Anheuser-Busch ends a Rolling Rock tradition

Yeah, I was surprised at the number of workers being laid off, since a highly automated brewery, even one with something like a 7 million barrel capacity, doesn't usually have more that a couple hundred workers. The first article I read mentioned a bottling line being eliminated, and I figured it was some less in demand size like the 7 oz. or quart bottle line. I know someone who works there and asked them and was pretty surprised that it was their only bottling line. Of course, the AB breweries in NY, VA and NH are only a few hours away and another friend who works retail mentioned that they routinely get AB's flagship Bud and Bud Light products from those breweries now.

Newark was AB's first brewery outside their St. Louis headquarters, and supposedly is less efficient than larger, more modern AB breweries.

 

I haven't had a Rolling Rock probably since I was 18 which is a very very long time ago. What I most object to about the AB InBev's of the world is that they ignore the local communities that these breweries are in and think nothing about ripping them apart and moving jobs around the country, if not the world, with no regard for the local community or the people involved. When you let the accounts run the brewery, the beer starts smelling and tasting like spreadsheets.

 

It says they moved production to Newark after acquiring the brand, so I would assume that they transported a lot of the equipment, including the glass lined tanks.

 

Yeah, pretty common at one time. They were in use in the pre-Pro era by the late 1800s, and continued into, at least, the 1950s (as noted). Pfaudler was the big manufacturer of them, even creating the so-called "Pfaudler Vacuum Fermentation Process". Eventually aluminum and stainless replaced them, since those metals did not need to be lined and, suposedly, the glass lining was prone to being damaged during cleaning.

The Newark brewery was built in the early 1950s and opened in 1953. Early in that year, when the brewery was still under construction, 13 workers died when the cork-insulation that lined the cellars caught fire and some of those who died were inside the tanks.

AB bought only the brand names ("Rolling Rock" and "Latrobe Brewing Co.") and recipe, not the brewery, which still exists and operated by City Brewing Co. The brewery was not gutted and no physical plant material was transferred. Newark already had glass-lined tanks.

 

Aluminum fell out of favor when high caustic CIP systems came into wide use.

 

Yes, did not mean to suggest that aluminum is still an option today - only that in the 30's and 40's, they were seen as preferable to the glass-lined steel (and, of course, wood).

Just as aluminum kegs (along with steel and, finally, stainless) replaced wooden kegs, even thought aluminum kegs still needed to be pitched* but had the advantages of durability and weight over wooden.

(* Not sure how the aluminum tanks were made "inert" and needed "no superficial lining" as they were advertised, or how extensively they were installed.)

 

what about the local people that sold the brewery knowing what would happen?

 

"Local"? In the Rolling Rock situation mentioned by pat61, Latrobe Brewing Co. was owned by InBev when they sold the brand to AB and the brewery to City.

InBev gained ownership of Latrobe in the mid-90s when they bought the Canadian brewer Labatt, which had bought Latrobe in the late 1980s.

 

my point being that people always trash the buyer rightly or wrongly (especially if it's InBev) and never mention that someone had to sell the brewery to them in the first place. People also go nuts when InBev buys a small craft brewer, but the poor owner is probably standing around with his fingers crossed, praying for this to happen.

 

Yeah, I agree with you on the owners...but pat61 was discussing the "community" - including the workers. Even skipping over the Latrobe/Rolling Rock deal (the brewery's still open, but the workers have had a rough time of it, with layoffs, etc.) I don't think I've seen many comments about AB's takeover of Goose Island, Blue Point., etc from the rank and file workers. Something tells me they did not benefit as much as the multimillion dollars their former owners walked away with. Are they even making anything close to the Teamster-represented AB workers wages? I doubt it.

 

well unforunately that's the difference between coming up with an idea, putting your money on the line and starting and working your ass off to grow your business and someone who works somewhere.

 

Walter Goldschmidt wrote a study in 1947 - As You Sow - of various California agricultural communities. What he found was that communities dominated by small farms tended to have more social economic diversity, more agricultural diversity, the people tended to mix more, and the communities tended to be healthier economically. If we did enough research, I believe that we could make the same statements about craft vs. industrial beer - as well as cheeses, craft bake goods, etc. A small craft brewer spends his or her money in town. A large brewer sends it to the corporate office. A small brewer is quirky and unique while large industrial brewers tend towards wonder bread and Quaker quick oats.

 

I Haven't touched the stuff since they left the glass lined tanks of old Latrobe.

 

Would you still be drinking Rolling Rock today if it was brewed in Latrobe, PA or have you ‘moved on’ to craft beer?

Cheers!

 

Exactly

 

the only disheartening thing about this, is that people in newark are losing more jobs. as if the people living there need anymore hardship.

 

This doesn't bother me at all. This only affects the bottles. Those green bottles are lightstruck within minutes anyway. I doubt the glass-lined tanks would help much for skunked beer. I haven't had Rolling Rock in probably 20 years or so, but if I ever decide to try it, it would have to be from a can.