Pilser's Extra Dry Pilsener Beer Cone Top Can

Pilser's Extra Dry Cone Top Can

This twelve-ounce high-profile cone top was produced for Metropolis Brewery of New York, New York, during the late 1940s. Reflecting its era of manufacture, the container carries the Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) statement required on post-Prohibition domestic malt beverages prior to 1950. A defining catalog detail of this specific release is the omission of the customary "Brewed and Packed By" phrasing within the mandatory brewery text. The can’s lithography features an intricate diamond-lattice background framing an ivory-and-red central oval, crowned by a circular emblem bearing the slogan "IT'S SMART BREWING" above a pennant-style trademark for "Original" script lettering. A prominent red banner across the lower right declares the beer "PREMIUM."

Pilser’s was introduced to New York consumers shortly after the repeal of Prohibition, originally brewed in the Bronx. Marketed as a crisp, European-inspired lager suited to sophisticated urban tastes, the brand prominently highlighted its "Extra Dry" formulation and "Smart Brewing" craftsmanship. Positioned alongside companion offerings such as ales and half-and-half, Pilser’s built a dependable neighborhood presence across metropolitan taverns and corner grocers before the label was consolidated under the brewing umbrella of Louis Hertzberg.

Metropolis Brewery operated in Manhattan at the historic First Avenue plant between 29th and 30th Streets, a location originally established in the nineteenth century as the Fidelio Brewery. After navigating Prohibition through near beer and reorganization, the complex was acquired in the mid-1940s by Hertzberg, who reorganized it under the Metropolis moniker. The Manhattan facility packaged several established local labels while also playing a pivotal role in brewing early runs of Champale malt liquor. Metropolis ceased brewing in Manhattan around 1953, whereupon Hertzberg dismantled the brewhouse machinery and famously shipped the entire plant's equipment abroad to establish Israel’s first modern commercial brewery.

For collectors of East Coast breweriana, this can stands out as an evocative artifact of post-war New York brewing. Cone tops produced within Manhattan proper are particularly desirable due to their relatively brief production window before regional breweries shifted entirely to flat top cans or shuttered under competitive pressure from nationwide shipping brewers. Subtle variations in factory mandatory statements further elevate its appeal among focused label-variation specialists.