Rolling Rock
Brewed with distinctive soft local water in glass-lined tanks.
Rolling Rock, a 4.4% abv American lager, first hit the market in 1939 thanks to the Latrobe Brewing Company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. What began as a local brand in Western Pennsylvania grew into a national product through aggressive marketing. In mid-2006, Anheuser-Busch bought the brand and shifted production to New Jersey, though the label continued to prominently feature Latrobe’s name. The original brewery used soft local water and glass-lined tanks—cutting-edge at the time—to brew the beer. The final batch shipped from Latrobe on July 31, 2006, and union leaders in Westmoreland County called for a boycott of Anheuser-Busch and InBev products. Anheuser-Busch later added a preface to the label’s pledge, stating it quoted the original to honor tradition. In 2009, the new parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, considered selling the brand. By 2015, only canned Rolling Rock was still brewed using the traditional glass-lined tank process; bottled beer had switched methods. The brand was once famous for its 7-ounce pony bottle, the top-selling pony in Pennsylvania in 1952, named after small 19th-century American pony glasses. In popular culture, Rolling Rock appears in the *Angry Video Game Nerd* series, where the character sips it to calm down after getting frustrated with bad games.
Quick Facts
- Abv
- 4.4%
- Manufacturer
- Anheuser-Busch InBev
- Distributor
- Latrobe Brewing Company
- Introduced
- 1939
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
From 1939 until July 26, 2006, Rolling Rock was brewed at the Latrobe Brewing Company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a small city 34 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. As stated on the bottle, it was brewed with a distinctive soft local water in large glass-lined tanks, which had been state-of-the-art at the time of its introduction. On May 19, 2006, American brewing giant Anheuser-Busch purchased the Rolling Rock and Rolling Rock Green Light brands from Belgium-based InBev for $82 million and began brewing Rolling Rock at its Newark facility in mid July, 2006, marking the destruction and end of true Rolling Rock. The final batch of Rolling Rock was shipped from Latrobe on July 31, 2006. Union leaders in Westmoreland County organized a nationwide boycott of Anheuser-Busch and InBev brands because of the move. 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.' In July 2008, InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, creating Anheuser–Busch InBev. In 2009, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that it was exploring the sale of the Rolling Rock brand. In 2015, Anheuser-Busch stopped brewing bottled Rolling Rock in glass-lined tanks; only the canned beer was being brewed using the traditional process.
Reader's Guide
Rolling Rock's significance lies in its journey from a local Western Pennsylvania lager to a nationally distributed brand, and in the controversy surrounding its acquisition and relocation. The beer was originally brewed with a distinctive soft local water in glass-lined tanks, a method that was state-of-the-art at its 1939 launch. Its sale to Anheuser-Busch in 2006 for $82 million and the subsequent move of brewing operations from Latrobe to Newark, New Jersey, marked a definitive break with its heritage, prompting a nationwide boycott by union leaders in Westmoreland County. The brand's label continued to prominently feature the name of Latrobe even after production left the town. The brand changed hands again when InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch in 2008, and in 2009 the new parent company explored selling Rolling Rock. By 2015, only the canned version was still brewed using the traditional glass-lined tank process, while bottled Rolling Rock had ceased that practice. Rolling Rock also gained cultural visibility as a recurring prop in the Angry Video Game Nerd series, where the character uses it to calm down. Its legacy is tied to both its original local identity and the corporate decisions that reshaped it.
Did You Know?
- Rolling Rock was once famous for its 7 oz pony bottle, which was the largest selling pony in Pennsylvania in 1952.
- Rolling Rock is a significant symbol in the Angry Video Game Nerd series, where the character takes a sip to calm down.
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