Clear choice awards announced

The container is “Black Glass” in a shape somewhat reminiscent of a barrel. The Barrel Room Collection has an embossed cartouche in the shoulder and the Sam Adams signature debossed in the heel. Sealed with a champagne cork and wire bale, the container is decorated with screen printing and pressure sensitive labeling, color-coded to the brew within. The glossy black finish of the bottle is only achieved after exposing the glass to very high temperatures during the curing process.

Introduced in a limited release in October of 2009, the 750-mL bottles are available in Massachusets, Maine, New Hampshire, and Colorado and retail for about $10 each. Anchor Glass Container makes the bottles, and package design credits go to Kenneth Hirst at Hirst Pacific Ltd. Paper pressure-sensitive labels are supplied by WS Packaging. The “package decorator,” says GPI, is Quest Industries LLC.

To see the rest of the winners in this year’s Clear Choice Awards competition, go to www.gpi.org.