American beer in a red can?

December 29, 2006 12:46 PM

Calling all boozers! Are there any popular brands of beer in the U.S. that come in a red can?

To add some more funny to a funny piece of writing I'm editing, I need a brand of beer that comes in a red can.

I am a Brit living in Holland who prefers hard liquor and therefore can't think of anything except Budweiser and Red Stripe (the cans of which have too much white). I also seem to have misplaced my Google Mojo and 10 precious minutes of searching has been fruitless. Help!

The beer must be well known to the majority of Americans but does not have to be from the US. The can has to be almost entirely red (or a shade of red - orange might do too), like a coke can. Extra points if it is:

popular in the late 70's
popular in Boston.
available in a six pack.
cheap and nasty

posted by pootler to food & drink (25 comments total)

Maybe Tecate?
posted by dan g. at 12:54 PM on December 29, 2006

Yeah, Tecate is the first red can that leaps to mind.
posted by malocchio at 12:54 PM on December 29, 2006

Carling Black Label?
posted by cabingirl at 12:55 PM on December 29, 2006

I don't know about popularity, but tecate (link) has a whole lotta red on the can.

On preview, I'm third, but I got a link to the image ...
posted by devbrain at 12:57 PM on December 29, 2006

Old Frothingslosh came in a mostly red can if I recall correctly. It also had some green on it, which made very festive holiday decorations.
posted by ktrey at 12:59 PM on December 29, 2006

why is bud not red enough? that's closest and has the other qualifications you're looking for, and people associate it with red in their minds, if that helps. I wouldn't sa guys from Mass grew up drinking a lot of Schlitz or Pabst, for example.
posted by chickaboo at 12:59 PM on December 29, 2006

Zima Black Cherry. It's so completely the True American Beer.
posted by kcm at 1:03 PM on December 29, 2006

I thought that Old Milwaukee came in a red can, but a google image search shows primarily shows cans that are mostly white. I don't know what's going on on this page, but it is a red can.
posted by hooves at 1:06 PM on December 29, 2006

not as red as you might like vintage grain belt
posted by nola at 1:08 PM on December 29, 2006

yeah old milwaukee is a good example.
posted by nola at 1:09 PM on December 29, 2006

There's definitely a version of Old Milwaukee that comes in a red can, it comes in a six pack, is nasty as hell (referred to as the beast by friends of mine), is cheap, and oddly enough is no longer made in Milwaukee.
posted by drezdn at 1:13 PM on December 29, 2006

Could you be looking for Narragansett? It meets all your requirements... http://www.narragansettbeer.net/
posted by blaneyphoto at 1:13 PM on December 29, 2006

Schlitz had a red label but a white can and meets your other qualifications.
posted by drezdn at 1:14 PM on December 29, 2006

Black Label is definitely right up your alley. If you're too cheap to buy PBR, but can't bring yourself to buy Steel Reserve, Black Label does the trick- and the can/case are both bright red.

You can get it in a 6 pack, but when the cases cost $13, why bother?
posted by baphomet at 1:38 PM on December 29, 2006

Would these Bud cans work? They're special promotional labels, but they are pretty darn red. Three of them are from the 70's (IX: 1975, X: 1976, XIII: 1979).
posted by thinman at 2:08 PM on December 29, 2006

Late 70s? How about Billy Beer?

Sadly, not red enough.
posted by O9scar at 2:22 PM on December 29, 2006

You are all fabulous, as always, and bloody fast. Now I know how to get immediate answers on askmefi - just include the word 'beer' somewhere in the question.

Carling, Milwaukee and Tecate seem to be the most appropriate cans. I'll let the author of the piece decide which one to use since the piece is about him and he'll know better than me which one works.

Why can't the can have any white? It's part of a joke. Too complicated to explain and if I explained it wouldn't be funny any more but using the right can will create a great image.

BTW chikaboo, in the piece I'm working on, someone IS drinking pabst blue ribbon. That the author specifically mentioned it seemed to suggest that it's significant - now I know why. :-)
posted by pootler at 2:36 PM on December 29, 2006

Duff?
posted by glibhamdreck at 2:54 PM on December 29, 2006

There was the oddly named, and short lived Miller Beer known commonly as "Miller Red."
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:00 PM on December 29, 2006

photo of it here.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:04 PM on December 29, 2006

Schmidt beer cans are red, and in college we lovingly *cough* called it "deer beer" for reasons you will see from this link.
posted by telseth at 3:33 PM on December 29, 2006

Too complicated to explain and if I explained it wouldn't be funny any more but using the right can will create a great image.

Just don't expect the average reader to know what the can looks like. Most people can probably ID 4 or 5 beers.
posted by smackfu at 3:48 PM on December 29, 2006

Just don't expect the average reader to know what the can looks like. Most people can probably ID 4 or 5 beers.

Hmm.. which of the beers suggested would be most likely to be recognised then?
posted by pootler at 11:51 PM on December 29, 2006

The problem with Carling Black Label is that people not intimately familiar with the brand will picture a.... well, a black label. I'd say you've got two options. Either find an excuse to describe the can in loving detail earlier in the story, or use something like Miller Red where the word's right there in the name.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:13 AM on December 30, 2006

The author went with Miller. :-)

Thanks for all the ideas!
posted by pootler at 12:06 PM on January 8, 2007