Schlitz Beer Test Can

Schlitz Packaging Prototypes

The Schlitz Beer Test Can originates from packaging development and graphic design trials conducted for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As one of the largest brewing operations in the United States, Schlitz continually explored new lithographic techniques, container manufacturing processes, and visual branding adjustments to maximize retail shelf presentation.

These experimental cans were produced in limited quantities by major container manufacturers—such as the Continental Can Company and the American Can Company—working alongside brewery marketing departments. Test cans allowed executives and design panels to evaluate trial concepts prior to committing to full-scale commercial manufacturing runs. Designers utilized these mockups to test variations in metallic sheen, specialized lacquer coatings, ink formulations, typography weights, and the placement of the brewery's belted rhomboid logo and signature slogan, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous".

Surviving specimens display technical production artifacts prized by breweriana researchers. These features include lithographic color registration bars, alignment guides, experimental mandatory legal text along the seam, and trial interior protective linings. Some examples were assembled as sealed factory mockups for executive review, while others were preserved as flat lithographed proof sheets that were later rolled into can form.

Because test cans were created strictly for internal evaluation, focus groups, and manufacturing line calibration, the vast majority were discarded or recycled once packaging decisions were finalized. The surviving examples preserved by brewery personnel and can manufacturing technicians document the industrial design history of one of Milwaukee's defining brewing institutions.