Rheinlander Light Pale Beer Flat Top Can

Rheinlander Light Pale Beer Flat Top

Manufactured during the early 1960s, this 12-ounce flat top can represents a classic mid-century packaging design from the Pacific Northwest. The label is built upon a balanced tri-color panel composition featuring a warm red-orange band on the left, an off-white central field, and a golden-yellow vertical band on the right. Crowning the presentation is an angular, two-tone crown placed directly above the script designation "Select" and the bold, stylized "RHEINLANDER" trademark. Near the bottom rim, fine metallic line illustrations flank the mandatory volume statement reading "CONTENTS 12 FLUID OUNCES": a storybook castle perched among stylized trees on the left, paired with standing stalks of wheat on the right.

The Rheinlander label holds a storied position in Washington brewing history. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the Century Brewing Association introduced Rheinlander Beer as its inaugural post-repeal offering—predating even the revival of the Rainier moniker. While Rainier rapidly grew into the facility's flagship label, Rheinlander was eventually sidelined. In 1961, Sicks' Rainier revived Rheinlander as a value-priced offering specifically targeted at the expanding supermarket trade, launching it alongside an alternate budget label, Highlander. Rheinlander remained a regional supermarket staple across multiple container redesigns until it was phased out in the early 1990s.

Although the can credits the Highlander Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington, this entity operated as an internal corporate division of Sicks' Rainier Brewing Company at the historic 3100 Airport Way brewing complex. During the early 1960s, the company created two separate subsidiaries—the Rheinlander Brewing Company and the Highlander Brewing Company—to manage and distribute value-tier brands. These divisions routinely cross-distributed and produced cans for one another, resulting in this Rheinlander-branded can carrying Highlander's corporate credits. The Seattle plant remained a brewing center through subsequent acquisitions by the G. Heileman Brewing Company before brewing operations ultimately concluded.

For regional breweriana enthusiasts, this can serves as a compelling artifact from the final era of flat-top canning before the rapid adoption of pull tabs and pop tops. Its striking mid-century graphics and connection to Seattle's intertwined corporate history make it an enduring favorite among West Coast beer can collectors.