Rainier Beer Flat Top Can

Sicks' Rainier Flat Top Can

Produced by Sicks' Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. in Seattle, Washington, the Rainier Beer flat top can holds an iconic place in Pacific Northwest breweriana. Issued during the era of brewing magnate Emil Sick, who revitalized the historic regional brand, cans bearing the mandatory "Sicks' Seattle Brewing & Malting" text represent a defining chapter in regional beverage packaging.

Graphic Series and Lore

Beyond standard labeling featuring bold lettering and the Mount Rainier silhouette, the brewery produced celebrated pictorial releases widely recognized among collectors as the Jubilee and Party series. These illustrated cans showcased mid-century outdoor leisure, musical gatherings, social settings, and regional folklore figures such as Paul Bunyan. Sicks' paired these vignettes with diverse metallic color palettes and side-panel slogans such as "Rainier for Life".

A landmark event in breweriana history directly tied to this can is the legendary "Seattle wind tunnel find". A massive, forgotten cache of Rainier flat tops was uncovered inside a decommissioned Seattle aeronautical testing structure. This discovery introduced a vast assortment of Sicks' Seattle cans to the collecting community, significantly expanding the documentation of the brewery's graphic releases, side seams, and metallic finishes.

Collector Variations

Cans bearing the Sicks' Seattle Brewing & Malting mandatory text are extensively studied for production differences. Known variations include subtle shifts in mandatory legal phrasing, differences in metallic colorways, variations in rim text, and manufacturer canning codes from suppliers like the American Can Company. These variations provide rich depth for collectors seeking to document the output of the historic Seattle plant.