Barbarossa Beer Cone Top Can

Barbarossa Beer Cone Top Can

This 12-ounce high-profile cone top represents the Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) era of packaging produced for the Red Top Brewing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Notable for its printing arrangement, this variation includes mandatory brewery text running along the vertical seam as well as across the bottom rim, while omitting an alcohol percentage statement. The can is immediately recognizable for its detailed, storybook-style lithographed vignette depicting the German legend of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I ("Barbarossa"). In the illustration, the red-bearded emperor slumbers in a mountain cave surrounded by circling ravens while being served a foaming goblet of beer by gnomes beside a wooden cask.

Red Top positioned Barbarossa as its flagship premium lager, setting it apart from the brewery's standard value-oriented beers and ales. Accompanied on the label by slogans such as "The Beer of Pleasant Memories" and "Premium Beer... with enduring flavor," marketing campaigns celebrated the brew’s rich heritage, craftsmanship, and Old World character. Advertising across the 1940s promoted it under the tagline "A Welcome Label on any Table". Following the eventual closure of Red Top's Dayton Street facility, the brand name and formulas were acquired by other regional brewers who continued packaging the label into subsequent decades.

The Red Top Brewing Company traces its roots to 1904 as a producer of malt syrup. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the business reorganized for commercial brewing and took over the historic John Hauck Brewing Company facility on Dayton Street in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine brewing district. Red Top experienced massive growth over the next decade, expanding production capacity to become one of the largest brewing operations in Ohio. Despite its post-repeal success and plant expansions, mounting competition from national shipping breweries caused sales to decline in the 1950s, leading the brewery to permanently cease operations in 1957.

Among breweriana enthusiasts, Barbarossa cone tops stand out as classic centerpieces due to their elaborate folklore illustration and striking gold metallic trim. Variations in mandatory text placement and tax statements make these cans a staple for collectors specializing in mid-century cone tops and Cincinnati brewing history.