Anheuser-Busch to Buy Rolling Rock Brands

[Toliver]

"Anheuser-Busch to buy Rolling Rock brands for $82 million from InBev"

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., citing consumers' need for variety in beer, said Friday it will pay $82 million to purchase the Rolling Rock beer brand from InBev USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev SA.

The deal will make Rolling Rock brands available to more consumers, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch said. The company will begin brewing Rolling Rock and Rock Green Light in August. Anheuser-Busch, maker of the top-selling beer and light beer, Budweiser and Bud Light, is the nation's largest brewer.

I'm surprised they were bought for so little...you'd think they would have held out for more money.

So is this sale a good thing? Or the loss of something special?

[Mayhaw Man]

Actually, I think that it's probably a smart move on AB's part. I am sure that they were looking for a brand to compete with the bizarrely resurgent Pabst Blue Ribbon (not that their market share is huge-it's not-but it's likely people who would otherwise be drinking Bud or Busch who are sucking up PBR-kids who drink beer and aren't particularly interested in taste but in pricepoint and what others percieve as hip) and this is not a bad one to battle back with, as most people, other than industry insiders, people in PA who care, and a few online beer geeks (nicest possible meaning to this otherwise slanderous term) will not know or care that RR is owned by AB. It's a cool little brand that comes in a neat looking (albeit not very good for beer-i.e. green bottles) package and has a fair amount of cachet and will benefit from IBev's promotional efforts over the last few years.

Take all of that, add the fact that many of the AB wholesalers will likely be happy to have the brand and the added company marketing push likely to come from AB, and it's a pretty good buy, I think.

[moosnsqrl]

Brooks is probabably right but I always shudder when I see consolidation happening. Fortunately we still have Missouri's SECOND-largest brewery, Boulevard Brewing Company, cranking out the good stuff here on the best side of the state.

I always think of Arnold Palmer when I drink The Rock. Sigh.

What IS up with the resurgence of geezer beer (a/k/a grandpa beer, yard beer)? The SO started drinking Schlitz a few years ago (about the same time I found the radio tuned to baseball and regular shipments from JR Cigar started showing up on our doorstep, now that I think of it). OMG, he's turning into his grandfather! Time for a younger one, I guess.

[BigboyDan]

AB bought the brand not the beer in the bottle.

[moosnsqrl]

AB bought the brand not the beer in the bottle. 

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Ah, but that's how it always begins . . .

[lancastermike]

I'm one of those Pennsylvanians who care. Back in the 70's there were lots of regional PA brewers still going. Almost all are now gone. Rolling Rock was one of them that has long since ceased being a PA beer.

But being bought out by A/B, man that hurts a little. I remeber the Latrobe Brewing Company. I was even there a couple of times. Used to drink the famous pony bottles. Oh well, enough memory lane. Times change and we cannot stop that.

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[robert40]

My wife's family is from the Pittsburgh 'Latrobe PA.' area and I'm not sure what is more popular Rolling Rock or the Steelers.

[bilrus]

I grew up in St. Louis where it was downright unpatriotic to drink anything but AB product. I was a Bud Light guy (thanks in no large part to Spuds Mackenzie) My dad drank Busch. Budweiser was connected at the hand and the heart to the baseball Cardinals.

Then I went to college in Western Pennsylvania and the Rock became my beer of choice. Still is in fact.

[Mayhaw Man]

AB bought the brand not the beer in the bottle. 

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From the BevWorld piece:

The deal will make Rolling Rock brands available to more consumers, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch said. The company will begin brewing Rolling Rock and Rock Green Light in August. Anheuser-Busch, maker of the top-selling beer and light beer, Budweiser and Bud Light, is the nation's largest brewer.

I'm pretty sure that this is a clear indicator that they are making the beer and will, as with many other AB products, be making it themselves. It's hard to imagine, given their brewing standards, that anything other than Rolling Rock will ever be brewed in Latrobe.

So, to me, this means that they bought the beer in the bottle as part of the deal. But, of course, it's entirely possible that I completely misunderstood what you are talking about.

[Toliver]

AB bought the brand not the beer in the bottle. 

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From another report on the sale:

Anheuser-Busch said it will maintain Rolling Rock's and Rock Green Light's recipes, and will continue to sell the beers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

So they bought the bottle, the label and the beer.

As for Latrobe:

The sale has imperiled the jobs of the workers at the Latrobe brewery, which has operated for more than a century and has become a local and regional fixture....

"They're claiming we're going to stay open two and-a-half months," said Joe Mulheren, a union steward, told Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV. "If we don't get a buyer in two and-a-half months, we'll be done July 31st."

A closure could significantly affect the local economy as the brewery is among Latrobe's top sources of real estate tax and one of its biggest buyers of water.

Ed Dobies, who has worked at the brewery for 42 years, said that "taking Rolling Rock out of Latrobe doesn't sit right with me."

[Kent D]

Well, there's not much in the way of a flavor profile for Rolling Rock, so I doubt that AB can mess up the recipe too much, but after I drank my last Rolling Rock last night, I'm swearing off the brand in protest. For a couple of months...unless it goes on sale and I'm short on cash.

I just think it's a shame about all those workers in Latrobe, but it's not like this sort of thing doesn't happen in every industry every day.

[TongoRad]

Welcome to the forum Kent D.

Here's the latest update on the Latrobe brewery situation :

Latrobe Brewing Co. may soon have a new owner, as InBev USA said Wednesday it has signed an exclusive letter of intent with City Brewing Co. of La Crosse, Wisc., to purchase the brewery.

InBev and City Brewing Co. will now begin negotiations in an effort to reach agreement on a final deal, according to a statement issued by InBev Wednesday.

InBev said no timeframe has been set for completion of the talks, which will remain confidential between both parties. InBev said no information would be forthcoming until the talks are concluded.

City Brewing brews its La Crosse and La Crosse Light beers. The company also has a significant contract brewing business, which means it brews beer for other brewing companies.

...

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 21, 2006.

Hopefully those workers will get to keep their jobs after all.

[jsolomon]

Maybe I'm weird, but I actually like PBR better than RR. And, I'm not a geezer.

[Kent D]

Maybe I'm weird, but I actually like PBR better than RR.  And, I'm not a geezer.

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psst...don't tell anyone but I like the PBR, also. Have a bunch of old beer signs I bought at garage sales, and just kind of fell into the brand. But I haven't figured out what the little card game is that's under the cap...

[lancastermike]

The last shipment of Rolling Rock left the Latrobe Brewing Company yesterday. A sad day in latrobe. Negotiations continue to find a buyer for the brewery, but as of Monday, it is closed

[Jason Perlow]

The last shipment of Rolling Rock left the Latrobe Brewing Company yesterday.  A sad day in latrobe.  Negotiations continue to find a buyer for the brewery, but as of Monday, it is closed

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The Rolling Rock brand itself however will be made in Newark. It would be nice though to see the Latrobe brewery be bought by an interested party and make a new beer there.

[cliveb]

The last shipment of Rolling Rock left the Latrobe Brewing Company yesterday.  A sad day in latrobe.  Negotiations continue to find a buyer for the brewery, but as of Monday, it is closed

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The large Brewing companies snap up the smaller ones NOT for the quality of the beer, but for the increase in percentage share of the market. To be honest, I don't think they care a fig about the beer itself; they are only interested in increased profit. bland, tasteless brews are, unfortunately, our daily bread around the world, since the majority of drinkers only want to be refreshed or to get drunk...

A similar situation occurred in the UK during the 1970s. the Big Five ( Watneys, Whitbreads, Bass, Courage and Allied, I think), were producing the same pasteurised fizzy muck, cutting out traditional brews and thus killing off traditional ale. Some bright spark started CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale, and the war was on!

CAMRA won. You may now find hundreds of different local beers in England Scotland and Ireland, thank goodness. At least I can quaff Harvey's in the south and Theakston's in the north!

[cliveb]

The last shipment of Rolling Rock left the Latrobe Brewing Company yesterday.  A sad day in latrobe.  Negotiations continue to find a buyer for the brewery, but as of Monday, it is closed

←

The large Brewing companies snap up the smaller ones NOT for the quality of the beer, but for the increase in percentage share of the market. To be honest, I don't think they care a fig about the beer itself; they are only interested in increased profit. bland, tasteless brews are, unfortunately, our daily bread around the world, since the majority of drinkers only want to be refreshed or to get drunk...

A similar situation occurred in the UK during the 1970s. the Big Five ( Watneys, Whitbreads, Bass, Courage and Allied, I think), were producing the same pasteurised fizzy muck, cutting out traditional brews and thus killing off traditional ale. Some bright spark started CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale, and the war was on!

CAMRA won. You may now find hundreds of different local beers in England Scotland and Ireland, thank goodness. At least I can quaff Harvey's in the south and Theakston's in the north!