Are all Pabst AAL's the same beer?

And that would be prudent. AB takes great pains to maintain consistency of their brands like Budweiser. Every brewer treats their local brewing water to be an exact match of the brewing water at the St. Louis brewery. They maintain very strict control of the ingredients used at all locations. One of the principle tasks of the Pilot Brewery in St. Louis is the test out the lots of each ingredient (barley malt, adjuncts, hops, etc.) to provide data to the brewers at each AB brewery to make proper accommodations for each batch using these varying lots. The AB house lager yeast strain is monitored and each AB brewery will obtain new yeast from St. Louis on a scheduled (and as needed) basis. Beers are flown periodically from each of the breweries to St. Louis where they are evaluated by a trained taste testing team. Multiple batches of Budweiser are blended together at each brewery to 'smooth out' whatever inconsistencies may exist for each batch. And a bunch of other steps. A beer like Budweiser is not revered by most BAs but within the context of quality = consistency a beer like Budweiser is of the highest quality.

Brewing beer at a brewery such as 21st Amendment vs. another brewery is a very, very differing matter altogether.

Thanks for that tip. There used to be a multi-part series (4 episodes I think) on YouTube about Breweries which was filmed at Anheuser Busch breweries. I think it was a Modern Marvels thing. I posted a couple of these episodes in past threads but unfortunately they are no longer available/active. A case of ownership thing I believe. It is a shame this information is 'gone' since there was a lot of detailed information and interesting footage about how a beer like Budweiser was produced. Maybe a more tech savy person than myself knows how to access these episodes?

Cheers!

 

But those are some of Pabst's "crafty" beers*, along with now-defunct beers like Ballantine IPA, Burton Ale and Brewers Gold Ale, at least one Rainier-branded ale, Pabst Old Tankard - they probably don't really fit the OP's "AAL" category.
Besides Miller>Molson Coors, Pabst has brewed some of their AAL's and other beers (ales, malt liquors) at The Lion, F X Matt and City/Lacrosse and, I think, Latrobe (maybe Memphis, too). It's probably be more appropriate to compare, say, Special Export from a MC facility to the version brewed at it's traditional "home brewery" in Lacrosse (City for a time even brewed what was said to be the "clone" version of SE, IIRC - called City Lager).

* Lucky Lager, the ex-economy-brand, did stay in the Pabst portfolio into their "virtual brewery" phase (the last Pabst "macro-sized" breweries, San Antonio TX and Allentown PA closed in 2000-2001) and did come out of a Miller brewery. But I don't think they're after the same market with the current version. I forget, are they claiming or suggesting it's the "same recipe"?

 

I’ve been told by line brewers at the Coors brewery in Golden, where they brew and can both, that there is no difference between Hamm’s and PBR except the can it goes into. Perhaps they’re bullshitting.

 

They were too busy talking about design firms to really comment. To me, it always feels like they want the image both ways - both in terms of market category, and also in terms of new vs old. So, I think you've hit the issue(s)... and as a result they'll need lots of luck no matter how they picture it.

From the press release:

 

Here we go again with this.

 

I had some ice cold Rainiers when I was in Seattle I’d have no complaints if this was my local go to aal. As to AALs in general they might be a tad different but I’d have trouble finding any particular one better or worse than another. There’s surely shitty beers out there, but most mainstream AALs are just inoffensive beers, it’s why they survive.

 

Nah, not going anywhere. As I said, they were probably bullshitting. Both guys, by the way, think Coors Banquet is the single greatest beer in recorded history. So you get an idea where they’re coming from. One of them told me when they started brewing Miller Lite up there in Golden, it was really hard because they had no idea “how to make a beer that shitty.”

So that’s the mindset, where that line came from.

 

What about the water?

 

Lol, I’d love to be a fly in the wall listening to brewers trying to dumb down their beers. Hire the brewer who’s in charge of Steel Reserve , problem solved.

 

Were talking pure finesse here, regardless of what one thinks of any particular beer or bourbon. Their steady loyal customers will notice changes if it’s not consistent. Funny to think that you pay more money from warehouse #4 rack location X because head distiller says it’s better. Better location because of temp, humidity, whatever, these locations just produce better whisky. Lost on me, but it’s this guys job and theres millions of dollars at stake. Don’t know, just an abstract thought. Beers aren’t any different, change Bud, and Bud drinkers will know it immediately, whether one likes it or not it’s the model of consistency.

 

That post just seals it... yeah - I think you’ll enjoy some aspects of that movie. You can rent it from the various digital platforms.

 

They already employ that brewer:

AB has changed the recipe for Budweiser often during the beer's existence. ABV, hopping rates, forms (leaf vs pellets) and varieties, etc. Some sources put it as today having less than half the IBUs as it did in the 1970s.

 

Yes, Budweiser did indeed evolve (“creep”) over several decades. This was discussed in a WSJ article in 2006:

“Mr. Muhleman, who is officially Anheuser's group vice president for brewing and technology, says the company didn't set out to make the beers less bitter. He calls the change "creep," the result of endlessly modifying the beer to allow for changes in ingredients, weather and consumer taste. "Through continuous feedback, listening to consumers, this is a change over 20, 30, 40 years," says Mr. Muhleman, gesturing toward the row of Budweiser cans. "Over time, there is a drift."

The five Budweiser cans in front of Mr. Busch, dating from 1982, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003, were pulled off the production line shortly after they were brewed. They were cooled to minus-321 degrees Fahrenheit over 16 hours and stored at that temperature in a secret laboratory in the company's headquarters.

The sample cans demonstrate how "creep" works. The difference in taste between two beers brewed five years apart is indistinguishable. Yet, the difference between the 1982 beer and the 2003 beer is distinct. "The bones are the same. It is the same structure," says Mr. Muhleman. Overall, however, "the beers have gotten a little less bitter."

Perhaps an important aspect discussed above is: “The difference in taste between two beers brewed five years apart is indistinguishable.” So for long term Budweiser customers the changes over several decades occurs so slowly they just become slowly acclimated to it.

Cheers!

 

Certainly a niche market for this stuff, one of the few beers I’d say is truly vile.

 

Yup, think I've read about that, too.

but it really needs the WSJ's pic of the AB freezer:

Back then, when AB III asked if you wanted "A cold one?", you made sure you had a good pair of industrial insulated gloves on.