Hedrick Lager Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Hedrick Lager Beer Tab Top Can

This 12-ounce tab top can represents an all-aluminum issue produced for Hedrick Lager Beer, bearing the Willimansett, Massachusetts municipal mandatory. The design features a bold red center field framed by metallic gold bands along the top and bottom. Prominently displayed across the upper label is the "HEDRICK" name in dimensional block lettering over "Lager BEER." Beneath the brand title, the design incorporates an ornate heraldic shield emblazoned with the letter "H" and topped by an overflowing chalice, flanked by decorative gold flourishes, the founding date "Since 1852," and the brand's long-running slogan, "Still the Best."

The Hedrick brand traces its heritage to the mid-nineteenth century, positioned as a traditional German-style lager. Across the twentieth century, it was widely promoted throughout the Northeast with the "Still the Best" campaign featured on barware, neon signs, and serving trays. In its home region of upstate New York, Hedrick developed legendary folklore as the preferred brew of Albany's longtime Democratic political boss Daniel P. O’Connell, making it a ubiquitous fixture across local taverns. Following the closure of the original brewery in the mid-1960s, the brand name was maintained and produced under contract at regional facilities until industry consolidation eventually brought the label to an end.

Founded in Albany, New York, by German immigrant John F. Hedrick, the original brewing business was among the few in the city to survive Prohibition, doing so by producing soda and near-beer before reopening in 1933. After the Albany plant shuttered in 1965, production shifted eastward to Willimansett, Massachusetts. The Willimansett plant—originally established as the Hampden Brewing Company and later absorbed into Piel Bros.—utilized various historic trade names, including the Hedrick Brewing Company banner, to bottle and can regional brands until the Massachusetts plant closed permanently in 1975.

In the collecting hobby, this can represents an intriguing period of mid-century consolidation and technological evolution as breweries moved toward lightweight aluminum tab-top packaging. It appeals to collectors specializing in Massachusetts canning history as well as those dedicated to upstate New York breweriana and regional political lore.