A canned beer anniversary

It was 80 years ago today that beer in a can first went on sale - January 24, 1935 and Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale went the shelves in Richmond, VA USA

The first Krueger can as shown in The Brewer's News. This can surfaced briefly in 1985, but its whereabouts remain unknown.

The Brewery Collectibles Club of America records that the beer can really made its debut some 14 months earlier - just before the repeal of Prohibition. American Can Company had engineered a workable beer can.

All that was needed was a brewer willing to take the pioneering plunge. The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, NJ signed on the dotted line in November 1933.By the end of that month, American had installed a temporary canning line and delivered 2,000 Krueger's Special Beer cans, which were promptly filled with 3.2% Krueger beer - the highest alcohol content allowed at the time. Krueger's Special Beer thus became the world's first beer can.The 2,000 cans of beer were given to faithful Krueger drinkers; 91% gave it thumbs up, and 85% said it tasted more like draft than bottled beer. Reassured by this successful test, Krueger gave canning the green light, and history was made.A photo of two Krueger Special cans appeared in the December 28, 1933 issue of Brewer's News, but no current example has been positively verified to exist.