Olympia Pale Export Beer Test Can

Olympia Pale Export Test Can

This straight steel tab top container is an experimental test can produced during packaging evaluations for the Olympia Brewing Company of Olympia, Washington. Container manufacturers periodically produced trial batches to preview lithographic color saturation, typography, and label element placements before authorizing full-scale commercial manufacturing. The face features the traditional "Pale Export Type" designation alongside the brewery's hallmark horseshoe motif enclosing an illustration of Tumwater Falls, framed by hops, barley, and an evergreen tree line.

The Pale Export brand traces back to the inception of the brewery in the late nineteenth century. Marketed with a strong regional identity rooted in the Pacific Northwest, Olympia beer became famous across the western United States through its iconic slogan, "It's the Water", which attributed the brew's character to local artesian springs. The label artwork reinforced this narrative by presenting an explanatory statement praising the purity and solvent properties of its artesian water alongside images of the scenic falls.

The brewery was founded in 1896 by German immigrant Leopold Schmidt under the name Capital Brewing Company in Tumwater, Washington, later adopting the Olympia Brewing Company name in 1902. Washington State enacted prohibition early in 1916, forcing the company to pivot into fruit juices, near beer, and other commercial ventures until national Repeal in 1933. After reopening, Olympia expanded into a dominant regional power across the West, eventually acquiring competing breweries during the mid-twentieth century. Amid industry consolidation, Olympia was purchased by Pabst in 1983, and its historic Tumwater facility ceased brewing in 2003.

For breweriana enthusiasts, test cans offer an intriguing glimpse into the development stages of vintage beer packaging. Because factory test specimens were intended strictly for internal brewery reviews, line testing, or marketing evaluations rather than retail distribution, they represent prized artifacts of Pacific Northwest brewing history.