Guinness's Lager Beer Flat Top Can

Goebel's Guinness Lager Flat Top

The Guinness's Lager Beer flat top can represents a notable chapter in American breweriana, originating from a contract brewing and licensing arrangement between Arthur Guinness Son & Co. and the Goebel Brewing Company of Detroit, Michigan. Following the closure of Guinness's American production facility in Long Island City, New York during the mid-1950s, the Irish firm partnered with Goebel to produce and package its beverages domestically to avoid transatlantic shipping costs.

Under this licensing agreement, Goebel packaged both Guinness's Ale and Guinness's Lager Beer at its primary production plant in Detroit. Canned lagers bearing the Guinness name were uncommon during this period, making the container especially interesting to collectors. The label design integrated classic Guinness branding and traditional harp imagery with Goebel's required mandatory brewery statements.

Collectors recognize variations across production batches, featuring differences in side-panel mandatory text formatting, legal wording, and background color tones. Because the licensing arrangement between Guinness and Goebel lasted for only a brief period, surviving containers from Detroit serve as significant historical artifacts connecting Dublin's historic brand with Detroit's mid-century canning heritage.