Selected as America's Best in 1893

I couldn't come all the way to America and not drink one of the classics: Bud, Miller, Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The one I wanted the most was PBR so I picked up a 24oz can for $1.49. It pours (into a lovely snifter) a near-colourless gold, the aroma is almost there and when I do find it it's a swirl of corn; it's smooth in the mouth, totally inoffensive, clean and crisp, almost displaying something similar to hops but not quite. The can proudly states that it was 'America's Best in 1893'. (I've read the fascinating history of the beer and others of that time - check out Maureen Ogle's Ambitious Brew - and it was that win which added the Blue Ribbon to the name.)

I'm drinking in my hotel-motel which is the kind of place that could drip blood through the wall at any time (the just-under-filled kidney-shaped pool outside looks like a cess pit). To me this place-beer combo is quintessential middle America, straight out of the road movie, and after a week of face-smacking hops, cheek-puckering sours and mouth-filling imperial stouts this actually doesn't taste all that bad, in fact it's refreshing to sit back and drink something without having to think about it. My only worry is hearing a beat-up old station wagon roll into the parking lot late at night. I'm living the American dream.