Krueger Cream Ale Flat Top Can

Krueger Cream Ale Medium Opener

The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey, holds a monumental place in breweriana history as the first commercial brewery to market beer in cans to the public. Krueger Cream Ale was among the premier labels released during this pioneering rollout.

Because canned beer was an unfamiliar concept at the time of its introduction, early cans incorporated instructional panels that illustrated how to properly puncture the lid using a churchkey opener. This specific can features the distinctive medium opener illustration within its side-panel opening instructions.

In specialist collector guides, this version is documented under reference entry 463. The label carries standard period brewery mandatories from the Newark facility along with tax-related statements across the body. Krueger produced a range of instructional variants across its production runs—varying by instructional panel dimensions, mandatory text arrangements, and graphic nuances—making instructional Krueger cans cornerstone pieces for collectors of historic American breweriana.