Canned beer makes its debut on this day in 1935. In partnership
with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing
Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and
Krueger's Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond,
Virginia. Ninety-one percent of the drinkers approved of the
canned beer, driving Krueger to give the green light to further
production. By the late 19th century, cans were instrumental in
the mass distribution of foodstuffs, but it wasn't until 1909
that the American Can Company made its first attempt to can
beer. This was unsuccessful, and the American Can Company would
have to wait for the end of Prohibition in the United States
before it tried again. Finally in 1933, after two years of
research, American Can developed a can that was pressurized and
had a special coating to prevent the fizzy beer from chemically
reacting with the tin. For nearly 70 years, canned beer in
America remained the province of the macro-breweries. Then in
2002 Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons,