"Jet Near Beer" Can

zanes_antiques · Jun 4, 2008

I was atiquing on my way home from Meech's in Richmond Va. and picked up this cool Flat Top beer can at an antiques shop for $2. It's in fair condition and has great subject matter to go along with the fact that it's a "Near Beer". I believe that means it was low calorie and low alchol, two things that we're at the top of most peoples lists in the 50's. So I'm hoping the with all those factors it turns out to be a decent find. If anyone knows please feel free to pass along the info.

cc6pack · Jun 4, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-alcohol_beer

huffmnd · Jun 12, 2008

Nice flat top. I don't know about it being alcohol free I am not too sure that they even made alcohol free beer in the 50's and 60's. Regardless it looks like a keeper.

zanes_antiques · Jun 12, 2008

Thanks Huff

LC · Jun 12, 2008

It has always been my understanding that near beer was alcohol free, that was the idea, tasted like beer , but no alcohol content. I think you made a great find Zane, it has great graphics, and should be a pretty good one in turn for that reason. I have a book on beer cans somewhere, but it has no price listings in it at all. Just shows a lot of pics of beer cans .

bubbas dad · Jun 13, 2008

i don't know if this will help or not but when i was stationed in wyoming, the law was people under 21 could not buy regular beer. if you were between 18 and 20 you could only buy 3.2 beer. which had alot less alcohol in it. this was always refered to as near beer.

LC · Jun 13, 2008

It could be called that in certain states John. Here in Ohio Near Beer was a non alcholic drink, and 3.2% and 6% beer was is considered beer. I will never forget being sent to Fort Hood, Texas after being drafted into the Armed Forces. I could drink 3.2 beer here in Ohio at the age of 18, but out there I had to be twenty one years old to drink a beer. I was only twenty years old at the time. Talk about a slap in the face. I was deemed old enough to take up a gun and kill someone, but not old enough to drink a stinking beer. What a bummer that was !

zanes_antiques · Jun 13, 2008

Thanks Lou and John,

The main reason I bought it was the graphics. I think it's a pretty cool looking can.

LC · Jun 13, 2008

I believe that if Leon shows up and sees it , he should be able to shed some light on it, seems he knows quite a bit about those beer cans

virino · Jun 26, 2008

I can state with fair certainty that this stuff was 1.5% alcohol. Reason is that a friend has a full can of 'near beer' of similar vintage, and that's the stated alcohol content on that can.

I drank this stuff when I was a kid. It was sold alongside soft drinks (in those upright coolers with the cans and bottles submerged in water).

Brewed from 1958 to 1962, according to this:

http://www.taverntrove.com/breweries/1406.asp

That means I was between 8 years old and 12 years old when I bought it.

The brewery was in Chicago (the building is either demolished or condos now. That whole area was ratty industrial area and numerous breweries; it's all heavily gentrified now), and I grew up in Cicero. Yes, the Cicero of Al Capone fame.

All "non-alcoholic" beer is 0.5% now. I don't know if anyone brews 1.5% anymore, or 2.6%, which was not too unusual some decades ago.

"Jet Near Beer" Can

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