Fauerbach A Very Fine Pilsener Beer 12 Oz Zip Top Can

Madison's Fauerbach Zip Top Can

This straight steel 12-ounce zip top can represents the final packaging chapter from Madison, Wisconsin's historic hometown brewer. Manufactured in the mid-1960s during the industry's widespread adoption of self-opening tops, the container features a light blue body banded by a bold turquoise diagonal sash reading "Fauerbach A Very Fine Pilsener Beer." Along the lower front, four circular illustrated medallions tell a visual story of regional progress: a frontier covered wagon, a horse-drawn carriage in front of an early homestead, an automobile parked before the Wisconsin State Capitol dome, and an airplane cruising over a modern skyline. Anchoring these scenes is the elegant script tagline, "For Generations."

Marketed as a quintessential Wisconsin heritage lager, Fauerbach emphasized longevity and civic pride in an era when massive national shipping breweries were increasingly dominating grocery shelves. The visual theme and "For Generations" slogan celebrated the company's continuous connection to local culture, reminding drinkers that the Fauerbach family had supplied Madison with beer since the nineteenth century.

The company traced its lineage back to 1848, the year Wisconsin achieved statehood, when Bavarian immigrant Frederick Sprecher opened Madison's first commercial brewery on Williamson Street. German-born brewer Peter Fauerbach leased the facility in 1868, eventually buying the property and establishing the Fauerbach Brewing Company. Spanning four generations of family ownership, the firm survived the dry years of Prohibition by producing near-beer and bottling soft drinks. Following Repeal, Fauerbach resumed standard brewing operations as the capital city’s flagship brewer. Escalating post-war consolidation eventually took its toll, and the brewery permanently shuttered in 1966, after which the Williamson Street brewery buildings were demolished.

Among breweriana collectors, Fauerbach occupies a notable position as the only brewery in Madison to can beer prior to the 1970s craft brewing resurgence. Because the plant closed shortly after transitioning from flat tops to self-opening tabs, this zip top container stands as one of the very last packages the brewery ever put into market, making it an essential piece for collectors specializing in Wisconsin brewing history.