Ben Brew 100% Grain Krausen Beer Cone Top Can

Ben Brew Kräeusen Beer Cone Top

This 12-ounce high-profile cone top represents a classic post-Repeal packaging release from the Franklin Brewing Company of Columbus, Ohio. The container includes an internal revenue tax statement alongside an alcohol caption indicating an alcohol content of not more than 3.2%. A notable visual feature of this can is the explanatory text displayed on the lower half of the shield, describing the label's "Kräeusen Process" as "A Method of Slow Ageing, creating a natural Carbonation by a Second Fermentation," framed beneath a banner emphasizing its "100% Grain" composition.

Ben Brew served as the flagship label for Franklin Brewing, tracing its roots back to the pre-Prohibition era. Named after the brewery's colonial namesake, Benjamin Franklin, the brand was marketed on a platform of traditional, unhurried German brewing craftsmanship. By highlighting the krausen method—a labor-intensive technique where actively fermenting wort is added to conditioned beer to induce natural carbonation—the brewery positioned Ben Brew as an unadulterated, premium alternative to mass-market beers produced with artificial carbonation and adjunct heavy recipes.

Franklin Brewing Company was originally founded in Columbus in 1905, operating on North Cleveland Avenue until the onset of Prohibition forced its closure in 1919. Following Repeal, brewing operations were reorganized, briefly appearing as the Riverside Brewing Company before returning to the Franklin Brewing Company name at a new facility on North Sandusky Street in 1934. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the company supplied taverns and retailers across central Ohio. Facing intense post-war market pressures and distribution competition from large national shipping brewers, Franklin was acquired by Cleveland's Pilsener Brewing Company in 1952, which ceased operations at the Columbus plant shortly thereafter.

In the realm of breweriana, this can is an appealing artifact of mid-century Ohio brewing heritage. Mid-twentieth-century cone tops from regional independents that feature detailed process narratives and traditional brewing claims provide collectors with tangible historical records of how local breweries fought for market share during a period of rapid industrial consolidation.