About World’s Largest Six Pack
La Crosse took six ordinary brewery storage tanks and turned them into one of the largest packages of beer anyone could possibly fail to fit in a refrigerator.
The tanks were installed in 1969 at the G. Heileman Brewing Company complex. Each rises about 54 feet, and together they can hold thousands of barrels of beer. Painting the cylinders to resemble giant cans transformed useful industrial equipment into a roadside landmark known as the World’s Largest Six Pack.
The graphics have changed as brewery ownership and brands changed. Today the tanks are associated with City Brewing and La Crosse Lager, continuing the basic visual gag even as the packaging design evolves.
The best giant roadside objects usually begin with something familiar and enlarge it until the scale becomes ridiculous. La Crosse found an even more efficient solution. The city already had enormous cylindrical tanks, so all that remained was making them look like the cans they were eventually helping fill.