Reading Beer Can Labels

I don’t care much about the art, but can dates, some info on ingredients is very helpful.

 

You want to know what you’re buying? Boy, you’re picky!

 

You mean, like these?

I can't. But then, for me, junior high school was a long time ago.

Huh? So, you can vote both "YES" and "NO"?

 

There was a time in the early 80s I was on a mission to see how low could I go, and still enjoy the beers. Just married, money was tight, and I was regularly buying Reading and or Gibbons in those hard flip top cases 16 Oz returnables, $4 a case or so if I remember right. I survived ok, no frills, but if they were any better or worse than Miler or Bud it was lost on me. Funny we all made fun of Iron City, but in reality it’s about the same quality that we were drinking.

 

If the art isn't in a frame to be hung on my living room wall I don't care about it. I hardly look at any can except to find the name and details about the beer, which sometimes aren't even there and I waste a minute before I realize that I'm wasting my time. Why put art on the backside if you can see only half the can at one time, anyway? Who's going to slice the can open and flatten it to properly appreciate the art like the artist probably intended? The entire back side should be reserved for information.

 

I bought a beer a bit ago because it was a fresh IPA from a brewer I like. There was almost no info but DDH IPA. Turns out it was a mosaic rye ipa. How the F do you not put that on your can???? Makes me wonder how many other beers that I would be interested in buying do I miss due to lack of communication on product. Seems crazy to me or do breweries just expect they will sell anything the put out there?

Enjoy

 

What, you drank that @#$%! Nah, I went for the good stuff:


Same brewers (C. Schmidt & Sons and The Lion), same bottles (in different returnable shells) likely the same price, too. Sadly, once Bergheim became a Schmidt's of Phila. product (1976) it was apparently no longer brewed "With pure mountain spring water from the Penna. Dutch country" like the Old Reading brewery labels said even though the water fall was still right there on the label!

$4 sounds cheap though I can't remember early 80s pricing (esp. after post late-70s inflation) but PA apparently had a law against distributors advertising price (or maybe it was an agreement among the distributors?) since it's very rare to find prices in ads during that period.

By the late 80s, ads in western PA showed cases of Returnable 16's (Schaefer & Piels, Genesee, Stoney's, Schmidt, Iron City) going for between a bit under $6 up to $7 and change.

Ever try that, tho'? It doesn't really work because aluminum cans are formed by a press from a thicker piece of aluminum, the "curve" of the can doesn't go away once the lid and base are cut off as a result. Of course, today for a lot of brands, art collectors can just peel off the aluminum or plastic "label" - no framing or nails to hang it from even necessary, just stick it on the wall!

 

I just love having to turn a can around every which way to get the details.

Sarcastic mode off.

Sometimes I have to use the less "attractive" side of a can when I upload pics so at least the beer's name or brewery is visible.

 

As someone who's designed packaging and labels for glasses and bottles, I can tell you the intention behind those designs keep the presentation in mind. Not like composing a painting on a board or canvas and just deciding to wrap it on a can.

Of course, I can't speak for other designers.

Plus, when I was putting together a few beer bottle labels, the ATF had very strict rules on size and placement of the info they required -- often encroaching on a well laid out design, to everyone's chagrin.

 

Give me info and keep the artsy-fartsy designs!

 

Jesskidden walks into liquor stores, spends about 20 seconds looking at beer (previously an unheard of amount of time), then heads to the door.

Beer guy notices him leaving. "Uh, are you looking for something in particular?"

"Yeah, my most powerful reading glasses. I hopin' I left 'em in the center console in the truck...If not, see ya tomorrow!"

 

Nothing like going into a shop with lots of coolers and having to reach in every other beer to try to figure out what you're looking at (or even how much it costs). Especially these days when you might want to handle the merchandise as little as possible.

Love good art and appreciate all that goes into making a label that's fun to stare at. However, it's counterproductive if you can't discern the relevant information. There are so many options... why not go with the one I can actually read.

I guess some places might figure you can just look up on your phone anyway.

 

beer is art (and science), and so is label design. My major gripe is totally illegible canning date printing on the underside

 

Red white and Blue was under $4, I believe Valley Forge was in the price range as well, Rolling Rock ponies were $3.50 but 7 oz bottles we bought in Trenton because it was cheaper. I’m not too far off on those prices though, but in 1975 I was making $1.10 an hour at WaWa, so all in proportion.

 

I don’t think the op is asking much. You can provide lots of info on a can/bottle AND have awesome and eye catching art. It’s not one or the other. In my perfect world, every bottle/can would include the style, abv, and packaged on date. That’d be great. I get that breweries are reluctant to put packaged on dates (as most of the shit we buy is probably old as hell) and that they are slightly reluctant to put a style. But I really don’t think it’s asking a lot to list the abv. Abv has a huge effect on whether or not I buy a beer. I can’t tell you how much of my time in bottle shops is actually spent looking up abv of potential purchases on beeradvocate on my phone.

 

I've come to accept that things that annoy me (like beer can art) are just a fact of life. They are generally targeted at a selected audience that does not include me. What I have to do is stayed informed when I shop and not just about the latest canned incarnation of a NEIPA.

It applies to bottles as well. As an example, look at the Westvleteren 12. To enjoy it you have to know what's in the bottle, because the containers' not going to help you.

I'll reserve my love of beer art for the six pack holders.

 

Less than the Federal minimum?
May 1, 1974 -$2.00
Jan. 1, 1975 - $2.10
(Email the DoJ and see if the statute of limitations has run out.
What - didn't everyone tell you to save those check stubs!)

But my comment on typical beer pricing was based on the period you mentioned here, not the mid-70s:

 

Yep that’s right, I’m thinking $2.10 hr plus the beer we put in the fridge and all we could eat.

 

Brewery logo, Beer Name, Style, abv, drink by/bottling date.
And maybe a little snippet about the properties of said beer.
That's all I need.
Naked ladies on the back would be o.k. too.