Well, it’s official. Aheuser-Busch has purchased Rolling Rock. AB paid $82 million for the brand and its recipes, purchasing it from InBev. The existing brewery in Latrobe, PA will be closed or sold, and AB will take production in-house.
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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
—Benjamin Franklin
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Here in Pittsburgh (about an hour away from Latrobe) this has been headline news. Rolling Rock is an intrinsic part of Western Pennsylvania beer culture and has gained national exposure due to some shrewd marketing efforts over the past several years.
The truly sad thing is that Rolling Rock production will be moved elsewhere. Everyone is hoping the facility will be purchased by another brewing concern in order to keep it open and continue to provide the employees with jobs (it is one of the largest employers in the area).
Even though it was personally never one of my favorite beers, I drank plenty of it during my college days, as it was the beer of choice for parties and large gatherings due to it being a mid-range economically priced
beer that everyone seemed to like.
With the departure of Rolling Rock, there are precious few independent breweries now remaining in Western PA. Let’s hope Pittsburgh Brewing, Straub, etc., aren’t next. There’s already more than enough macro beer to go around.