'I actually fit, because I got in here,' said Mr Bramanti of South Chicago Heights, Illinois.

Mr Bramanti ordered the casket from Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home in Chicago Heights, and Scott Sign of Chicago Heights designed the outside to look like a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer label in the company's signature colors of red, white and blue.

The 67-year-old does not plan on needing the coffin anytime soon, though.

So on Saturday he threw a party for friends and filled his coffin with ice and his favorite brew.

'Why put such a great novelty piece up on a shelf in storage when you could use it only the way Bill Bramanti would use it?' said Mr Bramanti's daughter, Cathy Bramanti, 42. -- AP