Beer Can Collection

[Roudy]

I collected empty beer cans from the age of about 18 until 24 (1972-1978). It was an age well before microbreweries, but there were dozens of regional brews around. Shockingly my parents didn't throw this collection away after being stored in their basement about 25 years. Here's a family shot:

One of the more interesting cans is the far left second row from the bottom. It is a Lite Beer brewed by Meister Brau which I assume was subsequently acquired by Miller Brewing. Nearly all of these were collected from the roadside, but I clearly remember drinking the Giant Food Premium Beer (in Virginia) - perhaps the nastiest beer I ever drank.

 

[demonrichie]

thats an awesome colloection. did you get the molson canadian can stateside?

 

[Rhoobarb]

Looks a lot like what is left of my old can collection from my high school days. I still have in my brewery. You are correct about Meister Brau. It was a Chicago brewery bought in the late 1960s by Miller. When they bought MB, they got the Lite recipe and rights to the name and the rest, as they say, is history. I wish I had the Pabst Old Tankard Ale can you have!

 

[Roudy]

thats an awesome colloection. did you get the molson canadian can stateside?

I definitely didn't get it in Canada, as I don't think I traveled there during the years I was collecting. I did pick up a couple of Puerto Rico beers on a Spring Break trip there when I was in college.

 

[Roudy]

Looks a lot like what is left of my old can collection from my high school days. I still have in my brewery. You are correct about Meister Brau. It was a Chicago brewery bought in the late 1960s by Miller. When they bought MB, they got the Lite recipe and rights to the name and the rest, as they say, is history. I wish I had the Pabst Old Tankard Ale can you have!

Yeah - it would be interesting to know what the Pabst Ale tasted like. I'm an IPA man myself. What I find amusing is that Budweiser and Miller didn't mind cheapening their flagship brands with Bud Malt Liquor and Miller Malt Liquor. Of course I didn't consider the Schlitz Malt that I drank throughout college to be cheap stuff.

 

[android]

tuborg! that's the beer my grandma and grandpa (danish) used to drink... sweet collection.

 

[kidamadeus]

I have an extensive collection (10,000+ items) and have most of these. You may find that the Encore can is also a Schlitz product. I would say that, from what I can tell from the picture, your most valuable cans are probably the Oertel's Real Draft, Pike's Peak, Sterling Draft, and the Fehr's can. A nice group!

 

[Revvy]

I love breweriana, I'm researching a book on the breweries of Michigan's Thumb, there's not a lot of solid info out there. But some of the preliminary research has been from stumbling into names in people's collections.

 

[Revvy]

Um, 3rd row from the top, 8th can in, does that say "Puke" or "Duke?" LOL

 

[kidamadeus]

That is Duke Beer. That was brewed either by Duquesne Brewing or C. Schmidt & Sons Brewing. I believe it was discontinued in the early 70s, but I seem to recall hearing that it was being revived.

There is a wealth of information on Michigan breweries available at this site:
http://www.mi-brew.com/location/Default.htm