Elder Brau Premium Lager Beer Flat Top Can

Phoenix's Classic Elder Brau Flat Top

Issued during the late 1950s as a 12-ounce flat top can, this Elder Brau Premium Lager Beer represents a mid-century offering from the Arizona Brewing Company in Phoenix, Arizona. The label showcases a Germanic heraldic aesthetic, prominently displaying the brand name in Gothic fraktur script across a bold red oval. The central motif is flanked by stylized golden barley heads and crowned with a crest bearing an "EB" monogram beneath a coronet. Below, a green cartouche designates the contents as "Premium Lager Beer" in flowing script. Fabricated in the era of three-piece soldered steel containers, the can represents standard American flat top packaging of the post-war period.

The Elder Brau moniker first emerged in the late 1930s under the leadership of Robert Elder, a beverage distribution executive who acquired ownership of the Phoenix brewery in 1937. Debuting around 1939, the brand was positioned as a rich, Old World-style lager to expand the brewery's portfolio beyond its initial lines. However, the onset of World War II brought headwinds: anti-German sentiment chilled demand for Germanic brand names, and financial strain forced the brewery into receivership in late 1941 under trustee Ralph Feffer. Elder Brau was shelved in 1942 in favor of standardizing production. Following wartime stabilization, the company revived the label during the 1950s as a premium companion to its everyday lineup before eventually discontinuing the brand permanently.

Founded on May 6, 1933, by brothers Martin and Herman Fenster, the Arizona Brewing Company was established at East Madison and South 12th streets just after the repeal of Prohibition. For decades, it stood as Arizona's sole operating brewery, an iconic local institution whose steam whistles signaled shift changes across downtown Phoenix. Although it achieved massive Southwest success in the 1940s and 1950s behind its flagship A-1 Pilsner, national consolidation eventually caught up with the independent regional operation. The plant was sold to Carling in the 1960s, passed through Carling-National, and was ultimately acquired by G. Heileman before closing its doors for good in 1985.

Cans from the Arizona Brewing Company occupy a celebrated position among breweriana enthusiasts. Unlike the massive multi-million-can runs generated by industrial brewing giants in the Midwest, Arizona's output was comparatively modest and distributed regionally across the Southwest. Because regional flat tops from the Desert Southwest are far less common than their national counterparts, this Elder Brau can remains a highly desirable touchstone of mid-century western brewing history.