Meister Brau Premium Beer Beer Flat Top Can

1968 Meister Bräu Premium Flat Top

This 12-ounce flat top beer can dates to 1968, bearing a copyright notice from that year along with mandatory text denoting two brewing cities. The label artwork is anchored by a crest displaying a frothing beer stein emblazoned with the "MB" monogram framed in a heraldic shield. Set within sharp blue angular linework against white and metallic gold fields, the can features the prominent "Meister Bräu" wordmark positioned directly above the blue "Premium Beer" designation, with "NET 12 FL. OZS." printed near the bottom rim.

Meister Bräu originated as the flagship lager of the Peter Hand Brewing Company, marketed as a traditional, high-quality German-style brew. By the mid-to-late 1960s, the brand was backed by widespread marketing across the Midwest, including prominent billboard advertisements, syndicated late-night radio programs, and sponsorships of Chicago sports teams like the White Sox, Blackhawks, and Bulls. Meister Bräu also played a pivotal role in brewing history by introducing Meister Bräu Lite; after financial headwinds hit the company, the recipe and brand name were sold to the Miller Brewing Company in 1972 and retooled into Miller Lite.

The brewery was founded in 1891 on Chicago's North Side by Peter Hand, a Prussian immigrant and American Civil War veteran. The company persevered through Prohibition by manufacturing near-beer and soda, expanding significantly after repeal to become Chicago's largest and longest-surviving packaging brewery. In 1965, an investment group acquired the facility and renamed the corporate entity Meister Bräu, Inc. to align with its leading label. After overextending through acquisitions and debt in the early 1970s, the plant briefly resumed brewing under the Peter Hand name before permanently shutting its doors in 1978.

Late-era flat tops from the end of the 1960s hold particular appeal for breweriana collectors because they were produced when pull tabs had almost completely supplanted flat-top steel containers on retail shelves. As an artifact of Chicago's last historic macrobrewery, this can serves as a classic snapshot of regional packaging from a transformative decade in American brewing.