Pabst Old Tankard Ale Flat Top Can

Pabst Old Tankard Ale TapaCan

The Pabst Old Tankard Ale flat top dates to the mid-1930s, representing the formative years of canned beer following Repeal. Produced during the initial rollout of the American Can Company "Keglined" flat top container, the can displays the proprietary "TapaCan" trademark at the upper right and the line "12 FL. OZ. SAME AS BOTTLE" at the upper left. A defining characteristic recorded in collector cataloging is the two-city mandatory statement, which references corporate brewing operations in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Peoria Heights, Illinois. The container carries an optional or state-mandated (OT) tax statement and is indexed in Kevin Lilek's opening-instruction reference guide under listing 629. Notable design work on the face showcases an illustrated swashbuckling cavalier with a rapier at his side, raising a foaming tankard in salute above the Gothic brand lettering.

Pabst introduced Old Tankard Ale in the mid-1930s to satisfy demand for a full-bodied, traditional English-style ale. Promoted heavily alongside Pabst Export Beer during the debut of canned brewing, Old Tankard Ale was marketed as a hearty, full-strength alternative to lighter lagers. Period advertisements celebrated the hermetically sealed TapaCan for preserving pure brewery flavor and keeping the ale fully protected from light and air. Although consumer tastes eventually pivoted overwhelmingly toward pale lagers in the postwar decades, Old Tankard Ale remained an important legacy brand, eventually being revisited by Pabst for archival release projects decades later.

The brewing enterprise traces its origins to 1844, when Jacob Best founded the Empire Brewery in Milwaukee. Under the leadership of Captain Frederick Pabst, the operation expanded rapidly and was renamed Pabst Brewing Company in 1889. During Prohibition, the brewery survived by manufacturing malt extract, near beer, and processed cheese. In 1932, Pabst joined forces with Peoria-based Premier Malt Products to establish the Premier-Pabst Corporation, giving the company facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois just as Prohibition ended. By late 1938, shareholders voted to drop the Premier moniker and revert to the classic Pabst Brewing Company title. Pabst maintained national prominence through the mid-twentieth century before industry consolidation led to the shuttering of its historic Milwaukee facilities in 1996.

Opening-instruction cans from the TapaCan era represent the dawn of the American beer can. Cans bearing the Premier-Pabst dual-city legend are especially valued because they reflect a brief, historically significant corporate transitional window between Repeal and the late 1930s.