Bohack Draft Flat Top Can

Bohack Draft Flat Top Can

The Bohack Draft flat top can is a vintage 12-ounce straight-steel container dating to the 1960s. Produced with a wide seam construction, this specific release is distinguished by having its mandatory brewer statement positioned on a black line. The front face features a studio-lit photograph of a stemmed chalice filled with effervescent golden beer and topped with a thick, frothy head of foam, set against a rich crimson and black backdrop. The stylized red Bohack script sits above the glass, while "DRAFT BEER" is emblazoned in bold white lettering across the bottom.

Bohack Draft was a proprietary house brand marketed exclusively by the H. C. Bohack Company, a major grocery and supermarket chain in the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1887 by German immigrant Henry C. Bohack in Brooklyn, the business expanded into a beloved regional empire across Long Island and the outer boroughs. The company stocked private-label goods under its own name, offering budget-conscious shoppers high-value alternatives to national brands. Bohack Draft delivered an economical canned draft beer to neighborhood supermarket aisles until the grocery chain succumbed to mounting economic challenges and ceased operations in the late 1970s.

The can identifies Richards Brewing Co. of Newark, New Jersey, as the brewer. Richards was an assumed trade name utilized by P. Ballantine & Sons, the legendary Newark brewing powerhouse. Founded in 1840 by Peter Ballantine, the company survived Prohibition to become one of the top beer producers in the United States. During the 1960s, as regional breweries faced fierce market consolidation, Ballantine used alternate corporate names like Richards to brew and package contract labels at its Freeman Street brewery without diluting the flagship Ballantine name.

For breweriana enthusiasts, cans associated with supermarket chains like Bohack represent a cherished crossover between regional retail nostalgia and mid-century brewing history. They serve as tangible relics of an era when local grocery store chains offered custom-brewed beers produced by historic industrial breweries.