Is Pabst and Hamm's the same beer?

Not the same.

I was a pbr drinker but moved toHamms after reading an article here on BA

Hamms is better, less bitter, nicer carbonation/smoother, Pabst does have a minor hop smell.

Enjoy

 

Have you ever conducted a blind triangle taste test?

In a recent New Beer Sunday thread I discussed:

“With the help of my lovely wife I will first conduct a triangle taste test using small opaque cups (opaque in case my guess of similar appearance is wrong) to see whether I can determine one beer from the other in a blind tasting. As a reminder the purpose of the triangle taste test is to pour the same beer into two cups and the other beer in the third cup and see if the taste tester can determine the ‘odd man’ out. In the below photograph two of the cups were marked with A on the bottom and one with B on the bottom.



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-722.600217/#post-6318816

Cheers!

 

I've long suspected that it's not peeber and Gamma, but all of the Pabst brands. Ranier, Oly, et al.

 

My opinion- not the same beer.
Pabst- sweeter and less hop flavor. More corn syrup taste.
Hamm’s- far less sweet syrup flavor. It looks better in a glass with a pillowy head of foam. I prefer Hamm’s by a wide margin.

 

I would love to do a blind tasting. I’m sure they are different though. I have no bias towards either beer but have never liked PBR in maybe 4-5 different tastings and always like Hamm’s quite a bit.

 

I’m quite sure I couldn’t tell them a part, the local Wally carried cases of Hamms for $13/case. Haven’t seen it in forever. I’m not so jaded that I’d say they’re all the same, but it’s essentially so. Of course there’s the odd one that’s purly lousy, but I think you could throw most of them into the same boat. I might guess a regional preference,or a bit of a nostalgic twist. I thought Rainer was really ok on my visit to WA, I thought Lone Star and Pearl were ok as well back in the day. My palates not very sensitive I think, I like Budweiser as much as any other, Gansett is pretty good too. Of all the major aal’s I’d say Miller High Life comes off as a bit sweet. I’d love to do an aal testing it would certainly be interesting.

 

Hamm’s is a little sweeter IMO. PBR a little bit “hoppier” and a little more dry. That’s just me.

 

I prefer Hamm’s for the smooth sweetness, PBR is alright but lacks any real flavor compared to Hamm’s. Strictly speaking I’m talking about ice cold Tallboys while grilling...and they are 2 different brews for sure.

 

Then it's settled.

 

Do it... and do it blind. Yes, it is interesting. If I remember, you're a Bud drinker, so be sure to include that one.

 

They're much the same in the way that hamburger chains are, yet some differences.

PBR is weightier in the body and the hops are on the spicy side.

Hamms has a little less body, the hops lean toward floral, and it's better balanced.

I can take either and the primary difference is price. Around here a 6x16 of PBR is $4.99, the same in Hamms is $3.99, and there isn't a dollars worth of difference between them.

 

Does it even matter?

 

If you have not done so already I would think that it would be easy to find out if you drink both beers side by side at normal room temperature. With such a mild style of beer the cold is bound to cover up/smooth out some of the distinguishing features of the beers. In this style I would expect the distinguishing features to come down to fermentation profile, balance of sweetness to dryness and the potential presence of hop flavor, all of which are aspects which I think are affected by cold.

 

They both taste better in repeated doses.

 

I heard they both use the same five ingredients.

 

I thus agree with this viewpoint:

"Very often laboratories connected with the brewing industry are
called upon not only to make a chemical and biological exami-
nation of a sample of beer, but also to render an opinion upon
its taste and flavor. This apparently simple matter demands
the close observance of certain points, which have been clearly stated by
R. Foerster (see the preceding article). The chief fact to be noted is that
beer is often too cold to be properly tasted with regard to its quality.
The preference of the consumer for cold beer is well known, and must
be respected, although it is an open question whether he gets the benefit
of the fine flavor and aroma. Still it can scarcely be doubted that too low
a temperature makes it impracticable to give a reliable judgment on the
comparative merits of different beers, which is really the important point
from the brewer's standpoint. When dark beer is drunk too cold the
strong malt aroma is not preserved, and according to Sautmann, cold
pale beers taste more or less alike when the temperature is below a cer-
tain limit. According to Foerster, the best temperature for the exercise
of a discriminating taste is between 10° to 20 C. In accordance with this
principle, the beer to be tested should by all means be allowed to stand
several hours at room temperature until it has warmed up to 15 to
20° C."

 

So ---- no?

A former Miller - Ft. Worth employee who used to post on BA (LAD) once stated that

So, it wouldn't be out of bounds to think that MillerCoors uses the same basic recipe or base beer for both their own and Pabst's economy brands.

Older versions of Pabst's websites for PBR noted that it was "... aged at high gravity..." so like most beers coming out of macro (and some "craft") breweries, they are brewed and fermented at high gravity with deaerated, carbonated water added to bring it down to shelf strength.

Many of the Pabst's brands are suspiciously close to the same ABV of 4.6% give or take a few hundredths (PBR's 4.74 a notable exception) - easily accomplished by a slight variation in the quantity of water added, and given the probable use of post-fermentation hop extract, it wouldn't be hard to change beers' taste simply by that means, using the same base beer or blending two different recipes, etc.

From the early 1980s to 1999, Hamm's was a Pabst brand, sold by them to Miller at the same time the two brewers divided up the vast Stroh/Heileman portfolio when Stroh went out of business. Of course, there have been some vague suggestions from MillerCoors that they've since "tweaked" the Hamm's recipe to appeal to modern craft/hipster crowd.

 

This was my initial thought as well.

Wouldn't it be illegal to fudge the ABV on either beer?

If so, then they're definitely not the same EXACT beer.

 

Well, the legal tolerance in the US is:

...but given how many of Pabst's other brands* come in exactly at 4.6% or slightly more or less, why would they bother? Unlikely that 0.14% would sell more beer, especially since it doesn't appear like their labels list ABV.

* Old Milwaukee (4.6%)
Rainier (4.6%)
Olympia (4.6%)
Old Style (4.64%)
Piels (4.65%) [obsolete]
Lone Star (4.65%)
National Bohemian (4.52%)