10 Best 6-Packs Of Beer Under $10

There are a number of once-reliable, formerly affordable beer brands that fans are side-eyeing over rising prices, but it's not all bad news. There are still some options out there for a cheap six-pack, and yes, you can find some brands that aren't going to leave you disappointed and feeling like you wasted even a couple of bucks on some beer.

First, a disclaimer: None of the beers we're going to be talking about have the super creative flavor profiles and wonderfully layered complexities that you can expect from your favorite craft breweries. These aren't the same quality as the bucket list beers that are only available overseas. These are the kind of beers that are perfect for serving ultra-cold on a hot summer afternoon, or stocking up on for a chill, relaxing weekend. They're nothing fancy, sure, but they'll still hit the spot.

How did we choose? This list started with personal experience and opinions, but we also searched social media, Reddit, and review sites to get a feel for a general consensus on various beers. We confirmed that at the time of this writing, we can still find six-packs available for under $10 — although prices can vary by state and region — and included those that are generally well-liked for being satisfying and affordable. While we've all had those days when we just want to get something a little upscale as a special treat, treating yourself doesn't always have to break the bank.

We'd go as far as to say there are no breweries that have a story that's quite as long as Yuengling's, and we mean that in a very literal way. It's the oldest brewery in the country, dating back to 1829. It's still located in the same place — Pottsville, Pennsylvania — and it's owned and operated by fifth- and sixth-generation members of the Yuengling family. And yes, while you can pick up a six-pack of the brewery's lager for under $10, that comes with a caveat.

It turns out that the oldest U.S. brewery's beers aren't available nationwide, and Yuengling's distribution map reaches to Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Wisconsin in the west, and New York and Massachusetts in the east. That's a pity, because not only is Yuengling one of the absolute best beers to use in homemade chili, but it's widely appreciated for being a balanced, slightly sweet lager that's middle-of-the-road in an excellent way.

You'll find plenty of people who suggest Yuengling comes in at the very top of the list of cheap beers, and you'll also find those who go out of their way to source it. It's the beer some say is their go-to shower beer, it hits the spot when you're standing over the grill in the backyard with a super cold bottle, and since it's only 4.5% ABV, you're not going to feel bad taking it slow and sipping the afternoon away.

This might be a bit of a hot take, but we'd argue that there is no better beer for campfires, cookouts, and fishing trips than Pabst Blue Ribbon. In case you've ever wondered about that blue ribbon status, it's 100% legitimately earned. Pabst's Best Select took home a best beer win from the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and although there wasn't actually a blue ribbon involved as a prize, there is a bit of neat trivia here.

Jacob Best's brewery dates back to 1848, and it took great pride in its awards. Brewers started tying silk ribbons around each and every bottle of beer, and very quickly found they were going through somewhere around a million feet of ribbon a year. That practice ended in the 1950s, but PBR has remained a cult classic with a massive following.

There's a very good reason for that. In spite of its affordable price tag, Pabst still takes pride in putting out a consistent product. You know exactly what you're going to get when you crack open a can, and it's the same lager that has been pleasing crowds for more than a century and a half. It delivers on flavor while not being heavy, has an easy-to-drink, corn-forward sort of sweetness, and gets lauded as the perfect beer to reach for if you're looking for a case to spend an afternoon with. Pro tip: Make sure it stays really, really cold.

When you think of Irish beers, you probably think of Guinness and any one of a number of other outstanding Irish stouts. That's just scratching the surface, though, and you don't need to spend a fortune on a great Irish beer ... sort of. George Killian's was originally a family-owned beer brand in Ireland before it was bought by Molson Coors, which boasts that it's stayed as close to the original, 19th-century beer as possible. 

This one's perfect for anyone who thinks that cheap beer is going to be lacking in the flavor department, and delivers a caramel maltiness and sweetness that walks the line perfectly between too much and not enough. It clocks in at a respectable 5.2% ABV, and it's also richer, heavier, and creamier than some of the others.

Full disclosure: This writer is super excited to be able to confirm that you can still get a six-pack for less than $10, because it was one of those college-era go-to staples that has aged surprisingly well. It's just as good today as it was while being shared around an air hockey table at one of the nearby college bars, and you'll find other beer drinkers who also remember it as being the gateway between massive, large-scale breweries and craft beers. If you haven't had one in a while, go out of your way to pick up a case — and just wait for the fond memories to resurface.

A six-pack of Coors Banquet might come in at just under our $10 cutoff, but it's absolutely worth it. It's advertised as being a lovely, crisp, and light brew that's great for the kind of session that comes with sitting around and keeping an eye on the smoker and your favorite cuts of BBQ meats. If you're wondering exactly what type of beer Coors Banquet is and what it tastes like, we have the answers: It's a lager, and it's surprisingly complex for a cheap beer. It boasts official tasting notes of banana bread and pear, and you'll hear a ton of people saying that it's their favorite for hot days. 

Even self-professed beer snobs might say they keep this one on hand, and it's the kind of beer that wins the hearts of overseas visitors looking to try something uniquely American. Fans have included Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman, and we can't forget that it was nearly as important to the Burt Reynolds classic movie "Smokey and the Bandit" as that sweet, sweet Firebird was.

While Coors has been around since the mid-19th century, the story of Coors Banquet is a little different. That didn't become truly easy to find nationwide until 1991, and it's managed to amass a major following. You'll hear Reddit users saying that it's even better on draft — and they keep it on tap at their house — while others note that a Coors Banquet and a pizza are one of the simple and most wonderful pleasures in life.

Genesee Cream Ale can be found in some places for less than $1 a can, and it's also one of those beers that has an incredibly long history. The Genesee Brewery dates back to 1878, but it wasn't until the 1960s that it became famous for pioneering the unique style that is the cream ale. It's meant to have characteristics of both a lager and an ale, and it's very different from either — and something of an acquired taste.

Interestingly, experts say that just what goes into making Genny Cream Ale is a bit of a mystery, but the final product has the heavy fruitiness of an ale, and the smoothness of a lager. It's sweet and — unsurprisingly — creamy, but we do have to say again it's very polarizing. 

Part of that (we suspect) is that it's so different from being a lager or an ale that it's a bit of a surprise at first. It's spent a fair share of time as an award-winning, best-selling regional favorite, though, and still inspires poetry from fans. That's no joke, as one Reddit user wrote, "If Genny Cream has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Genny Cream has ten fans, then I am one of them. If Genny Cream has only one fan, then that is me. If Genny Cream has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against Genny Cream, then I am against the world."

When we say that Rolling Rock has been around forever and a day, that's no exaggeration. It was founded back in 1939, and while you're not going to hear anyone praising the complexities and nuances of it, it's lasted this long for a reason. You absolutely will hear it being called a light, uncomplicated, unfussy example of an American lager, though it's slightly controversial. The brewery was acquired by Anheuser-Busch in 2006, and even though it was quick to say that the recipe and processes weren't going to change, it's easy to see how selling the decades-old brewery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, didn't thrill people.

That said, we'd still like to give this one kudos for managing to hold onto the feel of being that small-town beer that you and your neighbors drank while chatting across the fence. It's long been popular throughout the Rust Belt, even if things have changed over the years.

What hasn't changed is that it's still shockingly affordable. At the time of this writing, we found places where you can pick up a 12-pack for under $10, and honestly? We can get on board with that, and we're not the only ones. You'll see this one celebrated as a time-and-a-place sort of beer, perfectly frosty after just a short time in the freezer, or cutting through the heat of a summer spent without air conditioning. Here's another pro tip: It makes a stellar beer batter.

In researching this article, taking a walk down memory lane, and checking out what others had as their go-to cheap beer, we were a little surprised to find how many are old-school favorites that have been around for generations. That's certainly the case with Narragansett, as this New England classic has its roots in a brewery that opened way back in 1890. After surviving Prohibition by delivering ice and making sodas as well as medicinal porters, the brewery dominated the post-World War II market in New England.

The Narragansett Lager you pick up today is one of the brewery's original, 19th-century products. That alone makes it a neat piece of history and worth a try! Even though you might see its heyday as being described as waning through the 1970s, there's no denying that it's still a pretty beloved regional staple. Some call it the beer that they identify other New Englanders by, while others put it up against anything else in its price category, nationwide. 

What can you expect? A crisp, straightforward lager that's easy to drink and absolutely uncomplicated. It's very frothy, very bubbly, and the kind of beer that you'll want to get if you're buying beer for a crowd: It's hard to get offended by it, it's fine in a middle-of-the-road kind of way, and perfect for hanging out for some casual drinks. Also, Dr. Seuss designed the (admittedly less-than-politically-correct) old-timey mascot, so that's fun!

When we here at Tasting Table asked some professional pitmasters for their favorite beers to pair with a ribeye steak, one of the answers was Miller High Life. That got a shout-out because it's super clean and easy-drinking, and we'll be honest. If a brand new beer hit the market at a price point of less than $10 for a six-pack and started advertising itself as the Champagne of Beers, we'd take that with a grain of salt. High Life has been around since 1903, though, and that's such a long time that even Molson Coors has no idea where that iconic Girl in the Moon mascot came from.

It's earned bragging rights: It was one of the first beers to be sold to the public in glass bottles, and it spent a long time as a luxury option. So yes, while it's on the affordable end of things, it's still a perfectly fine option for a budget brew. 

That's especially true if you're looking for a clean beer to drink alongside — or mix with — your favorite whiskey or bourbon. It's the beer that plenty of craft beer devotees will keep on hand, and it comes with a pleasantly refreshing feel that just kind of hits. If you revisit this one after a few years and think it tastes the same, there's a good reason for that: Everything's still done exactly the same as it always was. Even the brewer's yeast hails from the original 1850s-era strain.

The story of Hamm's is one that will sound familiar when featured alongside the stories of our other favorite cheap beers, as this is another beloved regional hit with a history that goes back to the middle of the 1800s. This once independently owned brewery is now under the umbrella of Molson Coors, and it's still so popular that it has a following that lovingly dubs itself Hammpions. (Strange fact: In the 1930s, a Hamm family heir was kidnapped, and his attackers were the first to be identified by fingerprints taken from the ransom note.)

Fast forward decades, and you'll find Hamm's has turned into the kind of affordable beer that also gets a lot of love for the retro vibe that it still has in packaging, advertising, and — of course — the literally sweet taste of nostalgia. And it is very sweet — which might make it a bit of an acquired taste — but it's also the kind of fan favorite that has beer drinkers saying that it's absolutely one of those beers you need to try. 

Die-hard fans of other affordable beers might just find their go-to changing after sampling Hamm's, praised for continuing to be a great, old-school beer with a light flavor that takes you right back to a Thursday afternoon in August, circa 1971. It's simple, smooth, refreshing, and precisely the sort of thing you want to have for an hours-long session under the sun.

Some regional beers remain an integral part of the community they were born into throughout some major changes, and that's the case with National Bohemian. More commonly known as Natty Boh, this Baltimore native dates back to 1885. Things slowed down a bit for this old-timer, though, and in 1978, it left Baltimore. It's since been folded into Pabst, and even though the sprawling brewery complex and native Natty Boh pride have faded to nothing more than fond memories, it's still pretty beloved there. 

It's a pretty incredible thing that this regional beer with a flavor that's just sort of ... described as tasting like beer is still the sort of thing that inspires widespread love and tattoos. You can't think of baseball in Baltimore without Natty Boh, and it's not unusual to see those who move away reflecting on the crisp taste of this perfectly acceptable and straightforward lager. As for those still in Baltimore, it's an interesting thing: Those who wonder why it's so beloved when production has moved elsewhere are inevitably reminded it's part of city history.

It's so much a part of that history that in 2011, Baltimore celebrated the wedding of Mr. Boh and the Utz Girl. No one compares it to an outstanding craft beer — or shouldn't, at least — and because of that, Natty Boh definitely has its place. That place is in the hands of someone sitting on the sidelines of a baseball game, with a hot dog in the other.

In order to bring you the best six-packs under $10, we started by confirming that yes, these beers are available in locations across their distribution footprint for under our $10 price point. Then, we started with some personal experience and opinions from across Reddit, social media, and review sites. We looked for beers that were regional favorites, had amassed massive followings, and were lauded for being perfectly drinkable, delightfully pleasant, and the kind of beer that brought back memories of a time and a place.

None of these are meant to rival the quality and complexity of craft beers, but we did look for those that have been around for a long time, have generations of dedicated fans, and are celebrated for being crowd-pleasing examples of their particular styles.