Wow. I cut my beer drinking teeth on Schaefer in college (southern CA in the late 80s). It was not the tastiest stuff, but it was the cheapest half rack you could find at Liquorama. Luckyguy has it pegged, tastewise.
We also drank tons of Lucky Lager, from General Brewing Co., Tumwater WA. (Why I remember those details, but not my wife's birthday, i wish i knew.) Came in snub-nose 11 oz bottles with a rebus in the cap. Not delicious, but better than Schaefer, and also cheap, and classy what with the glass bottle and all.
Then a homebrewing bug took over the school, which got us drinking anchor and sierra nevada beers in addition to our own experiments, and that was kinda all she wrote for cheap beer...
-jim