Rolling Rock Extra Pale

Yep, Rolling Rock. This was one of the singles I bought along with the Sierra Nevada. I’ve always been interested in trying this beer.  It's been around a long time, it’s a really easy beer to find in stores, and some bars carry it also.  The first time I remember wondering what it tasted like was last summer.  I was stuck in College Station for the break (much like this year) and was living in a friend’s house.  Like many college houses, there was a shelf over the kitchen lined with empty bottles of beer, and among them was Rolling Rock.  Not until last week however, did I have the impulse to buy one. 

Impulse buying is a disease I carry

Rolling Rock originated in Latrobe, Pennsylvania; it was first produced in 1939.  In 2006, Anheuser Busch purchased the brewery and it’s now made in St. Louis.  So, although Rolling Rock may look like a neat microbrew, it’s not. If you’re the sort that won’t drink an InBev or MillerCoors brand, you probably already knew that.  Rolling Rock’s current advertising tagline is “Born Small Town.”  Well, they’re big city now. Another thing to note about this beer is the “33” they put on every bottle.  It’s supposedly a mystery as to what the number stands for.  Personally, I think it’s a mystery that anyone cares.

Did someone say, "number" and "mystery"?

Rolling Rock is an American Adjunct Lager, and what that means is when making the malt, grains other than barley are added to thin out the beer and add another protein source.  The most consumed beers in America are brewed this way, Bud is brewed with rice, and Miller is brewed with corn. Rolling Rock is brewed with both.

Not much to say.

This beer pours a very thin, half finger of head.  The color is best described as a pale gold.  It’s as if you took a common light beer, and watered it down a bit, which is exactly what I could expect from a beer labeled as an Extra Pale. This beer has a weak aroma; the two recognizable smells are corn and a hint of metal.  This beer has an even weaker taste.  Simply, it tasted and felt like mineral water.  If you were to blind taste test this and a bottle of Topo Chico, I probably couldn’t tell the difference.  Since it’s so bland and carbonated, this beer is amazingly drinkable (just like mineral water).  In fact, when I read that this beer has an abv of 4.5% I was astonished.  This beer is a macrobrew, through and through.

I’d rank Rolling Rock 2 out of 5.  I wouldn’t ever make fun of anyone for drinking it, but I wouldn’t purchase this beer again.  This is a brew that begs the question, why bother?  I understand the need for a buffalo-wing session thirst quencher, but Rolling Rock is slightly more expensive than its competition and it achieves the same final effect. If you want to drink something light, refreshing, and cheap reach for a High Life instead.

It's the Champagne of Beer