Schmidt Beer Flat Top Can

Schmidt Scenic Flat Top Can

Schmidt Beer, brewed in St. Paul, Minnesota, built a lasting legacy throughout the Upper Midwest by marketing itself as the quintessential beverage for the rugged outdoorsman. Central to this regional identity was the famous promotional campaign and slogan printed along the bottom rim of the can: "The Beer that Grew with the Great Northwest."

To bring this wilderness theme to life, the brewery commissioned celebrated Minnesota wildlife artist Les Kouba to paint a collection of iconic outdoor scenes. Kouba's detailed artwork often juxtaposed untouched nature with frontier industry and progress. The illustration on this can showcases a winter logging scene in a snow-covered evergreen forest, pairing wildlife—notably a moose—alongside a team of draft horses hauling harvested timber.

While the pictorial series originally debuted under the independent Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company, the concept proved so popular that it was carried forward after Detroit-based Pfeiffer Brewing Company acquired the brewery and operated the facility under the Jacob Schmidt name. This era of Schmidt packaging remains one of the most celebrated and avidly collected runs of mid-century scenic breweriana.