Lavaca, Arkansas: Giant Beer Can - As Seen on TV

After the original owner died, his daughters ran the beer distributor business. They met artist Troy Freeman of Freesky Studios when he was painting a logo on their barn for Certified Angus Beef. Since the original paint on the silo required frequent touching up, they hired Troy in 2018 to redo the silo with a more durable paint. Troy obtained a beer can from the 1974-78 era, completely sandblasted the silo, and recreated the original to exact scale and specs.

By a cruel twist of fate, the giant beer can is in a dry county! (The nearby city of Fort Smith is excepted from the rules.)

The owners of the ranch also raise Angus bulls, and visitors to the big beer should stop by the grave markers honoring the reproductive prowess of their most prized cattle (They're just off Highway 22, on the right side of the ranch's driveway). Of Harrison, we learn that he was, "Sold at auction for $250,000. Brisk semen sales paid the buyer back very quickly." And a piece of wisdom about The Mighty Stockman: "Consistency is the truest measure of performance."

A beautiful display of American innovation! This giant Bud can/glorified silo is a sight for the weary traveler!

I am Ronnie Earl Harris Jr, the son of the man who painted the grain silo. I helped Daddy paint it in 1975 or '76. His name was Earl Harris Sr. He passed away in 1999.

That's a lot of beer! According to the label, the Giant Beer Can of Lavaca holds 8,734,902 fluid ounces of brew. That is enough beer to fill 8 swimming pools!

But for beer lovers who think more practically, a little calculation can indicate just how big the Lavaca Bud "Can" is supposed to be. If 6 beer drinkers each consumed a 6 pack of 12 ounce cans every single day for the next 50 years, they would still have 872,502 fluid ounces of the ale left. Certainly enough extra refreshment to keep Bud, Weis, and Er croaking in bliss for the rest of their lives (Or a simpler image: 76,000 Razorback fans sitting in a packed Razorback stadium each holding a 115 ounce paper cup.).

If you do stop to take photos, be sure you get a close up of the "contents" above the "B" in Budweiser. I did not even realize this fascinating detail was there until after we got home and I looked at the photos.