three Floyds' Jinx Proof and New Glarus' Spotted Cow, neither of which you can get around here," Beck says. "And if you step right beside our fridge there are about 20 cases Tyler and I have been collecting." Back then, my PBR distaste was all about taste. Now? Even if I wanted to, I don't think I'm allowed to drink it because my iPod (not vinyl record collec- tion) contains artists other than Fleet Foxes. In town, I first witnessed the PBR-hipster union two years ago at Zanzabar. My friends and I drank $2.50 bottles of Bud Light; the rest of Zanzabar went with $1.50 cans of PBR. "It's 100 percent because of the price," Zanzabar co-owner Jon Wettig told me recently. "Six bucks buys three beers, with a buck fifty tip." Does Wettig drink it? "I can enjoy craft beers now. But if I were down on my luck a little bit and was out at the bar? I'd get PBR, sure," Wettig said. I called Melanie Tapp, Garage Bar's general manager, and she put me on speakerphone with Michael Paley, the chef there and at Proof on Main. At Garage, PBR and ginger syrup are among the ingredients in a couple of cocktails, not to mention PBR in something called a "working man's mimosa." Paley, for his part, had never had PBR until Garage opened last year. "It's the Dunkin' Donuts coffee of beer," he said. "It's the coolest of the mass-produced beers," Tapp added, "but also the best. If it's sunny, I could drink PBR all day long on the patio. There's just something refreshing about an ice-cold PBR. It's all about the can." People actually enjoy PBR and don't think it tastes like the liquid lunchmeat I had as a college freshman? Needing proof, I had my wife set up a blind tasting at home with Bud Light, Miller Lite and PBR. To me, they all looked the same and were scentless. And to my surprise, PBR was my favorite by a nose (it was the smoothest), followed by Bud, then Miller. So, yeah, who knows? I may soon be wearing pants that make my legs go numb. — JM GO TO EIDERDOWN (983 Goss Ave.) Drink: On a recent Tuesday night we tried a Mikkeller Fresh Hop, an unfiltered lager that is among the most refreshing beers we've ever had. Sit: At the restaurant's heavy bar made from what's surely reclaimed wood. Check out the 21 taps, two of which are constantly changing. Not a cheap domestic beer in sight. Observation: We had a question about a beer, and the bartender poured us a small sample before we had time to ask for it. 2.12 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE [47]