Burgemeister Pilsener Beer Cone Top Can

Warsaw's Burgemeister Cone Top

Manufactured as a high-profile cone top, this twelve-ounce container represents the post-World War II packaging era for the Warsaw Brewing Corporation of Warsaw, Illinois. The label design is anchored by an angled crimson banner highlighting the brand name in script lettering, paired with a circular trademark emblem on the upper body. A defining characteristic recorded in collector cataloging is the mandatory alcohol disclaimer printed along the lower face of the can, which specifies that the contents do not contain more than four percent alcohol by weight. This bottom-front marking distinguishes the can from related production variants that carried Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) wording or omitted alcohol statements altogether.

Introduced following the repeal of Prohibition, the Burgemeister brand—spelled without the interior "r" found on the Western label of similar name—was central to the brewery's revival. In fact, the plant operated briefly as the Burgemeister Brewing Company before being reorganized into Warsaw Brewing. Positioned as a traditional German-style pilsener, the brand served alongside Old Tavern as one of the brewery’s primary flagships. It was marketed actively throughout western Illinois, eastern Iowa, and neighboring Mississippi Valley communities. Burgemeister remained a staple of the brewery's portfolio throughout the cone top era and subsequent packaging transitions until the facility shut down.

The brewery’s roots trace back to 1861, when Martin Popel and Rudolph Giller established brewing operations on the river bluffs in Warsaw. Operating for decades as the Popel-Giller Brewing Company, the firm grew into a major local employer before national Prohibition forced it to pivot away from beer in 1920. After Repeal, the facility re-emerged under the Warsaw Brewing banner in the 1930s, subsequently benefiting from plant modernization under master brewer Joseph J. Weiss. Despite holding a loyal regional following, Warsaw Brewing struggled against market consolidation by national brewing giants and permanently ceased operations in 1972.

Among breweriana enthusiasts, cone top containers from independent river-town breweries hold strong appeal. Subtle variations in regulatory statutory text, such as state-mandated alcohol declarations, provide valuable historical documentation of postwar distribution laws and regional packaging history.