RETRO?

I recently read a wonderful article in "All About Beer" magazine. It talked about the "Retro" beer movement. The article made the point that many younger people like to drink old canned brands in order to make a statement for or against something. They drink the beer to have something in common with a dad or grandpa and to give a big middle finger to snobs.
I am here to tell you there is no such thing as a retro beer movement.
There is a beer cycle that has been going on since I can remember, and I would have to guess it happened long before that.
I graduated from high school in 1992. My first can of beer was Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was the only brand of beer my cool friends would drink and it was a couple years before 1992. (Sorry Mom)
They drank only Pabst because it was better than Bud Light dammit and coincidentally less expense. Almost 20 years later the exact same thing is still happening. 20 years may be a flash if you are a mountain or rock, but it is a bit too long to be considered anything other than permanent in pop culture.
There is absolutely nothing for Freud to figure out here. I drank Pabst and many other "Retro" beers then and now because I don't like to drink the same thing everyone else drinks. I want people to come up to me and say, "Aw Jesus, you drink that!" So I can smile and say, "You're damn right."
I drink it so I can pour some in a Bud Light drinkers glass and laugh when they don't notice the difference.
During the last 20 years I have also learned a lot about the history of all the old brands and decided to make my living as a brewer and connoisseur, but that doesn't mean the 16 year-old rebel doesn't still get thirsty from time to time. When that happens I need a can of something obscure. Or, I guess, retro.