Ar Bee Lager Beer Cone Top Can

Ar Bee Lager Beer Cone Top

The Ar Bee Lager Beer cone top can is a twelve-ounce container manufactured for the Rochester Brewing Company of Rochester, New York. Dating to the Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) era, the can carries the mandatory federal tax statement required on malt beverages in the United States between the repeal of Prohibition and 1950. Its cone top construction features a crowned spout, which allowed mid-century regional breweries to package beer in cans without needing to install completely separate canning lines from their existing bottling equipment.

The Ar Bee brand was created as a direct phonetic play on the brewery's own initials, "R.B." While Rochester Brewing achieved its widest fame with the flagship Old Topper label and its top-hatted gentleman trademark, Ar Bee presented an alternative label anchored directly in the company's identity. This witty naming is echoed directly in the label artwork visible on the can: flanking a bold yellow monogram of intertwined letters "R" and "B," stylized lettering spells out "Ar" to the left and "Bee" to the right. Below this central medallion, "Lager BEER" completes the core graphic, framed inside an oval border displaying "ROCHESTER BREWING CO., INC." and "ROCHESTER, N.Y."

The Rochester Brewing Company traced its beginnings to Rochester's bustling late-nineteenth-century brewing industry. After Prohibition, the company resumed commercial brewing in 1934 from a modernized plant on Emerson Street. Operating in western New York, the brewery contended with fierce regional competition from local peers like Genesee and Standard Brewing. Facing growing industry consolidation in the post-war era, Rochester Brewing merged in 1956 with Standard Brewing to form the Standard-Rochester Brewing Company. The merged enterprise eventually ceased operations in the late 1960s, leaving Genesee as the city's sole surviving heritage brewer.

Among breweriana collectors, this can holds a dedicated following within the field of vintage New York state breweriana. As an authentic artifact bearing the pre-merger Rochester Brewing Company corporate name alongside an IRTP tax designation, it provides a tangible connection to upstate New York’s mid-century brewing legacy. Its clever phonetic monogram and classic cone top profile make it an engaging highlight for regional cone top enthusiasts.