History of the Beverage Can

The beverage can was invented at the beginning of the 1930s in the USA. The Gottfried Krueger Brewery from Newark/New Jersey, launched "Krueger’s Beer“ in cans on the market on January 24, 1935.

The town of Richmond in Virginia was selected as the test market. The first cans were produced by the American Can Company. By the end of the first year in the beverage can's history, 200 million beer cans had been sold.

By 1936, the time was ripe for canned beer outside the USA. The Felinfoel Brewery from Wales was the first brewery outside the USA to sell its beer in cans. In 1937, 23 breweries in the United Kingdom were already supplying the market with 40 different brands of beer in cans.

In Germany, Schmalbach presented its first beer can in 1937:

a three-piece bottle can with a crown cork closure.

As the required production process was very complicated, this product was not, however, developed any further. But 14 years later the time had come:

"Modern Lifestyle – with Canned Beer“, was the advertising slogan for the first beer can in Germany which was launched on the market in 1951. Schmalbach-Lubeca presented the new container at the Interbrau trade fair. A large Frankfurt-based brewery, which in 1951 became the first German brewery to supply its export beer in the tinplate can, had originally decided to launch its beer in cans in order to supply the American forces stationed in Frankfurt. The Americans had already become very attached to this container. The first beer can produced by Schmalbach-Lubeca was therefore designed for an American filling volume of 12 oz or 0.35 litre. At was not until 1973 when the new "Weights and Measures Law" was adopted that the filling volume was changed to 0.33 litre.

It was, however, still necessary to use a device to open the flat, round can end. The tear-off end made of aluminium introduced in 1964 was a significant further development which  considerably increased consumer convenience.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the beer can comprised three sections: a soldered body, a bottom end and a top end. The first two-piece can came on to the market in 1974.  In 1951 the can still weighed  83 grammes but by 1974 this had been reduced to just 38 grammes – today, however, its weight is just 21 grammes.

But the innovation potential of the beverage can has by no means been exhausted: considerable research and development is still being carried out today to constantly enhance the can.