Schlitz Beer Test Can

1976 Schlitz Foil Label Test Can

This 12-ounce straight steel tab top container is an experimental prototype prepared for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company in 1976. Identified as a test can, it features a specialized foil label applied over the metal body rather than standard direct lithography. Along the lower rim, the copyright text dates the package to 1976 and references six operating brewery locations, beginning with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Tampa, Florida. The front graphic centers the traditional belted globe emblem above an angled maroon parallelogram framing the white Schlitz script, anchored below by the long-standing slogan, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous".

Schlitz was the flagship lager of the company and one of the defining names in American brewing history. The brand rose to national prominence after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when the company sent hundreds of barrels of fresh water and beer to aid the stricken city, giving rise to its legendary Milwaukee slogan. Throughout the mid-20th century, prominent advertising campaigns—including the celebrated catchphrase "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer"—helped position Schlitz as an essential standard of American beer culture.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traces its origins to 1849, when August Krug established a small brewery in Milwaukee. Following Krug's death, bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took over leadership in 1858, and management later transitioned to the Uihlein family after Schlitz perished at sea in 1875. Through continuous expansion and early adoption of mechanical refrigeration, Schlitz developed into a national powerhouse and repeatedly held the title of the largest brewer in the United States. Although the brewery successfully survived Prohibition through non-alcoholic products and diversified manufacturing, corporate struggles and labor disputes in the late 1970s led to its acquisition by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982, with the brand eventually joining the Pabst portfolio.

Test cans occupy a distinguished place among breweriana collectors because they represent design iterations produced solely for internal evaluation, distributor presentations, or limited market trials. Prototype foil-label cans provide rare insight into the packaging evolution and brand strategies employed by major American breweries during the late tab top era.