# rolling rock 33 mystery **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152 "2005-11-29T01:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![airdrummer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@airdrummer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdrummer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/1 "2005-11-29T01:36:23Z")
i went to the library of congress on saturday to see their exhibit of kodachromes from the 30s & 40s ``` http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html ``` and immediately grokked the connection between this picture ``` http://wibles.webhop.net/toms/locFSA-OWIkodachromes/slides/blended33to1.html ``` and the rolling rock mystery ``` http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_044.html ``` perhaps cecil can further illucidate;-) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/2 "2005-11-29T01:48:17Z")
Nah, it’s how much ammo was carried in a WWII fighter pla… Wait a minute… wrong thread! 😃 Great find on that pic! I hope someone makes a more knowledgable post on it than I just did. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/3 "2005-11-29T01:58:17Z")
James Tito said it; I believe it; that settles it. 1. ROLLING 2. ROCK 3. From 4. the 5. glass 6. lined 7. tanks 8. of 9. OLD 10. LATROBE 11. we 12. tender 13. this 14. premium 15. beer 16. for 17. your 18. enjoyment 19. as 20. a 21. tribute 22. to 23. your 24. good 25. taste. 26. It 27. comes 28. from 29. the 30. mountain 31. springs 32. to 33. you. **"33"** ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/4 "2005-11-29T02:48:49Z")
To quote an ad for Pabst from the 1940 period: > [@](#): > > Pabst Blue Ribbon is a blend of 33 fine brews to make one single glass. Like the finest champagne, it’s expertly blended to make it smoother. …tastier…always the same! Today–discover how delicious a beer can be when it’s blended “33 to 1”! From another ad, same period(by the way, there doesn’t seem to be an ad such as this much before 1940). > [@](#): > > In every glass of Blue Ribbon is a blend of not two, or five, or ten…but 33 separate brews from 33 separate kettles. > Each brew is as fine as choicest ingredients and Pabst’s 96 years of experience can make it. Then all 33 are brought together in perfect balance. Still, an interesting observation. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/5 "2005-11-30T01:36:10Z")
From Cecil’s column, > [@](#): > > One of the assembled good ol’ persons pointed out there’s a French (formerly Vietnamese, he claims) beer called “33,” which may have something to do with it. To my mind, there are _two_ mysteries surrounding “Biere 33,” a brand well known (as “[Ba Moui Ba](http://www.mrfa.org/Beer.Soda.htm)”) to U.S. servicemen who served in Southeast Asia thirty and forty years ago [1]. The first gets to what the “33” refered to; the second gets to the belief (held by many of these same servicemen) that this brew contained appreciable amounts of formaldehyde [2]. Fixative aside, I’ve heard one somewhat plausible if slightly unsatisfying explanation for why this particular beer was named “33”: that theory holds that BGI was one of the first brewers to offer beer in 33-centiliter bottles. That claim is repeated at [http://www.beerhunter.com/askmichael1.html:](http://www.beerhunter.com/askmichael1.html:) > [@](#): > > According to the 1993 French book _Les Bieres du Monde_, by Gilbert Delos, the name originates from the beer having been in 33-centilitre bottles at a time when 65cl packaging was more common. That page then goes on to say that “[t]he parent company’s registered offices in Paris were at number 33 Avenue de Wagram, but that seems to have been a coincidence.” (And I’ve also heard that the brew was simply named for the number 33, said to be lucky in Vietnamese culture. I honestly have no idea whether that number has ever held special significance for Southeast Asians. No doubt “33” is merely a reference to the brew’s formaldehyde content . . . ) – Tammi Terrell [1] My understanding is that Biere 33 was first produced mumble decades ago by Brasseries et Glacieres d’Indochine (BGI), an old French brewery (est. 1875) based in Vietnam and later Laos and Cambodia. (At some point after it expanded into France and Africa and pulled out of Southeast Asia, BGI eplaced “d’Indochine” with “Internationale.”) Furthermore, I understand that Biere 33 is now owned and distributed by some division of Heineken as simply “[33 Export](http://pitchblack70.tripod.com/gaijingirl/beer_33.jpg).” [2] Gregory Clark’s _Words of the Vietnam War_ (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990), which chronicled wartime slang, describes Ba Moui Ba as a > [@](#): > > [l]ocally manufactured Vietnamese beer which contained a high quantity of formaldehyde, rendering the beer extremely potent. Since formaldehyde was typically used as an embalming fluid, GIs claimed you could go directly “from the bar to the grave, and bypass the undertaker.” [p. 591] ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/6 "2005-11-30T03:33:08Z")
Per [Rolling Rock’s](http://www.rollingrock.com) world’s most annoying website, the “33” is attributed to: Prohibition was repealed in 1933 (fun, but doubtful) There are 33 letters summing up the letter count in the ingrediants list (maybe) The standard 33 words on the back of the bottle (makes good sense) and interestingly enough, the final claim is that Latrobe breweries has 33 different recipies for beer, and Rolling Rock is the 33rd. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/7 "2005-11-30T04:51:27Z")
> [@Tammi Terrell](#): > > [2] Gregory Clark’s _Words of the Vietnam War_ (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990), which chronicled wartime slang, describes Ba Moui Ba as a > > > [@](#): > > > > [l]ocally manufactured Vietnamese beer which contained a high quantity of formaldehyde, rendering the beer extremely potent. Since formaldehyde was typically used as an embalming fluid, GIs claimed you could go directly “from the bar to the grave, and bypass the undertaker.” [p. 591] Author and Vietnam Vet Mark Berent said in his fictionalized account of the war that Ba Moui Ba was nicknamed “Bomb Me Bad”. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/8 "2005-12-05T18:43:31Z")
[33 Export](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/beergeek/33exlabe12vi.html) is indeed still avilable. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/9 "2005-12-05T19:03:12Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > The standard 33 words on the back of the bottle (makes good sense) Makes more than good sense. Makes **duh!** sense. Given 33 was the age of Jesus at the crucifixion, I’m surprised no one has tried to claim Rolling Rock was served at the Last Supper. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/10 "2005-12-07T19:02:05Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > the final claim is that Latrobe breweries has 33 different recipies for beer, and Rolling Rock is the 33rd. Were any of the first 32 better than Rolling Rock? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/11 "2005-12-07T19:47:54Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Were any of the first 32 better than Rolling Rock? I’d be willing to to give 1-32 a shot, if it can be arraigned with the brewery. 😃 That is of course unless the brewmasters of old were totally incompetent and it took them 33 tries to get something that didn’t make the drinker go blind and die. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/12 "2005-12-08T05:16:57Z")
Roling Rock is the only beer I’ve tasted that I found to be “like making love in a canoe.” ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/13 "2005-12-09T17:56:53Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Roling Rock is the only beer I’ve tasted that I found to be “like making love in a canoe.” Is this because you’ve never tasted Coors? Or is that you believe Coors is what’s keeping the canoe afloat. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/14 "2005-12-09T19:40:52Z")
> [@Tammi Terrell](#): > > (And I’ve also heard that the brew was simply named for the number 33, said to be lucky in Vietnamese culture. I honestly have no idea whether that number has ever held special significance for Southeast Asians. No doubt “33” is merely a reference to the brew’s formaldehyde content . . . ) > > – Tammi Terrell **Tammi Terrell** , At the time of my reading this, your post count is…33. Kinda weird. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/15 "2005-12-10T03:53:05Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > **Tammi Terrell** , > At the time of my reading this, your post count is…33. Kinda weird. She’s all that and more. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![valis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e274bd/32.png) [@valis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valis)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33-mystery/333152/16 "2005-12-19T09:12:27Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I’d be willing to to give 1-32 a shot, if it can be arraigned with the brewery. 😃 > > That is of course unless the brewmasters of old were totally incompetent and it took them 33 tries to get something that didn’t make the drinker go blind and die. I am going to play it safe. Just a glass of 6-up and maybe a bowl of Lieutenant Crunch.