Hedrick Lager Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Hedrick Lager Beer Tab Top Can

This 12-ounce straight steel tab top can represents the mid-to-late 1960s chapter of a storied northeastern brewing label. Produced during the tab top era, the can is distinguished by metallic gold bands framing a bold crimson and white central design. Notable mandatory text along the side panel includes the state tax statement "MASS. PERMIT M-4" and designates the brewer as the Hedrick Brewing Co. of Willimansett, Massachusetts. The front face also preserves the copyright marking "© 1953 H. B. CO." along with the company's traditional banner slogan, "Still the Best."

The Hedrick brand traced its lineage to 1852, a milestone prominently declared beneath the central shield. Formulated as a traditional German lager, it was marketed for decades as an everyday staple across upstate New York and surrounding territories. Its presentation centered around a heraldic crest featuring an armored arm raising a foaming goblet of beer above a black shield bearing an Old English "H." As mid-century industry consolidation challenged local breweries, the Hedrick moniker retained enough regional customer loyalty to justify continued contract brewing well beyond the life of its original home plant.

Hedrick was founded in Albany, New York, by German immigrant John F. Hedrick. The Albany facility grew into one of the city's foremost lager operations and was among the few local breweries to survive Prohibition, doing so by manufacturing soft drinks and near-beer cereal beverages. After reopening for legal beer production in 1933, the company operated until the mid-1960s, when escalating competition prompted its closure. Rights to the brand were subsequently acquired, and production shifted to the Willimansett, Massachusetts plant—the former Hampden-Harvard facility operated under Piel Bros., which packaged the brand under the Hedrick Brewing Co. trade name until that brewery ceased operations in 1975.

For collectors of breweriana, this can is an intriguing artifact from the era of regional consolidation. The pairing of a heritage Albany label with a Willimansett, Massachusetts manufacturing statement makes it a desirable crossover piece for enthusiasts focusing on either New York or New England brewing history.