Missoula Favorite PBR Just Dropped Pickle Beer

Some things in Missoula just go together, like peanut butter and jelly. Cheap beer, river floats, and pickles on just about anything you can throw on a plate. And now, somehow, all of those worlds have come together into one dubious but kind of perfect idea.

Pabst Blue Ribbon recently partnered with Grillo’s Pickles to bring us a limited-edition pickle-flavored beer, which hits stores nationwide on May 4th. Yeah, this is not a joke. This is an actual product that someone said yes to, someone brewed, someone bottled, and someone decided this was exactly what the people needed.

If any town was made to understand this move, it’s Missoula. The relationship between this place and PBR has been long, almost suspiciously loyal. You see it in backyards, around fire pits, at concerts, floating the river, and at tailgates. If it’s cold and cheap, there’s a good chance someone’s holding one. And then there’s that local badge-of-honor story. For a time, Orange Street Food Farm moved more PBR than any retailer in the country. Not close. Not top five. Number one. That tells you everything you need to know about this town’s priorities.

So now, of course, we pickle it. Early details say this isn’t just some gimmick where they toss a spear in the can and call it good. The flavor is actually built in, a light, crisp PBR with a salty, tangy kick from Grillo’s brine. Long story short, if you’ve ever chased a beer with a pickle, this just makes it official.

Will it be good? That’s a fair question. But that’s also not really the point. This feels like one of those things people will try at least once, argue about on the walk back to the fridge, and then somehow it ends up at every barbecue by mid-summer. And if it lands on the shelves at the Food Farm, you already know what happens next.