Liberal Talk Radio

Anheuser-Busch is basically saying what you were always thinking but couldn’t say out loud because for whatever reason people really like this swill — Rolling Rock is now part of the Anheuser-Busch family of beers:

One small town in western Pennsylvania has long provided trivia buffs with two obscure questions that share an answer: Where was the golf legend Arnold Palmer born and raised? And where did those seven-ounce pony bottles of Rolling Rock beer — actually extra-pale lager — come from?

The answer, until last week, was Latrobe, Pa., a town of about 9,000 snuggled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

But the glass-lined tanks of Latrobe have given way to the red-brick Anheuser-Busch factory on Routes 1 and 9 in the shadow of Newark Liberty International Airport.

Anheuser-Busch — the maker of Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob and other beers — bought the Rolling Rock brand, the recipe for its mountain-brewed extra-pale lager and the entire Latrobe Brewing Company from the Belgium-based InBev SA company in May for $82 million. After weighing several options, said David A. Peacock, vice president for business and finance for Anheuser-Busch, the company decided to move operations to Newark.

“It made sense because Newark is close by, it’s a very good brewery and we can produce the same great packaging and beer there,” Mr. Peacock said.

. . .

Beer drinkers like Richard Lott of Grenada, Miss., plan to stock up on as much of the Latrobe-made brew as possible, and when it is all consumed, it will be time to find a new brand.

“I’ll try the new batch once, but I don’t think I’m going to like it,” said Mr. Lott, 33, who works in an auto parts factory and, like many others, lamented the loss of Rolling Rock from Latrobe on an Internet message board devoted to beer (mylifeisbeer.com). “There is something about the mystique of the beer that will be missed.”

. . .

Anheuser-Busch . . . says it will keep the pledge on the bottle “to honor the tradition of this great brand.”

It reads: “Rolling Rock. 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.”

It will not include this caveat, however: The water now comes from the Wanaque Reservoir in Passaic County.

I love that there is a website called “mylifeisbeer.com”.

Full disclosure: I consume a great deal of Budweiser, as it is the cheapest thing you can get at the overpriced cornerstore by my apartment.

Tangential note: Have you ever noticed that the Japanese beers that are brewed and bottled in North America seem to taste awfully similar to the places they’re brewed? Kirin, for example! In other words, Rolling Rock will likely taste exactly like Bud!

Topical quip: If Joe Lieberman loses and runs as an independent, feel free to apply the Rolling Rock metaphor to his candidacy . . . something along the lines of “Rolling Rock — The Beer With Joementum” or some such . . .