Posted on 07/28/2006 5:24:03 PM PDT by FlJoePa
Latrobe says goodbye to Rolling Rock MICHAEL COWDEN Associated Press LATROBE, Pa. - A line of trucks idled outside the loading docks at Latrobe Brewing Co. on Friday morning. In a few hours, they would haul away some of the last cases of Rolling Rock beer brewed in Latrobe.
"It's over. It's done," said Larry Ewantis, who ran the receiving department for ingredients. "Now they're just cleaning up."
Known for its distinctive green bottle and quality pledge with a mysterious "33" at the end, Rolling Rock has been brewed here since 1939. But Belgium-based InBev SA, which owned Rolling Rock and Latrobe Brewing, sold the Rolling Rock brand to St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. for $82 million in May.
Anheuser-Busch plans to brew the beer in New Jersey beginning in August. The brewery in Latrobe was not included in the deal, and is expected to close Monday.
La Crosse, Wis.-based City Brewing Co. is negotiating to buy the brewery and produce others brands of beer here. Union workers at the brewery have voted to accept a contract with City Brewing.
Ewantis, 56, who has worked at Latrobe Brewing for almost 30 years, fears the brewery will be dismantled and sold for scrap if no deal is signed.
And if the brewery closes for good, the Latrobe native will lose a job and a family tradition. His late father, George, worked at Latrobe Brewing, and his brother Mike, 62, has worked there for 42 years.
"I went from a baby bottle to a beer bottle," said Ewantis, who could see the brewery from his bedroom window as a child. "Rolling Rock is all I've known all my life."
Nick Carota, 56, has also worked at Latrobe Brewing for about 30 years. His father worked there for 46 years.
Carota wrote "Among the Green Bottles," a bitter tune about the brewery's fate set to the melody of an old Kentucky mining song. It goes: "Oh Daddy, won't you take me back to Westmoreland County / Down by the Loyalhanna where the Rolling Rock lays. / Well I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking / InBev and AB have hauled it away."
Rolling Rock simply is part of Latrobe, he said.
"Even people who didn't work here felt like someone was taking something away from them," Carota said.
Count among them Dave Banner.
Sporting a Rolling Rock T-shirt, the masonry worker was taking advantage of the 10 a.m.-to-noon happy hour at J.L.'s Bar to enjoy its dwindling supply of Rolling Rock.
"I'll drink it till they run out of Latrobe beer," Banner said, gazing philosophically at the bottle in his hand. "This might be the last one, you never know."
Like other disillusioned Rolling Rock buffs, Banner has pledged to boycott the brew once it is made in Newark, N.J.
Steve Lopatich Sr., 79, bought J.L.'s from his mother when he returned from the merchant marine after World War II. For most of the 40 years he owned the bar, Rolling Rock was the only beer on tap, he said.
"Rolling Rock was the biggest seller in here," Lopatich said. "I wouldn't even sell Budweiser. They (Budweiser sales representatives) come down here, I wouldn't even let them in."
But times have changed. Steve Lopatich Jr., 48, runs the bar now. And Budweiser is on tap - in fact it's the only beer on tap.
Until recently, Rolling Rock was on tap too, but the last keg recently kicked, and only Rolling Rock bottles and cans are available, he said. Lopatich has already taken off the Rolling Rock tap handle, several signs and other paraphernalia. They may be collector's items one day, he reasons.
He said he won't sell the New Jersey-brewed version.
He worries about the fate of a Latrobe without Rolling Rock and the money and jobs that came with it.
"We've already seen the steel mills come and go," he said. "It's going to be a downfall. The price of gasoline is killing us already. This is just another poker in the fire."
So Pace is now made in...Noo Yawk City! Get a rope!
Rolling Rock was my favorite beer back in my school/early post-school period. Cheap and went down easy, so easy I wondered how much alcohol was really in there....
Arnold will always be the King. He has always epitomized the absolute best that sports and competition has ever offered us.
Back in the early 80's some non-descript tour pro was asked what he thought of Arnold Palmer and what he meant to the PGA Tour. His reply was something like "I would take my shirt off and shine his shoes with it."
I'm still spinning out my last few...
> I'm not even a Western PA guy (North Central), but my times at Penn State cemented...should I say CEMENTED my love for Rolling Rock.
I spent my late teens and early 20s in south NJ outside Philly, and the green glass of a pony is forever associated with those good times...
> God Bless Ya Latrobe, and Thank You for all you have contributed to this world (more than NYC). Arnold (The King), Mr. Rogers, and Rolling Rock is quite a resume.
Yep. It's a shame to see it pass, but a joy to have enjoyed it while it was here. Thanks for your thoughtful post on this -- most folks don't necessarily "connect" with a legendary beer, but I'm one like you who does.
I remember an old friend from PSU who got her dream job by simply holding a Rolling Rock in her hand at some networking event.
A CEO (Obviously a PSU Grad) came up to her and asked her if she had ever been to the Skeller. 20 Minutes later she had a job.
Rolling Rock is my favorite beer. Not many bars serve it anymore. Its delicious!
It's not my favorite PA brew. I always preferred Yuengling over Rock. But still, Rock is far better than the average mass-produced swag beer. It's a shame that a good brand is probably about to get ruined.
I also was in college when "Rolling Rock in the ponies" was an important part of the culture. Dang.
Gad!
Fear not, the beer starts warming up the minute you take it out of the fridge or once it's out of the keg. On a warmish day, most of the glass or bottle will be at around 45 (average) by the end of the first one, assuming you're not chugging it. If you start out at 36 or 38 degrees, it'll be nearer 50. That's just too warm.
You're right that beers taste more different at higher temps, but it's good to start cold. One exception: stout. Other than that, I say the colder the better.
My name is RonF and I'm a beer snob. "Hi, Ron!" Rolling Rock is what I drink if I go to a bar and they don't have any imports (other than Corona, which doesn't count) or domestic premium beers. I'm sorry to see this happen.
beer ping
Ya Hoser!
loved the Rock. they can't get warm cause they're only 7oz, and at a quarter a piece... we drank them by the case(back in the 70's that is) PLUS when the price started to rise, in three Rocks, you got 21oz for the same price as 12oz of most other beers. the X-Bar's price list said:
Rolling Rock - quarter a piece or three for a Buck
you would NOT believe how may people bought three for a buck.
lable are glued on now too instead of painted 8^(
-33-
You drink your beer, I'll drink mine.
Take off, eh?
Damn, that is a SERIOUS beer stash!
I blame AB. Miller did the same thing. Bought Olympia from Heilman, then a couple years later shut down one of teh best breweries in AMerica. Grrrrrrrr.
Don't you dare bad mouth Lucky!!!!!
OK. Tastes like goat piss.
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