Pabst Light
Pabst Brewing Company

This….this. Wow. I’ve been on a light beer craze lately, and as an older gent now, and with multiple conditions, light beer seems to be the most logical/sensible thing for me. Having said that, I’ve drank em all. Well, damn near most of the ones that are known. I had some Genny Light leftover in my fridge & did a side by side with the PBR Light… not even close. In fact, PBR Light, just might be - the best damn macro Light brew around. It’s clean. SUPER clean. Has a notable “lighter” PBR presence. It’s like they cleaned up the OG, gave it a shave & taught it etiquette. A DAMN fine light beer. Cheers

 

The appearance is pretty good for light beer. Straw colored and forceful carbonation with a head that lingers for a little bit

Aroma is grainy, grassy, and bready. No real hop detection.

The taste is a big shocker. This is better than PBR. Again grainy, bready, with some rice sweetness like the aroma. The finish is a slightly bitter grass taste. For an American light beer this is pretty tasty.

Mouthfeel is light, refreshing, and crisp as this style should be. Very carbonated.

Overall this is a buy again light beer especially for the price. Real shocked how good it is. Kind of like a Mexican lager in ways and makes a great michelada

Bought locally, best by June 28th 2026.

Pours very pale straw gold, small head of foam, retention is not bad, as is the lacing.

Smell is sweet grain, touch of grass, not much to it. It's a light beer.

Taste is sweet, grainy, touch of grass, very thin body, lively carbonation.

I tried it so it is off my list.

I have no idea what Pabst Blue Ribbon Light tasted like and probably never will, but there is zero chance it tastes as good as this. Definitely my personal choice of cheap beer for the time being, works incredibly well as a nice little drink while simultaneously being a pretty yummy way to get tipsy. You’d be doing yourself a disservice to not pick it up.

Pabst Brewing Co. "Pabst Light"
12 fl. oz. can coded 02NOV25 CE1848". Sampled on 30JAN26
$11.99/12-pack @ H-Mart, 6201 N. Front St., Philadelphia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: This is "Pabst Light", not to be confused with "Pabst Blue Ribbon Light" - which is the same beer! Neither the case packaging nor the can bears the words "Blue Ribbon" although there is a graphic of a blue ribbon on it. Why they would do that, I have no clue. It's poured a crystal clear golden body beneath a short head of white foam that drops quickly and then leaves next to no lacing behind. The aroma is sweetish and malty but without any hops to it. It doesn't particularly smell like an adjunct beer but once you taste it you'll know. It's certainly not the worst adjunct beer that I've ever tasted, and I'll say they've done a good job with it. It is sweetish, and only offers the lightest hints of hop flavor BUT it is a light beer so that's to be expected. It's got more flavor than Michelob ULTRA which has 95 calories and 2.6 grams of carbohydrates while this offers a single calorie more and 3.5 grams of carbs. That's not a lot. Despite the sweetness that's there, leaving it a bit unbalanced, there's not a lot of sweetness as it's a light beer that's been fermented out, and it finishes fairly dry. The body is light and the carbonation is on the lower end leaving it smooth and refreshing. If you're looking for a light beer for health reasons you should consider this, and if you're looking for a lighter beer for outdoor activities like softball in the summer or charter boat fishing you should consider it as well.
Review #9,438

 

One of the best (big brand) light beers on the market, especially at its price point.

•Clean, crisp, and refreshing
•Not a lot of after taste.
•Crushable for sure.

Nice, crispy taste with good feel and a bit more viscous than other low carb beers. Kind of refreshing like a Coors Banquet but better mouth feel anf taste, way better. Best of the low carb "Ultra" beers. Recommended as a daily drinker.

Presentation: 25 ounce can poured into a pint glass.

Look: pale, yellow color. Slightly watery appearance. Frothy head that lingers longer than expected.

Smell: sweet aroma almost like a cider. Faint odor of corn and malt. Extremely faint odor of alcohol.

Taste: slightly sweet taste. Faint taste of corn and malt. Very faint taste of alcohol.

Feel: slightly creamy mouth feel. Not super watery like other light beers. Moderate carbonation.

Overall: better than the average light beer, but nothing remarkable.

 

This beer surprised me for sure. Very smooth and creamy. Better than original PBR.

 

I know it's popular to hate on macrobrewer light lagers, but suprised how good this is. Was expecting something much worse and I honestly think it's better than the OG. Just my opinion

Americans are moving to less alcohol beers and Pabst has entered the race. Whilst I prefer full-flavoured lagers which usually means higher ABV, PBR Light is 4.2% and 96 calories for 12 oz. tin. It’s crisp and tastes like beer. Better than most American light beers IMO.

From the 16 oz can in a snifter via Bluejacket74! Cheers Dude!
This surprise pours a clear pale golden with a decent head of
white foam that settles to a thick ring, thin layer, and displays
some light lacing. Nose of light breaded malts, light cereal grains,
and subtle floral notes. Flavors are a bit of a surprise with light
grains and light breaded malts giving way to a light floral hop
and almost a subtle peach and faint lemon note. Mouth feel
is light, smooth, crisp, refreshing, and finishing clean and balanced.

Overall, now I know why Blkuejacket74 tossed me one of these---for
a light macro brew it hits the spot and is better than say a Mich Ultra.
I could actually enjoy one or two of these while grilling which is
a total shocker

Cheers

12-oz. can poured into pint glass.

L- Pours a clear, golden straw color with a generous finger or two of soapy, white head with decent retentiom. Looks like a light beer.

S- The aroma is lacking as it's hard not to compare the light version to the OG, but I only get faint cereal grain, a little bit of bready malt, some metallic hops but could be from the can.

T- Follows the nose with faint cereal grain, metallic hops, even some banana on the back-end, but it's all very watered down as a light version of PBR and nothing really stands out in terms of flavor.

F- Very drinkable, crushable light beer, moderate carbonation, the can's description is accurate in that it is crisp and refreshing, finishes clean.

O- I was curious to try a different light beer that ran a little cheaper, I like PBR, I figured the light version could be decent at about the same price, fewer calories, etc. It just seems like for cheaper macrolagers it's best to stick to what you know. It's worth trying once, the can design is nice and retro, but when it comes to Pabst, stick to the original as the light version falls just short of the mark.

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a clear golden straw color with a large head of white foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a scrap of lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is rather light with notes of grain combined with caramel and corn and notes of earth and cardboard.
Taste – the taste begins with a crisp and light with flavors of caramel, corn, and a bit of grain. The grain is super light, fading even more as the taste advances. All the while a touch of dirt and more sweet join in, but still remining on the lighter side, and leaving one with a very crisp corn and caramel strong taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is light and crisp with a moderate to higher and more effervescent carbonation level.
Overall – An easy drinking and refreshing light brew. Not the best, but very light in flavor and very easy drinking.