Amber Special Premium Lager Beer Test Can

Schlitz Amber Beer Test Can

Dating to 1976, this straight steel tab top container represents an experimental foil-label test package developed for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. During internal packaging evaluations and limited trial programs, Schlitz often used specialized foil overlays affixed over standard production cans. The face of this dark brown and amber can presents an ornate, traditional crest displaying the founding year of 1849, a lower decorative scroll detailing its brewing ingredients, and mandatory text naming brewery operations across multiple cities.

The Amber Special Premium Lager brand was developed during the mid-1970s as Schlitz investigated consumer interest in deeper, specialty-profile lagers. Designed to capture a premium market segment beyond the light lagers that dominated the era, the brand emphasized heritage and select ingredients. The concept remained confined to internal executive evaluations and limited market testing, never advancing into full-scale national manufacturing or wide commercial distribution.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traced its origins to 1849, when August Krug founded a small brewing business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Joseph Schlitz took over operations after Krug's death, renaming the firm and guiding it into rapid expansion. The brewery cemented its national reputation after sending beer to Chicago following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, popularizing the famous slogan 'The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous.' Schlitz weathered Prohibition by selling soft drinks and malt syrup, later re-emerging to trade places with Anheuser-Busch as America's largest brewing company during the mid-twentieth century. However, manufacturing adjustments and recipe reformulations in the 1970s damaged the brand's reputation, culminating in a decline and eventual purchase by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982.

Within the breweriana community, test cans produced by major brewing titans are particularly treasured. Prototype foil labels offer a direct historical record of corporate research, design experimentation, and prospective brands that never reached nationwide store shelves.