Schmidt Beer Flat Top Can

Schmidt Scenic Deer & Riverboat Can

This flat top container represents one of the celebrated scenic releases issued under the Schmidt Beer label by the Pfeiffer Brewing Company, operating as Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The Great Northwest Scenic Series

During the mid-20th century, Schmidt distinguished its brand identity across the Upper Midwest by centering its marketing around the outdoors. Promoting itself as “The Beer that Grew with the Great Northwest,” the brewery incorporated full-wrap wilderness scenes and regional wildlife illustrations directly onto its cans. This visual strategy evolved into one of the longest-running and most extensively collected scenic can series in American brewing history.

Label Imagery and Design

The artwork on this design features a detailed outdoors motif set against pine-covered bluffs and open water. In the foreground, a spotted fawn stands beside a large evergreen trunk while an adult deer watches from the forest edge. On the river in the background, a multi-deck paddlewheel riverboat navigates along the waterway beneath towering palisades. Along the bottom border of the scene, the brand's long-standing promotional tagline, “The Beer that Grew with the Great Northwest,” wraps around the container in stylized white lettering. Anchoring the upper panel is Schmidt's signature red shield emblem framed with a gold border and classic serif typography.

Brewery Background

The Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company, established in Saint Paul at the turn of the twentieth century, was acquired by Detroit-based Pfeiffer Brewing Company in the mid-1950s. Pfeiffer retained the Schmidt name, Saint Paul facility, and regional outdoors imagery to preserve the brand's deep-rooted loyalty throughout Minnesota and neighboring states.