Schlitz Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Schlitz Memphis Tab Top Can

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company expanded its nationwide production footprint by establishing a major brewing and packaging facility on Raines Road in Memphis, Tennessee. This 12-ounce container represents that era of Southern manufacturing and distribution for the brewing giant.

During this era of multi-plant operations, Schlitz cans carried a standard listing of company facilities across the country on the side panel, including locations such as Milwaukee, Tampa, Longview, Los Angeles, Winston-Salem, and Memphis. Rather than creating entirely separate label artwork for every individual packaging plant, the brewery utilized a subtle plant designation mark to identify the source. On cans filled at the Tennessee plant, a small indicator dot was printed directly above or adjacent to "Memphis, TN" within the mandatory brewery roster.

The can design features the classic Schlitz aesthetic, headlined by the belted globe trademark and the flowing cursive Schlitz script. It showcases the famous tagline, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous," alongside standard volume disclosures and mandatory brewery text. The container bodies were fabricated by major packaging suppliers such as Reynolds Aluminum.

For breweriana collectors, cans linked to the Memphis plant serve as tangible artifacts of the company's peak industrial distribution network. Variations exist across production runs, showing subtle differences in mandatory text placement, recycling emblems, side-panel layout, and container manufacturer marks.