Pabst Brewing Co. - "Rainier Beer" lager

Today's review is of a Seattle cult favorite, Rainier Beer. Known as "Vitamin R" to some Seattleites, Rainier is a local lager made with Yakima Valley hops. I've had it both in DC (thanks to the Marshall Aid shipment from my brother) and also in Seattle itself, when I've been there to visit. I also brought it to my friends Michael and Joe on the 4th of July and they loved having a taste of home.

You may notice by the title that Pabst makes it. That's because Pabst Brewing Co. acquired the rights to Rainier. Having had Pabst Blue Ribbon - "PBR" - it pains me to append such a label to Rainier, but, that's life.

Rainier has a long and storied history. First marketed in 1878, before Washington was a state, Rainier has been in the public consciousness for quite some time.  Take these advertisements from 1898 and 1907. respectively:

But despite various fits and starts, name changes, ownership changes, and that nasty Prohibition business, Rainier persevered until 1999, when it was totally acquired first by Stroh's and then, finally, by Pabst, which shuttered the brewery. The beer is now brewed under contract in California.

Unlike many of the beers I try, Rainier Beer also comes in several sizes - a regular 12 oz can, a Winter Jubilee half quart can, and my favorite, the One Pounder.That's my iPhone for scale.

So let's talk beer. Rainier is actually what's called an "adjunct lager," which means that the mash is supplemented by "adjuncts," or various kinds of unmalted grains like rice, corn, rye or barley. 

Rainier pours super fast, with a straw-colored eye and a very foamy head. Lots of white bubbles in there! It's not a high-gravity craft beer, that's for sure.

The taste is very wheaty, and very thin, with an oddly-refreshing bright malt taste. There's not a heck of a lot more to say - it's a very unassuming, light, straighforward lager that satisfies my thirst. This isn't not something I'd drink by my usual standards, but... there's something about it. All conventional wisdom says this is a basic, no-frills lager that doesn't deliver a hell of a lot of taste.  The thing is, the taste isn't bad. The (fortunately limited) times I've had Budweiser and Coors, I've been really repulsed by the taste. I felt it was sour and stale. However, Rainier doesn't have any of those nasty elements I don't like.  It's not sour, not sweet, and does not have crappy elements that make other crappy beers crappy. But most of all it doesn't have that stale malt taste that comes with a lot of cheap, thin beers. I find this beer to be refreshing, delicious, and very light.

Essentially, Rainier is one of those cult-favorite, light session ales that you can drink all day and not feel the effects. It's cheap, widely available in Seattle, and is something I would drink. It's not fancy, not a craft beer, but it gets the job done.