The greatest brewery you'll never see.
Written: Feb 19 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Spotless, modern brewery, open and informative staff, great gift shop.
Cons: Private tours for 15 or more only.
The Bottom Line: If you're a Rolling Rock fan, you should make this pilgrimage some day. Make it with friends and get a tour!
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| beerfly's Full Review: Latrobe Brewing Company |
I got into the Latrobe brewery. Chances are you won't, since the brewery limits tours to private groups of 15 or more, so I'll give you a little 'virtual' tour.
It wasn't easy to get in. I had to write a book to do it! I called the brewery manager, I called the brewery contact at Labatt USA (Latrobe Brewing is owned by Labatt, which in turn is owned by Interbrew, the Belgian giant), and finally I called brewmaster Joe Gruss, Jr. "Look," I said, "I'm writing a book on Pennsylvania breweries, and I've just gotta get your brewery in."
"Okay," said Joe. "When can you come out?" Just that easy.
Joe Gruss is a great guy, perfect for this brewery. Of course, they knew that: Joe's dad, Joe Gruss Sr., was brewmaster here for years, a well-loved man in the American brewing industry. Latrobe is like that; it's a small-town brewery with lots of family connections.
As you come into Latrobe from the south, you pass St. Vincent's College, Joe's alma mater. St. Vincent was also the site of one of America's few monastic breweries. German monks founded the monastery and the college, and of course, they brewed beer to support themselves; that's what German monks did in those days. It sold very well and commanded a premium price. Great roots for a brewery town.
The Latrobe brewery we know today started post-Prohibition. Prior to Prohibition, it had been started as an expansion brewery by Pittsburgh Brewing to handle the local market. They decided to consolidate after Repeal, and the five Tito brothers bought the Latrobe brewery.
They couldn't quite find the right angle. Finally, in 1939, they brewed a new, light-colored, light-bodied beer that they thought was sublimely refreshing, named it Rolling Rock, and founded the success of their brewery upon it.
Why is there a "33" on the back of the bottle? The story, as told to writer Cecil Adams by one of the Titos, was that someone wrote down what they thought was a great slogan (the one that still is on the bottles) and wrote down the number of words beneath it: "33." The paper went to the printer as it was, and the printer stuck the "33" right on thousands of bottles. They weren't going to throw them away, so it became part of the lore of the brand.
The Titos kept their brewery alive the smart way. They put profits back into the brewery, kept up with progress, and managed to gain a "Coors of the East" mystique, selling Rolling Rock for premium prices in New England. I grew up in eastern PA with Rolling Rock as a discount brand, a cheap drinking buzz-beer. Funny.
Eventually, in the late 1980s, the Titos had to sell. They just didn't have the money necessary to boost the brand to national levels, and it was either that or slowly whittle away to nothing. They sold to Labatt, and from what I saw, Labatt essentially jacked up the building and slid a new brewery under it.
This is a technically advanced brewery. Brewing, in a tile-lined room with big stainless steel kettles, is a one-man operation, all push-buttons and computers. Fermentation is, as Joe Gruss put it, "a no-man operation." He took me into the fermentation hall and it echoed; a big, high-ceilinged room full of huge unitanks and not a single person. It's all controlled remotely from another building.
We watched the bottling line from an overhead control room. Waves of green glass hurtle down the line, washing, rinsing, drying, filling, capping, then whirling into the pasteurizer for a brief rest at high temperature to kill any bacteria, then rushed off to packaging, the warehouse (briefly), and onto a truck.
We did walk the grounds a bit. It's a beautiful place, all neatly trimmed lawns and flowerbeds, and the giftshop and little museum that ARE open to the public are nice enough to be worth a trip. Latrobe is also the birthplace of professional football (they claim), the banana split (supposedly first prepared at Strickler's Drug Store... where you can still get one), and Fred Rogers and Arnie Palmer, all of which is documented in the museum.
All in all, this is a very nice place, staffed by very friendly people. You know they see this as their brewery, their home, and you can feel their pride. Make one beer (well, two, but they don't make much Rock Light!), make it right, sell it for an honest price.
Can't ask much more than that.
Recommended:
Yes
Brewery Name: Latrobe Brewing Company
Date Visited: August 2000
Tours Offered: Yes, by Appt
Tasting cost, per person: NA
Brewery Rating: If you're in the area anyway
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Epinions.com ID:
beerfly
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Member: Lew Bryson
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 79 members
About Me:
One bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, eh? I'll take Kentucky Spirit, Scapa, and HopDevil.
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