Bill Bramanti, who hails from Glenwood Village, Illinois, loves Pabst Blue Ribbon beer so much that he has had a custom-built coffin made to resemble a giant can of this favourite brew.

After suffering 5 cardiac scares in 15 years, Mr Bramanti was thinking seriously about his own mortality. The idea for his customised coffin came to him when he and his daughter Cathy went window shopping at the local Panozzo Brothers Funeral Home. He selected a silver casket and then paid the Scott Sign Company in Chicago Heights to paint it blue and red just like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Casket cooler

Luckily for Mr Brabanti, doctors say that he is no danger of having to use his unique coffin for quite some time. However, having paying almost $2,000, he has decided to get value for money from the casket by using it as a giant beer cooler. Brabanti estimates the coffin can hold 150 pounds of ice and 15 cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Mr Bramanti recently revealed the unusual coffin to his family and friends during a mock-wake at his house. The slightly-macabre event featured guests drinking cans of, what else, Pabst Blue Ribbon from the ice-filled casket.