Old Milwaukee Light Premium Light Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Old Milwaukee Light: Winston-Salem

The Old Milwaukee Light Premium Light Beer 12 oz tab top can represents a notable chapter in the packaging history of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Produced at Schlitz’s Winston-Salem, North Carolina facility, this container reflects the brewing giant's push into the rapidly expanding reduced-calorie market.

Brewery Background

Schlitz established its Winston-Salem plant to supply distributors throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Southeastern United States. During its operational peak, the Winston-Salem facility was among the largest and most automated brewing facilities in the world, running high-speed packaging lines to meet massive regional demand. As light beers grew in consumer popularity across the nation, Schlitz extended its popular value-tier Old Milwaukee brand into the light beer category.

Design and Collector Significance

The can features the recognizable Old Milwaukee script logo set against a bright background with bold accent banding, distinguishing the lower-calorie variant from its regular counterpart. The mandatory brewery text on the side panel denotes Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. of Winston-Salem, NC, establishing its geographic origin for regional collectors.

Because Schlitz utilized multiple packaging plants across the country to produce Old Milwaukee Light, variations exist in the mandatory city listings, side-panel legal verbiage, paint finish tones, and seam markings. For collectors focused on North Carolina breweriana or Schlitz brand history, the Winston-Salem label stands as a quintessential artifact of regional distribution and corporate canning history.