While more people are likely to drink from beer cans than collect them, breweriana has its passionate admirers, whose interest will be piqued by a sale coming up next month at Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pa. It’s the remarkable collection, 4,000 items strong, of Adolf Grenke, who began assembling it more than 40 years ago. It includes some 500 vintage beer cans, as well as 400 beer taps and a selection of advertising signs, artwork, and promotional pieces. One of Grenke’s favorites, a rare Apache Export beer can from Arizona featuring Native American imagery, is expected to sell for $24,000-$35,000.Rarity, appealing graphics, and superior condition were the guidelines Grenke used as a collector. Some of the cans reflecting these filters at the September 21-22 sale are the only known example of a Gibbons Bock low-profile cone-top can (est. $30,000-$50,000), the only known example of an olive drab Peter Hand Meister Brau (est. $12,000-$18,000), and an example of a National Bohemian (est. $20,000-$45,000). Other rarities include 19th and early 20th century signs, like a gold-framed 1886 Bock Beer Maid lithograph (est. $15,000-$20,000), and possibly the only surviving example of an Anheuser-Busch Bock Beer elves and ram lithograph (est. $25,000-$45,000).
