Meister Brau Pilsener Beer Flat Top Can

1967 Meister Bräu Chicago Flat Top

Bearing a 1967 copyright date, this 12-ounce flat top can represents the late steel flat-top era for Chicago's Peter Hand Brewery Company. The label showcases the brewery's trademark crest—bearing the Peter Hand name—set within bold geometric gold hourglass shapes trimmed in crimson. The front prominently displays the gothic Meister Bräu wordmark above the stylized red script tagline, "the Custom Brew," designating the contents as Pilsener Beer.

Introduced in the late 19th century, Meister Bräu served as the flagship brand for Peter Hand and became Chicago’s quintessential hometown lager. Marketed as a premium regional beer brewed for local tastes, it heavily leveraged its "The Custom Brew" campaign across print, radio, and tavern advertising. In 1967, the brand made brewing history when the company embraced a low-calorie brewing formula to launch Meister Bräu Lite. Following financial distress, the brand portfolio was sold in 1972 to Miller Brewing Company, which reworked the reduced-calorie recipe into the landmark Miller Lite while continuing to distribute standard Meister Bräu as a value-priced lager.

Prussian immigrant and Civil War veteran Peter Hand established the brewery in 1891 at North and Sheffield Avenues in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Following Hand's death in 1899, the business persevered, surviving Prohibition through the manufacture of non-intoxicating cereal beverages and malt extracts. Upon Repeal, the operation modernized and grew into Chicago's last major industrial brewery. Overextension and intense competition during national expansion efforts in the late 1960s led to financial trouble, and despite reorganization attempts, the facility permanently ceased production in 1978.

For breweriana enthusiasts, Meister Bräu cans are key artifacts representing twentieth-century Midwestern brewing heritage. Flat top issues from the late 1960s mark a pivotal era, capturing both the culmination of Chicago's historic industrial brewing footprint and the foundational chapter of the modern light beer market.