Elm Grove Bock 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Elm Grove Bock Beer Tab Top Can

The Elm Grove Bock 12-ounce can is a straight steel tab top container produced during the 1970s. Reflecting its era of production, the lower border of the face displays a dual English and metric volume declaration reading "12 Fl. Oz. (355 Ml)". The layout features a crisp white rectangular panel framed within red upper and lower bands. The upper portion of the frame highlights detailed blue linework illustrating a grand Victorian manor house surrounded by mature shade trees. Below the illustration, the title "ELM GROVE" is printed in red block typography with yellow drop shadowing, accompanied by "Bock Beer" set in a red script font. Running vertically along the side border, mandatory packaging text notes: "BREWED AND FILLED BY WALTER BREWING COMPANY, EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN".

Elm Grove was packaged by Walter Brewing Company as part of its line of regional and specialty labels. Offered in conjunction with standard Elm Grove Wisconsin Beer, the bock release served as a seasonal dark lager traditional to springtime brewing cycles. By showcasing historic residential architecture and pastoral imagery, the brand was marketed to evoke small-town heritage and traditional Midwestern brewing craftsmanship. As regional shelf space became increasingly monopolized by corporate mega-breweries toward the close of the decade, the Elm Grove label was retired.

The Walter Brewing Company traced its origins to 1890, when Johannes Walter took over the Dells Brewery site along Elm Street in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Over subsequent decades, the company established itself as a brewing staple in northwestern Wisconsin. During Prohibition, Walter weathered the dry spell by transitioning production to near beer and soda pop before resuming conventional brewing upon Repeal in 1933. In the post-World War II period, as industry consolidation decimated local breweries across the country, Walter managed to remain operational through contract packaging, festival commemorative cans, and localized house labels. Increasing financial pressure led to the sale of the business in 1985, after which the historic Eau Claire plant briefly operated under new ownership as Hibernia Brewing before shuttering permanently.

Seasonal bock cans issued by regional Midwestern breweries are favored items within pull tab and breweriana collecting circles. Because bock beers were brewed in limited seasonal batches compared to everyday pale lagers, cans bearing the bock designation were manufactured in smaller quantities. Collectors of Wisconsin brewery history particularly value this can for its distinctive architectural centerpiece and contrasting typography.