Schlitz Beer Test Can

1973 Schlitz Silver Test Tab Top

This 12-ounce aluminum test can dates to 1973 and showcases an experimental silver background beneath the classic branding of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Produced as a tab top container during a period when national brewers frequently trialed different finishes, base metals, and graphic layouts, the can displays a bottom mandatory text string identifying seven production brewery cities across the United States, including Milwaukee, Brooklyn, and Tampa. Prominently featured on the front are the heritage belted-globe emblem and the slanted crimson banner containing the script brand name, positioned directly above the renowned tagline, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous".

Schlitz emerged in the mid-nineteenth century and grew to define mass-market American lager. The company popularized its defining slogan following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and officially showcased it at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Mid-century marketing cemented the brew's status with memorable campaigns urging consumers to "Go for the Gusto" and asserting that "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer". Although packaging and ingredient alterations during the 1970s triggered commercial challenges, the Schlitz name remained a legendary fixture of American brewing history.

The brewery originated in Milwaukee in 1849 under August Krug and was subsequently taken over and renamed by bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz. Following Schlitz's death at sea in 1875, management transferred to the Uihlein family, who guided the firm into a powerhouse that long contended for the title of the largest brewer in the nation. The company survived Prohibition through non-alcoholic products and baking supplies, expanding rapidly during the post-war era by establishing plants across the country. Independent brewing operations ended with an acquisition by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982, before the label eventually transitioned into the Pabst brewing portfolio.

Test cans from legacy national breweries hold special significance for breweriana enthusiasts because they preserve pre-production trials, color experiments, and factory proofs that never saw standard distribution. Examples carrying multi-city manufacturing lines highlight the sweeping footprint of mid-century brewing empires and provide tangible documentation of packaging evolution during the pull-tab era.