50 Beers of the World- Pabst Blue Ribbon (USA)

Today's 50 Beers of the World entry focuses on an American brew Pabst Blue Ribbon, which started in Milwaukee but the home brewery is now located in Woodbridge, Ill. The beer is often called PBR.

It debuted at a festival in Chicago back in 1893, and the beer reached its peak period in 1977 when PBR sold 18 million barrels in 1977.

We presume the brew can be found at The West End Tavern in Boulder, Colo., located at 926 Pearl Street, which was voted Best Bar in Boulder by "The Daily Camera" (the local newspaper).

Closer to home and the last time we checked, PBR was available at our favorite Turkish restaurant in the country Tallula's on Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, NC, which also has an Urfa Kebab that is to die for.

SIDEBAR: Israeli journalist Elana Kirsch has an excellent article in the online edition of "The Jerusalem Post" about her recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey, which comes at a time when the governments of Ankara and Jerusalem have mucked things up between the two countries that were once on excellent diplomatic terms. Kirsch said she was greeted with everything from "Shalom" to "free Gaza" to "We hate Israel." My favorite part of her story though is when she first told locals that she was Australian. I did something similar on a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic that borders Iran in 2008 when I said I was 'from Istanbul.' (I'm a Turkish-American). When I ran into people who were actually from Istanbul, I had to fess up.