Altes Golden Lager Beer 16 Oz Tab Top Can

Detroit's Altes 16-Ounce Fassbier Pint

This 16-ounce straight steel tab top can represents the "half quart" pint packaging for Altes Golden Lager Beer, bearing the brewery caption code NB-408A. The top portion of the container prominently displays the sixteen-ounce volume designation over the bold marketing phrase "Tastes like Fassbier Draft Beer." Across the bottom, the label incorporates a bilingual German and English pledge stating that the beverage provides the closest quality to authentic draft beer ever bottled or canned, underscored by a printed endorsement signature from Braumeister John Balconi.

Altes was long established as one of Detroit's staple regional beer labels. During this era, advertising centered heavily around the "Fassbier" concept, utilizing the traditional German term for draft beer to emphasize old-world heritage and uncompromised flavor. By combining Fraktur-style typography with the brewmaster’s personal guarantee, the brand was marketed as a superior lager tailored to working-class and traditional Midwestern beer drinkers. The brand enjoyed widespread loyalty throughout Michigan and neighboring states before shifting market conditions altered regional brewing lineups.

The National Brewing Company produced this can at its Detroit, Michigan facility. The brand originally belonged to Detroit's historic Tivoli Brewing Company, established in the late nineteenth century. Tivoli navigated Prohibition by producing near-beer and ice, subsequently rebounding to become one of the city's brewing powerhouses and eventually changing its corporate name to the Altes Brewing Company. In 1954, Baltimore-based National Brewing Company purchased Altes to secure a manufacturing and distribution stronghold in the Midwest. National continued brewing in Detroit through the early 1970s until plant closures and consolidation into Carling-National restructured the company's regional operations.

Sixteen-ounce straight steel tab tops occupy a specialized niche among vintage beer can collectors. Half-quart containers are favored for their expanded graphic real estate, and cans featuring regional Detroit brewery imprints from the transition era of pull-tab manufacturing remain key pieces for those documenting Michigan's rich industrial brewing history.