Old Bohemian Style Pilsner Beer Flat Top Can

Old Bohemian Beer Can History

The Old Bohemian Style Pilsner Beer flat top can is an enduring piece of Ohio brewing heritage, produced for the Forest City Brewery, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio. Following the repeal of Prohibition, Forest City Brewery revived commercial operations in Cleveland, catering to the city's substantial Central and Eastern European immigrant communities—particularly the Bohemian and German neighborhoods that favored classic continental pilsners.

Manufactured by the American Can Company, this steel container carries the prominent "Keglined" trademark alongside instructional opening text panels on the reverse. Early runs from the brewery incorporated the extended "long opener" instructional graphic, an era-defining element from the period when breweries illustrated can-piercing techniques directly on the container body. The can also features the mandatory "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) statement on its side panel, a federal requirement for domestic malt beverages during the pre-1950s era.

Collectors of Midwest breweriana recognize the label's distinct gothic typography and central crest, which was designed to project old-world brewing authority. Across the brand's lifespan, different variations of the can emerged, displaying noticeable differences in background shading, slight adjustments to the side-panel legal verbiage, and alternative formats for the opening instruction graphics.

Because Forest City Brewery had a relatively short post-Prohibition production history compared to larger Cleveland-area contemporaries such as Leisy, Standard, or Carling, cans bearing the Forest City Brewery imprint stand as highly prized artifacts of Cleveland's industrial brewing heritage.