Microbrew City adopts a macrofave.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

In the 1986 cult classic "Blue Velvet," Kyle MacLachlan expresses his preference for Heineken beer.

In response, Dennis Hopper - as the raving psychopath Frank Booth - rejects said choice in words that would make a boxer blush. He suggests an alternative:

"Pabst Blue Ribbon!" Hopper yells, in a voice as loud as it is threatening.

Now, almost 20 years later, Trendsetter Nation has heard his call.

If you follow pop culture and/or beer, you know that Pabst Blue Ribbon, that blue-collar brew in the red, white and blue, has made a surprising comeback.

Sales rose 5 percent in 2002 and 15 percent last year. The numbers are also strong for 2004, Pabst spokesman Neal Stewart said.

These days, nobody drinks more PBR than Oregon.

The hip crowd in Portland, in fact - the bike messengers, the kayakers, the punk rockers and bluegrass lovers - is credited with sparking PBR's rebirth back in 2000, when the beer was dipping consistently elsewhere since peaking in 1975.

The Pabst faithful in Eugene-Springfield and Corvallis aren't far behind: Like Portland, the three-city market is a top 10 buyer of PBR, Stewart said. That's impressive, considering the others are places such as Seattle, New York and Los Angeles.

But it's downright scary when you add this: Stewart is talking raw volume of PBR sales, not consumption based on population.

A river of PBR runs through us, according to downtown Eugene's watering holes.

Presumably, the river begins at Luckey's, a quaint little pub on Olive Street where PBR pints can be had for as little as 25 cents.

Luckey's owner Jo Dee Moine wanted to draw the college crowd, and she hasn't been disappointed. The place was so packed one night there was a line to get in, a first for a 92-year-old bar once home only to older gents puffing cigars.

"The purpose wasn't a moneymaker," Moine said. "The purpose was, `Come on out and try us.'

` `It's gotten in a whole different clientele."

And what, exactly, is that clientele?

"Look for anybody that's tattooed or pierced," said James Carroll, co-owner of John Henry's and Horsehead Bar, "and they're probably drinking PBR."

Taps, tats and Pabst

Why the sudden love affair with the 160-year-old brand? Maybe it was part of the retro movement. Or anti-microbrew- ism.

Or the lack of a fiver.

Matt Milletto, a 25-year-old PBR drinker in Eugene, explained the brand's popularity in vaguely Marxist terms: "It's kind of a toast to working-class virtues. `I'm enjoying this, and I'm not spending as much as I would on a new microbrew or a mainstream beer.' '

Milletto is a PBR poster boy: Former punker, elaborate tattoos on both arms, artsy and independent. He rides a Vespa, one of those vintage Italian scooters. Ask to see his snakeskin belt with the PBR buckle.

He quaffed a couple PBRs one recent evening at Indigo District, where a row of handsome, wooden tap handles for high-priced beers is joined on the end by a blue one the size of a cucumber. It sticks out like the fat kid who gets picked last in gym.

But those microbrews sell for $3.50 a pint, while PBR comes in at just $2.

Drinking PBR "says you have that working-class thriftiness," Milletto said. "In today's economy, it's usually the least expensive beer in the bar. It's that Americana feeling of the good ol' blue-collar days."

San Antonio-based Pabst Brewing Co. caters to fans such as Milletto with a shoestring advertising budget heavy on ads in alternative weeklies and light - as in nonexistent - on glitzy, corporate-style TV and FM radio spots.

Remember now, Pabst Brewing is still a distant fourth in the domestic beer market. The company spent $427,000 on media advertising in 2002, next to Anheuser-Busch's $419 million.

"We do really small ads," Stewart said. "It's all we can afford."

Pabst drinkers, in return, can be unwaveringly loyal, as evidenced at New Max's Tavern, just down 13th Avenue from the University of Oregon. The temporary absence of the No. 1 seller due to a bad line or broken cooler has caused soldiers in the PBR-my to do an about-face.

"I've had people walk in and turn around and walk out," bartender Chad Dooley said. "I personally think that's a little overboard, but that's how people feel about it."

Is it swell or swill?

But not everyone wants a seat on the Blue Ribbon bandwagon.

Cafe Paradiso stocks PBR, but its 27-year-old venue manager, Brent Craig, doesn't understand the attraction. The Northwest "is the home of such good, rich beer," he said, "and people are drinking swill."

A co-worker recently gave Craig an earful - the boss was uPBRaided, if you will - when the Pabst ran out during a show. The message: An emergency keg should always be at the ready, even if a pricier brand must be pulled for space.

"That blew my mind," Craig said.

Still, it's safe to say that no amount of PBR passion could save the brand if it didn't taste good. On this, opinions diverge.

Some say PBR is sharper and more flavorful than, say, the foam-water blandness of Bud. Others won't touch it, and at least one local bar owner for whom PBR is the No. 1 seller could muster up only: "It's ... OK."

One bartender (who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons) even related what, in the Pabst community, amounts to a capital offense: On an especially busy night, she ran out of Pabst and substituted Bud - unbeknownst to the PBR-my.

"Nobody knew," she said, grinning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

PBR FAQ 

How old is this stuff anyway? The pride of Milwaukee celebrates 160 Blue Ribbon years in 2004, the first bottle having been brewed in 1844

Does Pabst have a Pacific Northwest connection? Sure does; it's the parent brewery for onetime Washington beers Olympia and Rainier

What's with the blue ribbons? Hand-tied, blue silk ribbons first appeared on bottles starting in 1882; the company stopped the practice in 1916 because of the silk shortage during World War I

What is Pabst's real claim to fame? It was the first brewery to put beer in cans, way back in 1935; the beer remains popular despite that dubious innovation

- Pabst Brewing Co.

CAPTION(S):

At Luckey's Club Cigar Store, Pabst Blue Ribbon joins several popular microbrews on tap.