Pabst Brewing Company (PBC), best known for its Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) beer, is launching a new India Pale Ale (IPA). The Seabird beer is exclusive to the Midwestern U.S. region. After last summer’s expansion of the PBR brand to whiskey, coffee and hard seltzer, the company pledged to continue innovating in the beverage sphere.
The Seabird IPA beer is housed under an entirely new PBC brand, Captain Pabst, and separate from the PBR brand.
It takes the name of Frederick Pabst, a Lake Michigan ship captain who purchased half of the Best and Company brewery that eventually became PBC. With strong roots remaining in the Milwaukee and Chicago area, it will first roll out in the midwest region.
Captain Pabst is described as a luxury beer brand, and Seabird will be its flagship drink. It is named after Frederick Pabst’s last steamship, and brewed with Magnum, Citra, Cascade and Mosaic hops.
“We’re lucky enough to be the stewards of so many great, classic American trademarks. But none of those marks really highlight the person or the people that founded the original brands. We thought creating something new, based on someone who played such an integral part in pioneering brewing in this country, was a really romantic and deserving story that consumers would be interested in hearing," said Matt Bruhn, Pabst general manager.
