Will Hipsters of the World Embrace PBR Whiskey?

Pabst encroaches upon the whiskey market

Pabst Blue Ribbon, the cheap beer that became a hipster fixation in the early aughts, is likely getting a whiskey counterpart.

New Holland Brewing Co., a company that distributes its products through Pabst Brewing Co., received approval last month from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for a Pabst Blue Ribbon Whiskey label. An inscription on the packaging reads, “This is Pabst Blue Ribbon Whiskey. Made from nature’s choicest products that, legend would have it, Jacob Best used in 1844 to provide its smooth, complex flavor.” The label also apparently notes that the spirit was “aged five seconds.” Although the whiskey market is new territory for Pabst, New Holland Brewing Co. has some experience distilling whiskey along with gin and vodka. When reached for comment, a representative for PBR told MiBiz, “We are just not quite ready yet as several details [are] still up in the air.”

No word yet on when this new PBR whiskey will see the light of day, but the perfect time for this release would have actually been five years ago, when the whiskey boom was still raging.

And in other news...

• Whoopsies: A boy in Columbus, Ohio found a metal blade in his McDonald’s Happy Meal. His parents have not filed a lawsuit... yet. [People]
• In an interview with the New York Times, Gwyneth Paltrow takes some credit for inspiring the gluten-free craze. “[W]hen I did my gluten-free cookbook in 2015, the press was super negative and there were personal attacks about what I was feeding my children and what kind of mother I am. Now the gluten-free market is huge.” [NYT]
• A new Lucky Charms-flavored IPA from Virginia’s Smartmouth brewery sold out in a flash. [AV Club]
• Italy’s most recent olive harvest was the worst in 25 years. [Guardian]
• Actor Justin Theroux likes taking his dog to expensive Manhattan restaurants. [Page Six]
• Sales of chips, cookies, and ice creams jumped in three states where recreational marijuana use recently became legal. [Market Watch]
• And finally, Russell Brand recently appeared on a U.K.-only celebrity edition of the Great British Bake-Off. The highlight reel is so strange (and mildly NSFW):