Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Rolling Rock


While I usually prefer foreign beer, many of my college days included Rolling Rock Ale and to this day I usually have some of it in the refrigerator. Yes, I really am one of those people you used to wonder about, the people who actually drank Rolling Rock and liked it.

Visit the web site http://www.rollingrock.com/ Pick up a six pack and try it for yourself. I'll gladly take the bottles you don't want. I think it will make a believer out of you!

The following information was provided by some kind Rolling Rock Loving Soul on Wickipedia... many thanks............

Rolling Rock is a brand of pale lager beer. Although founded as a local beer in Western Pennsylvania, it was marketed aggressively and eventually became a national product. The brand was sold to Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri in mid 2006, which transferred brewing operations to New Jersey.

Rolling Rock beer is distinctive in several ways, including use of green glass bottles with painted-on labels rather than glued-on paper labels.

The number 33 is printed prominently on all bottles of Rolling Rock. A widely-held belief is that it marks the repeal of prohibition in 1933. However, according to James L. Tito, former CEO of Latrobe Brewing, the "33" signifies the 33 words in the beer's slogan: "Rolling Rock - From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe, we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you."

A founding executive is said to have written "33" at the end of the slogan to indicate the number of words it comprised as a guide for the bottle printers. However, they thought it was part of the text and incorporated it into the label graphics. Hence, the first batch of bottles carried the number "33" and they remained that way since they were continually collected and reused (also, during the Great Depression, there was no reason to throw away perfectly good merchandise and start over). This tradition has been sustained by the company as the wording on the labels has changed over the years, and the verbiage is carefully structured to retain a length of 33 words. There are several other lesser-known theories or urban legends about the "mysterious" number 33, but none have been verified.

The term pony bottle is derived from the horse on the bottle, and refers to the smaller sized 7-ounce bottle.[citation needed] Some pony bottles have paper (rather than painted) labels because of space restrictions.[citation needed]}

From 1939 until 2006, Rolling Rock was brewed at the Latrobe Brewing Company. In May, 2006, Anheuser-Busch purchased the Rolling Rock and Rolling Rock Green Light brands from InBev and began brewing Rolling Rock at its Newark facility in mid July, 2006. The final batch of Rolling Rock was shipped from Latrobe on July 31, 2006. Anheuser-Busch has said that Rolling Rock's original pledge on the label will be preceded by these words: "To honor the tradition of this great brand, we quote from the original pledge of quality." This appears on current production (2007) painted bottles, along with "Latrobe Brewing Co., ST. LOUIS, MO." In July 2008, InBev reached a deal to acquire Anheuser-Busch, thereby returning ownership of Rolling Rock to InBev.

Residents of the Greater Latrobe Area organized a boycott of InBev and Anheuser-Busch brands to demonstrate their disapproval of Rolling Rock leaving the area where it was born.[1] Although Anheuser-Busch has claimed that the recipe has remained the same, some Rolling Rock enthusiasts claim the taste of the beer has slightly changed since the move to Newark.
Anheuser-Busch appears poised to roll out a red lager version of Rolling Rock called Rolling Rock Red. While the number 33 has been a traditional part of Rolling Rock iconography, Rolling Rock Red's label has a “3.”

Rolling Rock was the favorite beer of Tim Russert, late anchor of Meet The Press. Rolling Rock was used by Tom Brokaw at Russert's memorial service to honor the fallen anchor.

It is also a favorite of She Loves Wine.................