North Star XXX Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

North Star XXX Beer Tab Top

This straight steel 12-ounce tab top can represents a classic mid-century package produced for the North Star brand. Manufactured during the era of corporate consolidation in the 1960s, the can features the mandatory text identifying the brewer as the Jacob Schmidt Division of Associated Brewing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is distinguished by the "BREWED AND PACKED BY..." caption along its mandatory line. The visual layout centers on bold Old English lettering for the brand name set against a radiating white celestial burst on a deep blue, star-speckled field. Below the main title sit three stylized "X" marks, while the word "BEER" is boxed cleanly along the bottom rim.

Brand Heritage

The North Star name holds a storied place in Minnesota brewing history. Its origins trace back to the mid-19th century, serving as an homage to Minnesota’s official state motto, L'Étoile du Nord (The Star of the North). The "XXX" designation was a time-honored brewing convention originally used to denote robust strength or premium cellar aging. Maintained through generations of ownership changes, North Star was marketed as a dependable regional favorite across the Upper Midwest.

Brewery History

The lineage behind this can begins with Bavarian-born brewer Jacob Schmidt. After brewing at Hamm's and Schell's, Schmidt acquired a partnership in St. Paul's historic North Star Brewery in 1884. Following a devastating fire at that facility around the turn of the century, Schmidt purchased the former Christopher Stahlmann Cave Brewery site on West Seventh Street in 1900, establishing the landmark Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company. The brewery flourished through the pre-Prohibition era, survived national dry laws by producing near-beer and malt products, and rebounded quickly after Repeal. In 1954, Detroit-based Pfeiffer Brewing acquired Schmidt, later restructuring as the Associated Brewing Company in 1962. Associated continued to operate the St. Paul facility until 1972, when its brewing assets were sold to G. Heileman.

Collecting Context

Cans from the Associated Brewing era of the Jacob Schmidt plant are popular fixtures in Midwestern breweriana collections. The North Star label represents a significant bridge connecting 19th-century pioneer brewing in Saint Paul to the post-war regional brewing combines. Collectors value these tab tops for their striking celestial graphic design and their direct connection to the West Seventh Street brewing tradition.