PBR die-hards line up for first taste of beer-infused Campbell’s soup at celeb-favorite NYC dive bar

Brew du jour, anyone?

Pabst Blue Ribbon fans gathered en masse in downtown Manhattan last week for a chance at the first taste of a bizarre new collab between the Texas-based beer brand and Campbell’s Chunky soup – complete with costumes showing off PBR pride.

While the unusual concoction – a beer-infused soup loaded with either beef, bacon and chili or potatoes and chorizo – doesn’t hit Walmart shelves until September, dozens of eager locals were able to get a spoonful at celeb-favorite dive bar Ray’s on the Lower East Side Thursday evening.

“I don’t get heartburn from it,” Staten Island resident Mike Russell proclaimed of the reasoning behind his devout love for the lager.

“I was drinking plenty of Coors Light, but I never got it from PBR,” added Russell, 55, who made the beer switch five years ago — and has since scored various merchandise showing off his penchant for Pabst.

“He’s easy to shop for,” said Russell’s wife Dawn, 63, who bought him a PBR-branded hat on Etsy as well as a jersey and a pair of themed sneakers. “We’re still looking for Pabst underwear, though.”

The Pabst die-hards, unsurprisingly, gave rave reviews to the brew-forward flavors:

“The potato cheese one, it’s got a kick! I like it a lot,” Dawn said. “You taste the beer, but it’s not overpowering. It’s so delicious.”

“It’s just the right level of beer flavor,” said Harlem resident Tori Cignarella. “I love a PBR, specifically.

“It’s just genuinely a safe beer … It’s a higher-end casual beer,” added Cignarella, 29, a self-proclaimed “big beer fan and big soup fan.”

For her, the collab was a success.

“I’m lazy, that’s what I love about Campbell’s,” she said. “I genuinely wish I had more.”

Another bar-goer was a fan, though he was left slightly thirsty for the real thing.

“Perhaps it could’ve worked had they added even more beer to it, but what they have already is already a good thing,” said Keanu Jackson, 29, Crown Heights. “The balance was there.

“It’ll definitely be on my shopping list,” he added.

“If there’s two things that come together that are bonding things, it’s soup and beer,” said Bay Ridge resident Katie, 29, of the universal love for both.

“Alcohol in general is the bonding thing since the dawn of time,” she said. “It’s so culturally significant, and soup is what you want to have when you’re cozy and warm in the winter. Chili is one of my love foods.” 

“A dive bar just felt so true to the combo of soup and beer,” Campbell’s Chunky spokesperson Meg Patrick said of the collab at the “beloved” watering hole.

“I think it’s a good way to get people involved, bringing in true fans that want to try things out — that, to me, is why pop-ups are so hot,” she added.

Aside from the celebrity star-power and Pabst pull, some attendees were simply drawn to the odd pairing.

“I was fascinated by Pabst beer soup,” said Patrick Hogue, 31, of Ohio. “I’ve never drank a PBR before.”

“I have tried so many alcohol collabs in the food space, and this beer cheese soup is the best one,” said Griffin Parker, 27, an Ohio-based food writer at Sporked, who said he has tried the likes of a pizza-flavored IPAs and a Domino’s wine pairing.

“I’m glad it went this direction and not the other way,” he added.

“I don’t eat soup-flavored beer.”