Meister Brau The Custom Brew Beer Flat Top Can

Peter Hand's Classic Custom Brew

The Peter Hand Brewing Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Prussian immigrant and Civil War veteran Peter Hand. Over decades of operation, the brewery grew into one of the city's most enduring beverage institutions, with Meister Brau standing as its flagship label. Marketed widely across the Midwest under the slogan "The Custom Brew," the brand gained widespread recognition through aggressive regional advertising, sports sponsorships, and popular Chicago radio broadcasts.

For can collectors, the Meister Brau "The Custom Brew" flat top represents a defining era of mid-century Chicago packaging. The design prominently features the classic Meister Brau lettering accompanied by "The Custom Brew" banner, detailed crest work, and the Peter Hand Brewing Co. Chicago designation. Variations of this design exist in collections, showcasing subtle shifts in canning plant marks, minor textual adjustments, and slight graphic refinements implemented across different production batches.

The Peter Hand Brewery holds a significant position in modern brewing history. In the 1960s, the company developed Meister Brau Lite, which eventually served as the direct basis for Miller Lite after Miller Brewing Company acquired the brewery's portfolio and recipes in the early 1970s. As Peter Hand was the last large-scale commercial brewery operating within the Chicago city limits before closing its doors later that decade, original cans bearing the Peter Hand name remain enduring artifacts of the city's storied brewing heritage.