Westover Beer Flat Top Can

Westover Premium Light Beer Flat Top

The Westover Beer flat top can is a 12-ounce straight steel container produced for Eastern Brewing Corp. of Hammonton, New Jersey during the early 1960s. The can's layout is anchored by an angled red banner featuring bold block lettering with black drop shadows for the "WESTOVER" brand name. Running vertically down the left side is an elongated, stylized ear of grain in red outline, set alongside the designations "Premium" and "LIGHT BEER." Printed across the bottom rim is the brand's formal marketing statement: "A Brew of Rare Perfection and Exceptional Quality and Bouquet."

Westover was produced during the 1960s as part of Eastern Brewing’s extensive portfolio of value-priced regional beers. Marketed to price-conscious consumers throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the label used traditional premium visual cues—such as grain artwork, script accents, and claims of exceptional bouquet—to project quality on retail shelves. Like many economy labels of the era, Westover transitioned through newer opening styles before eventually fading from distribution as regional market dynamics shifted.

Eastern Brewing Corp. was established in 1933 following the repeal of Prohibition, originally operating as the Eastern Beverage Corporation. Situated on North Washington Street in Hammonton, New Jersey, the brewery was steered for decades by the Penza family. While massive national brewers gradually consolidated the market and forced many local plants to close, Eastern adapted through high-volume versatility. The brewery functioned as a major contract packaging center, using dozens of alternate trade names and DBAs to produce supermarket private labels, budget beers, and revived regional brands. Eastern Brewing outlasted many independent contemporaries before finally shuttering in 1990.

For breweriana collectors, the Westover flat top represents an evocative piece of Mid-Atlantic regional packaging history. Because everyday budget beers were rarely preserved, surviving flat tops from Eastern Brewing Corporation provide a tangible look at the diverse contract branding that defined New Jersey brewing during the post-Prohibition era.