If you’re out at the local watering hole this weekend to grab a few cold ones with your friends or complete strangers, you might raise an eyebrow or two when it comes time to pay the tab. According to a recent survey by Restaurant Sciences, while the cost of beers and liquor have seen increases across the board at bars and restaurants across the U.S., the fastest-rising prices belong to none other than the low-range beers.
This spike in price is being attributed to one specific beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, so the Los Angeles Times knows exactly who is to blame for us getting less hops for our bucks…
And the folks at Research Sciences seem to believe that assumption is valid.
“While all the attention has been on craft beers, the price of mainstay brands in the mid-price tier have risen more dramatically,” Research Sciences President Chuck Ellis said.
“I believe the single biggest driver in sub-premium beer price increases is indeed specifically PBR,” Ellis said. “It has become quite fashionable.”
“Traditionally, lower-priced beers such as Pabst Blue Ribbon have seen sizable double-digit price increases in both restaurants and bars and nightclubs,” Ellis said.
Research Sciences tracked the prices of various types of beers, from ultra-premium to sub-premium, at approximately 500 bars and restaurants, and they discovered that in the last seven months, the ultra-premium prices have gone up by 1.8%, super-premium by 1% and premium by 3.6%. But when it comes to the sub-premium, those prices have risen by a whopping 6.8%.
Obviously, the only solution is to take something important from hipsters so they know how much they’re hurting other people. My suggestion is handlebar mustaches. I’ve always been kind of jealous of those.