Well, this came as a complete surprise. Pabst Brewing Company has defected to Russia.
According to articles on the Huffington Post and the NY Times, the 170-year-old brewery from Milwaukee known for its iconic Pabst Blue Ribbon beer announced on Thursday night that it was sold to Moscow-based Oasis Beverages, a beer and soda firm that operates in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine.
The Russians seem happy about this: “Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand — it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression — all the things that make this country great,” Eugene Kashper, the chairman of Oasis Beverages said in a statement.
Of course, if last week’s owners–billionaire investor C. Dean Metropoulos and his two sons, Evan and Darren–had the same relationship with the United States, perhaps they would not have sold the company.
The history of Pabst is storied, especially of late. Under the latest deal it will stay headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, but we all know that what this means is that the money will flow out of this country like beer out of a busted tap head.
