On the back of bottles of Rolling Rock, right below the description of
the beer, is the number "33" in quotation marks.

My friends and I are wondering what this means. We live in
Pennsylvania and drink a lot of beer, and we've only now noticed that
it's there.

No hurry for an answer, I'm just curious if it has any meaning.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Jul 2006 11:19 PDT

Does the information on the pages linked below provide a fully satisfactory answer?

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_044

http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/rolling.asp

---

Clarification of Question by leighannp-ga on 12 Jul 2006 21:01 PDT

Sure, I guess if I had looked it up myself, I could've found the
answer too. That's what I love about google answers - it caters to
lazy people.

Go ahead and post as an answer. And thanks. :o)

Over the years, the '33' has taken on a mythic quality, and numerous
theories have arisen, but the explanation that I find most plausible
is the one given by the company that brews Rolling Rock: '33' is a
reference to the number of words in the slogan printed on the label.

I've reposted the links I mentioned above, and have gathered a few more for you.

The Straight Dope Archives
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_044

Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/rolling.asp

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Rock

FAQs.org
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/beer-faq/part2/section-22.html

San Diego Reader
http://www.sdreader.com/php/ma_show.php?id=3

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "rolling rock" 33 why
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22rolling+rock%22+33+why

I hope this is helpful. Thanks for asking a question that was
entertaining and educational to research. I'd often wondered about
that '33' as I pondered the mysteries of the universe while swigging a
beer! Now there's one less mystery, but fortunately there's still
plenty of Rolling Rock.

Best regards,
pinkfreud