Todd's Un-official Rolling Rock 33 Web Page

Rolling Rock beer is brewed by the Latrobe Brewing Company in Latrobe Pennsylvania, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. The brewery was established in 1893 when the only other brewery in town was run by Benedictine monks at St Vincent's Abbey. The brewery at St. Vincent's closed in 1898 after 42 years but the Latrobe Brewing Company stills survives to this day. In 1985 the company was sold to the Sundor Group of Darien Connecticut, which sold the company to Labatt's USA which currently runs the brewery. Rolling Rock beer takes its name from the nearby Rolling Rock Estate, a horse ranch.
Annual Production: 1,000,000 barrels




The 33 Mystery

An intriguing detail about Rolling Rock is the presence of the mysterious '33' Symbol that appears on the back of the bottle. The company doesn't remember why it was put there in the first place because hte product was introduced in 1939. Here are some popular answers to the riddle.

1. Prohibition was repealed in 1933

2. There are 33 words on the back of the Rolling Rock bottle
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.

3. There are 33 letters in the ingredients of Rolling Rock
water, malt, rice, corn, hops, brewer's yeast

4. It was just a misprint when the bottles where produced. Since this was during the Great Depression the bottles where used with the misprint.

5. There were 33 monks who came to America from Germany who had a recipe for a brew. They sold the recipe to Latrobe Brewing Co. and it became Rolling Rock.

6. The local Latrobe brewers union is the local "33"

The only people who actually knows the answer to this riddle are the Brewmasters at the Brewery and this answer goes to the grave with them.

If you know any other answers to this riddle let me know:---[email protected]

For more information on Rolling Rock Beer write to:
Latrobe Brewing
119 Jefferson Street
Latrobe, PA 15650


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Information for this page was taken from: The Field Guide to North American Breweries and Microbreweries by Bill Yenne 1994 Brompton Books
Last updated at 6/24/98 4:01:43 PM