Bub's Beer Flat Top Can

Bub's Beer Flat Top from Winona

This 12-ounce flat top container showcases the classic mid-century presentation of Bub's Beer, brewed and filled by Peter Bub Brewery, Inc. of Winona, Minnesota. The label art prominently features the brewery's traditional German beer stein intertwined with an elaborate Old English red "B," accompanied by the cheerful advertising tagline, "Makes it fun to be thirsty!". Grounding the can in its geographical heritage is an illustration of Sugar Loaf, the iconic limestone bluff that overlooked the brewery's operations.

Bub's Beer served as the flagship label for the brewery in the post-Prohibition era. Distributed across southeastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and the Twin Cities, the brand was marketed as a time-honored, approachable regional lager rooted in Old World brewing traditions. The catchy "Makes it fun to be thirsty!" slogan became central to the company's mid-century advertising across point-of-sale displays, print advertisements, and can packaging.

The brewery traced its lineage to 1856, when Jacob Weisbrod established an early brewhouse in Winona County before building a plant at the base of Sugar Loaf in 1862. Peter Bub, a Bavarian immigrant who had worked at Milwaukee's Best Brewing Company, was hired as brewmaster in 1869. Following Weisbrod's death, Bub married Weisbrod's widow and took over management, eventually rebuilding a limestone facility that utilized deep bluff caves for natural lagering. The family-operated business survived Prohibition and successfully resumed brewing in 1933. While postwar consolidation and competition from national shipping breweries eventually forced the plant to cease operations in 1969, the brewery remained one of Winona's most storied institutions.

For breweriana enthusiasts and can collectors, this flat top represents a celebrated chapter in Upper Midwest brewing history. The combination of local landmark imagery and traditional German brewing motifs ensures it remains a sought-after piece for collectors specializing in Minnesota heritage and independent regional breweries.