Rainier Old Stock Ale Flat Top Can

Rainier Old Stock Ale Overview

The Rainier Old Stock Ale flat top can was issued by the Rainier Brewing Company out of its San Francisco, California facility. Following the repeal of Prohibition, the brewery introduced Old Stock Ale and famously promoted it as Rainier Beer's "Big Brother," setting it apart from the brewery's standard pale lagers.

The can features Rainier's distinctive mid-century script and bold labeling, tailored for regional distribution throughout California and the greater American West. The San Francisco packaging lines utilized major can manufacturers of the era, notably the American Can Company.

For breweriana enthusiasts, this can represents a notable chapter in West Coast brewing history. Variations exist across different production runs, featuring differences in tax mandatory statements—such as Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) text versus post-IRTP markings—as well as slight modifications in brewery legal lines and canning patent notices. Because Rainier eventually consolidated operations back toward the Pacific Northwest and ceased production at the California plant, cans explicitly bearing the San Francisco mandatory remain prominent pieces of regional breweriana.