Red White & Blue Special Lager Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Pabst's Peoria Heights Classic

Originally introduced at the end of the nineteenth century as an affordable, patriotic offering, Red White & Blue served as a staple budget-tier brand in the Pabst Brewing Company portfolio. When Pabst expanded its operations following Prohibition by acquiring and modernizing the Peoria Heights, Illinois facility in 1934, the plant quickly grew into one of the company's major Midwestern production hubs. The Peoria Heights brewery produced significant volume across Pabst's brand roster, packaging this value lager for distribution across regional markets.

For breweriana collectors, cans bearing the Peoria Heights designation highlight an important era of central Illinois brewing heritage. Red White & Blue was heavily promoted with slogans emphasizing value, such as "an honest beer for an honest price," positioning it as an accessible, everyday alternative to the flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon. The can design leaned into this patriotic theme with bold Americana styling, eagle iconography, and distinct red, white, and blue graphic blocking.

The text on the can features mandatory brewery location listings, typically including Peoria Heights alongside Pabst's other major manufacturing sites, such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Newark, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, California. Variations exist across the production history, showing subtle changes in city listings, mandatory government text, and font arrangements. Following the permanent closure of the Peoria Heights brewery in 1982, cans carrying the Peoria Heights imprint remain sought-after pieces documenting the facility's extensive brewing past.