Home Today Is It Took 34 Years For Cans Of Beer To Outsell Bottled Beer

It Took 34 Years For Cans Of Beer To Outsell Bottled Beer

Beer Can Appreciation Day recognizes the great day in 1935 when beer was first sold in cans.

  • 1935 – The first beer produced in a can goes to Krueger Brewing Company of Richmond, Virginia but it was the American Can Company that made canning drinkable beer possible.
  • 1935 – G. Heilemann Brewing Company – La Crosse, WI – Introduces cone-top cans that fit existing bottling lines convenient for small brewers with small budgets.
  • 1930s – The “Church Key” was invented specifically to open “flat-top” style beer cans. American Can Company invented a solution – a five-inch strip of stamped metal designed to puncture the can on either side.  It was dubbed the “church key.” To get them into consumers’ hands, one was given away with each case of beer sold.  By the mid-1930s over 30 million had been distributed.
  • 1942 – No canning of beer for civilian consumption as steel and tin-plated steel are rationed for the war effort.  *35 brewers were chosen to produce canned beer for the troops.  The cans were olive-drab colored.
  • 1956 – the U.S. exploded atomic bombs near a few beers to see if they were safe to drink. They are indeed.
  • 1958 – The first aluminum can in the US was the 11 ounce Primo Beer from Hawaii.
  • 1959 – The Coors’ 1959 all-aluminum can was the first recyclable beer can
  • 1959 – Japan’s Asahi “Super Dry” cans feature intricate Japanese calligraphy and play sounds when opened.
  • 1960 – Last cone-top cans filled for Rice Lake Brewing Company.  *Smaller breweries that were still using this can design were either purchased or forced out of business by the larger national brewers.
  • 1962 – After a delay in production during World War II, canned beer became mainstream again.
  • 1962 – The pull-tab, a breakthrough innovation for beer cans, was invented by Ermal Fraze in 1962.
  • 1963 – Pittsburgh Brewing Company – Revolutionizes the beer can when it introduces Iron City Beer in self-opening cans with pull tabs, also known as pop tops. With their sharp edges, the pull tabs became the feared litter at beaches, parks, backyards and anywhere beverages were consumed.
  • 1969 – Canned beer outsells bottled beer for the first time.
  • 1969 – Pabst Blue Ribbon’s 1969 “Space Can,” designed for use in zero gravity. While this can never went on an official mission, it represented an early attempt to bring beer beyond Earth.
  • 1970 – Beer Can Collectors of America (BCCA) was founded in St. Louis.
  • 1975 – Falls City Brewing Company of Louisville, KY introduces the Stay Tab removing the pull tab’s environmental impact.
  • 1978 – President Jimmy Carter signed a bill that created an exemption from taxation of beer brewed at home for personal or family use, opening the door for today’s craft beer brewers.
  • 2002 – Dale’s Pale Ale was the first beer to be hand-canned.
  • 2018 – the United States beer industry sold over 2.8 billion cases of beer.  That’s more than 67 billion 12-ounce cans of beer!
  • 2019 – The state of Florida produced enough beer in 2019 to sell 2.3 gallons (or roughly 24.5 cans) of beer to every resident of legal drinking age.
  • At any given time, 0.7% of the world is drunk. So 50 million people are drunk right now.
  • Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty beer glass.
  • Beer was not considered an alcoholic beverage in Russia until 2013.
  • At the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, the first prize is the wife’s weight in beer.
  • 162,719 pints of Guinness beer are wasted each year due to mustaches.
  • In France, Germany, Austria, Spain and the Netherlands, they serve beer in McDonald’s.
  • Beer cans in Japan have braille on them so blind people don’t confuse alcoholic drinks with soft drinks.
  • Beer cans chill down faster than bottles.
  • Beer cans are the most recycled packaging materials on earth.
  • Beer cans are preferred by most brewers because they help keep out two of beer’s worst enemies: light and oxygen.
  • Collectors highly value “flat top” cans from the 1930s and 1940s, which required a separate “church key” opener to puncture holes in the top.
  • In Japan, beer cans are celebrated through annual art exhibitions where artists showcase intricate designs on empty cans, highlighting Japan’s dedication to packaging aesthetics.
  • Germany hosts “bierkultur” events, where brewers and fans discuss how packaging, including cans, influences taste and consumer perception.
  • In Australia, “tinnie runs” are popular, where friends take boats loaded with canned beer on adventures along rivers and coastlines.
  • Ron Werner of Colorado holds the Guinness World Record for the largest beer can collection, boasting over 75,000 cans.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Team Cone

Faith Based Events

Days of the Year

National Today


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