It’s no secret that Pabst Blue Ribbon has been the trendy and chic beer among the younger, college-aged set for some time now. But how did it ever get there? Isn’t it just another macrobrew that tastes like skunk water? Maybe, but Pabst’s rise to hipster fame has some redeeming qualities.

The beer is up almost 30% in dollar sales in the U.S. for the 52 weeks through October at retailers like supermarkets and drug stores, beating out the beer category’s overall 1.1% increase, according to market-research firm Information Resources. Meanwhile, Budweiser and Corona Extra are down about 7% and 8%, respectively.

But the lagging economy isn’t the only thing energizing PBR. The brand has also cultivated a reputation as a hipster, offbeat beer — or what the president of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Craig Purser, likes to call “retro chic” — positioning itself as an alternative to big, mainstream brands.

But aren’t craft beers the true alternative to big and mainstream brands? Maureen Ogle, who wrote “Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer,” points to some things that make Pabst a pseudo-microbrew.

While PBR’s success stems from its niche, dive appeal, it isn’t actually the cheapest of the cheap. PBR is at least $1 a case more than Busch Light and Keystone Light, says Benj Steinman of Beer Marketer’s Insights. PBR drinkers may want to look down-market, but they’re willing to spend a little bit extra to make sure no one mistakes them for the mainstream.

But as Ogle points out, while fans might like to think of the 165-year-old company as a boutique relic of the family-owned, all-American breweries of the past, it actually doesn’t own its own brewery. All of its brewing is done at contract facilities (including some owned by MillerCoors), with Pabst brewmaster Bob Newman overseeing the recipes. Pabst Brewing Company’s portfolio also includes beers like Colt 45 and Schlitz. Pabst declined to comment for this story.

It’s kind of cool to see a brewery regarded as one of the ho-hum, standard macrobreweries turn out to be something more. And something more than just another hipster trend. And have you ever wondered how to own your own brewery? Well, you could have a part of Pabst. Kind of. Emphasis mine.

With Pabst on the market, one potential offer has emerged with a gimmick as quirky as PBR itself. In what he says started out as a joke, Michael Migliozzi — managing partner of advertising agency Forza Migliozzi — is attempting to crowdsource the purchase of Pabst by creating buyabeercompany.com, a joint venture with ad agency the Ad Store.

Anyone over 21 can go to the site and pledge a minimum of $5 toward the reported $300 million sales price for Pabst. So far, would-be beer moguls have pledged more than $20 million in about a month [!!!!!]. If the collective raises enough money, Migliozzi says contributors will get enough beer to match their pledges and ownership in the company.

The article also has some background on PBR’s troubles as it started out, and some other great details about the brand. Definitely worth a read. But my favorite quote from the whole thing tells the complete story about the Pabst reputation–even craft beer lovers have a place in their hearts for PBR.

Case in point: Ogle says when she’s attended the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the crowd boos every time Anheuser-Busch (BUD) wins an award, but Pabst always gets cheers.

(Via CNN Money)