Observed annually on January 24th, National Beer Can Appreciation Day is a holiday on which people can appreciate the history and design of beer cans. Although most people don’t give beer cans much thought, these metal containers have been a part of beer culture for over 86 years. It’s a container that’s easy to hold in the hand, easy to store in the fridge, and a reflection of the era in which they’re produced. Those are all good reasons why beer fans might want to set aside at least part of this day to honor the humble aluminum beer can.

The History of the Beer Can

Right before the end of Prohibition, the American Can Company invented a remarkable product: a container made out of metal that could keep beer fresh and make it easier to handle and store. It was a remarkable product, but most breweries were unwilling to take a chance on it. That is, not until the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey did. In November of 1933, they decided to sign a purchase order with the American Can Company.

Gottfried Krueger received 2,000 cans and immediately began filling them with beer. The brewer then passed out the 2,000 cans of beer to faithful customers of their brand. The feedback they received was almost entirely positive, and they decided to make canned beer a permanent part of their line. By January 24, 1935, they had begun full-time production of canned beer. The first type of beer can used between 1935 and 1970 was the steel flat-top can. It was first marketed by Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company, and then it was used by Pabst. Other types of beer cans that have been used over the years include cone-top cans, pull-tab cans, and stay-tab cans.

Unfortunately, for our purposes here, there is no written history that we could find that would tell us when National Beer Can Appreciation Day itself was created. No one knows who invented this holiday or when they invented it. Of course, as is always the case when we can’t uncover the history of a holiday, we’ll continue to investigate it.

Observing National Beer Can Appreciation Day

How do you celebrate National Beer Can Appreciation Day? Well, there are several different things that you can do to honor and appreciate the humble beer can. The first thing that can be done is to take the time to purchase some canned beer of your preferred variety—if you’re of legal drinking age, of course. Another thing that you can do is to go online and look at some of the most iconic beer cans of all time. And trust us, there are a ton of them to look at and appreciate. The last thing that you can do is to use the hashtag #NationalBeerCanAppreciationDay to talk about beer cans online with friends and family.