Thanks to brother-in-law Glenn for introducing me to Celebration Ale several years ago.

I feel very lucky that of all the horrible things I could be faced with, you know, bombs and disease and disaster and the like, my petty disappointment of the evening was to find the only Harpoon IPA in the fridge mysteriously 8/10ths empty, though fully capped. I popped one in the freezer and had to wait 20 minutes while it cooled off. Didn’t feel like a warm one. Sad.

When we were in PA for Abby’s graduation a month ago (I’m so behind on the blogging) I saw a sad item in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that Rolling Rock was bought by Anheiser Busch. (unfortunately, I have to link to the evil Tribune-Review, because the Post-Gazette story has gone behind a paywall).

Production in the brewery in Latrobe, PA ends this month; from now on, Rolling Rock will be brewed in New Jersey.

Fortunately, InBev, the Belgian company that currently owns Rolling Rock, may have found a buyer for the Latrobe brewery itself.

Still, it’s the end of an era. Rolling Rock was probably the best known (and most palatable) of all autochthonous Western Pennsylvanian beers. Not that there are many left at all. Last fall, the Pittsburgh Brewing Company, makers of Iron City and IC Light went bankrupt (admittedly, this is not much of a loss; there’s a reason the stuff is not sold outside Pittsburgh).

I have found no word on whether or not Anheiser Busch will continue the poetic, painted-on labels with the enigmatic “33″ on them.

I’ve always been a fan of the Anchor Brewery, and, since I’ve recently found myself with a taste for stouts and porters again, which has meant a rekindled affection for Anchor Porter, I was happy to see this report of a tour of the Anchor Brewery on Laughing Squid.