Rolling Rock
Rolling Rock is a brand of Cream Ale. The brand is owned by Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri.
It is distinctive in several ways. It is one of the brands of beer distributed in green glass bottles with painted, rather than printed labels.
The number 33 is printed on bottles of Rolling Rock. A widely believed explanation is that prohibition was repealed in 1933. However, according to James L. Tito, once CEO of Latrobe Brewing, the 33 signifies the thirty-three words in their slogan, which are: "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." An executive wrote the number of words in the slogan to indicate how much space it would take on the bottle and that draft was sent to the printer. Therefore their first batch of bottles had the number 33 imprinted on them and during the Great Depression there was no reason to throw away perfectly good merchandise. This tradition is held in place by the company itself: even as the wording of the labels changes over the years (the new wording on low-carb Rock Green Light labels, for example, discussing the nutritional information), the main paragraphs are carefully structured to retain a length of 33 words. There are several other lesser known theories within Latrobe, PA explaining the "33". The most common theory among local residents of Latrobe is that there are 33 steps leading to the church at St. Vincent College. (Latrobe Brewing was a large donor to St. Vincent before Anheuser-Busch purchased the brewery.)
The term pony bottle is derived from the horse on the bottle, and refers to the smaller sized 7 ounce bottle. Some pony bottles have paper, rather than painted, labels.
Rolling Rock is considered to be something of a premium beer and has benefited greatly from the trend toward the consumption of less mainstream alcoholic beverages that has been developing in the United States since the 1970s.
From 1939 until 2006, Rolling Rock was brewed at the Latrobe Brewing Company. In May, 2006, Anheuser-Busch purchased the Rolling Rock and Rock Green Light brands from InBev. Anheuser-Busch began to brew Rolling Rock at their Newark brewery plant in New Jersey in mid July 2006. The final batch of Rolling Rock was shipped from Latrobe on July 31, 2006. Anheuser-Busch has said 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."
Rolling Rock in popular culture
- In November of 2006, Rolling Rock launched an advertising campaign featuring a guitar playing party ape in a scene reminiscent of many low brow beer commercials. The advertisement, the brainchild of Rolling Rock’s Vice President of Marketing, Ron Stablehorn, was labeled as irresponsible by The Friends of Rolling Rock, a group of long time Rolling Rock aficionados who believe fervently that such a fine beer deserves more tasteful ads. Beer Ape was pulled off the air almost immediately, but can still be seen on certain internet video sharing sites.
- In the movie Old School, Rolling Rock is one of the two major beers featured, the other being Corona. Both beers were seen in glass bottles and aluminum cans, a rare sight for the two "premium" beers.
- In The Deer Hunter Robert DeNiro's character orders several Rolling Rocks for him and Meryl Streep's character, stating that it is the best beer out there.
- Rolling Rock is the primary beer brand featured in The Station Agent
- The words from the labels of Rolling Rock beer were rearranged into a comic "poem" by comedian Demetri Martin, entitled "All of the Words on a Bottle of Rolling Rock Beer in a Different Order". [1]
- Syndicated sports columnist Norman Chad often references Rolling Rock in his weekly column.
- Internet video game critic James Rolfe is seen drinking it in some of his reviews but drinks more if he is angry.
- In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Stan (played by Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (played by Elijah Woods) are seen consuming Rolling Rock beer while discussing Patrick's new love interest, Clementine (Kate Winslet).
- Singer/songwriter Cal Donnolley wrote "Rolling Rock Blues" in 1998.See link below.
- In the now defunct HBO sitcom Lucky Louie, Rolling Rock was seen quite frequently.
- Rolling Rock is often the preferred beer of Repairman Jack in the series of novels by F. Paul Wilson.
External links
- Rolling Rock official website
- Why is there a 33 on Rolling Rock beer labels?
- SaveRollingRock.org - News and information on the sale of the Rolling Rock brand.
- "Latrobe says goodbye to Rolling Rock", Michael Cowden, Associated Press, July 28, 2006
- Rolling Rock Blues-download this classic anthem to a great beer
- Friends of Rolling Rock. A loosely organized group of Rolling Rock beer aficionados that have made it their mission to defend the proud heritage of Rolling Rock beer.