PBR and Grillo Are Rolling Out Pickle-Flavored Beer

PBR and Grillo’s Pickles announced their PBR x Grillo’s Pickle Beer on April 13, billing it as a canned version of the classic dive bar move of dropping a pickle spear into your beer. The result is a 4.7% ABV lager described as “bright” and “tangy,” balancing PBR’s classic lager with the dill-forward flavor of Grillo’s Pickles.

Six-packs hit shelves May 4 for $7.99 at major retailers nationwide, including Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Publix, Food Lion, Total Wine and More, and KwikTrip. The brand is also partnering with NASCAR for a co-branded paint scheme at the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega on April 21, which should keep the collab in the news cycle through the launch.

Before we get into it: you cannot legally resell alcohol without a license, and major platforms including eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Mercari all prohibit it in their terms of service. If you buy this hoping to flip the beer itself, you’re out of luck.

The actual play, if there is one, is the packaging. PBR has a small but dedicated collector base, and limited branded packaging has sold on the secondary market before. We covered PBR’s Godzilla 99-packs earlier this year, where the preserved cardboard packaging resold for up to $200. If you can keep the six-pack carton in pristine condition, there’s a chance it finds a buyer down the road.

That said, the Godzilla packs were produced in limited quantities (4,000 units) and had an obvious collectible hook. This pickle beer collab is a nationwide retail release with no stated production cap, which means the cardboard isn’t going to be rare by default. Supply will be much higher here.

For most resellers, this isn’t worth chasing. At $7.99 a six-pack, the entry cost is low, but the return is speculative at best. Without a scarcity story, the packaging isn’t an obvious flip. The beer is a novelty, and novelty fades.

If you’re a PBR collector or you happen to be at Walmart on May 4 anyway, grab one. Drink the beer, keep the box flat and dry, and see what happens. Don’t make a special trip or stock up hoping to move a stack of empty cartons.

This is a low-priority pass for most. Keep an eye on it if you’re into branded beer memorabilia, but don’t reorganize your sourcing week around it.