London Bobby Brand Ale Crowntainer

London Bobby Brand Ale Crowntainer

Produced by the Miami Valley Brewing Company in Dayton, Ohio, the London Bobby Brand Ale Crowntainer represents an important chapter in southwestern Ohio brewing heritage. Operating from a historic complex at the intersection of First and Beckel Streets, Miami Valley holds a distinguished position as the only Dayton-based packaging brewery to can beer between the repeal of Prohibition and the rise of the modern craft brewing movement.

Following the lifting of wartime metal restrictions, Miami Valley adopted the Crowntainer format manufactured by the Crown Cork & Seal Company. This package allowed the regional brewery to enter the canned beer market by utilizing existing bottling equipment, avoiding the high capital expense of installing a dedicated canning line.

Visually, the can is recognized for its graphic illustration of a traditional British police constable—the namesake "London Bobby"—clad in a dark uniform and helmet. As an artifact of its era, the container includes the "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) statement.

Among breweriana collectors, variations of the London Bobby Crowntainer exist across production runs, featuring differences such as metallic versus enamel background finishes, mandatory brewery text layouts, and alcohol content declarations. After Miami Valley Brewing ceased operations in 1950, the London Bobby brand name was briefly acquired and packaged by the Cincinnati Brewing Company in Reading, Ohio.