beer bottles

Beer Bottle Size, Color and Lables

Beer is a malt liquor most associated with united states in North America. 12 oz long neck beer bottle diamensions, 12 oz stubby beer bottles  are popular packaging. The core market for malt liquor brewers in the united states has been the Black and Hispanic populations. Now there are many type of beer made by craft brewers. Glass beer bottles are listed.

beer bottle sizes

Beer bottle size

Bottles are still the dominant form of beer containers sold in retail outlets, occupying the top two slots of IRI Worldwide beer sales data. There are all sorts of thoughts about green, clear and brown bottles, with brown being the winner in most hearts and minds. Like cans, they come in a huge array of sizes, but these are the most common.

Here is everything you need to know about the most popular sizes of glass beer bottles. Bottle caps are sold sepatately. Glass beer bottles with crown caps for sale.

A collection of beer bottles

Nip / Pony / Grenade (7 oz)

The word “nip” harkens back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when “nipperkin” was abbreviated to “nip,” meaning a small measure of spirits, usually a half-pint or less. Popularized by brands like Rolling Rock, Miller High Life, and Coronita, you can still find this cute little vessel today, often served in a bucket of ice.

traditional 12 oz.
12 oz beer can is traditional size most label dimensions are designed for 12 oz long neck beer bottle. Traditional 12 oz are the standard container for macro beers, mostly in 6-, 12- and 24-packs. The bottles also vary a bit on design, 12oz stubby beer bottles and 12 oz long neck beer bottle dimensions are best selling.

Stubby / Steinie (12 oz)

Short, stout, and, well, stubby, this bottle (also called a “steinie,” à la “beer stein”) is similar to a standard 355ml bottle with a slightly smaller neck. Coors Banquet revive its 1936-vintage stubby bottle in 2013; Budweiser released a limited-edition amber lager, Budweiser 1933 Repeal Reserve, in 2017; and Miller Lite brought back to its 1975 steinie in 2015.

Longneck beer bottles

Also known as the Industry Standard Bottle (ISB) or North American longneck, this is the typical beer bottle size you find in any grocery store, often sold in 6-, 12-, and 24-packs.

Belgian (375 ml or 12.7 oz)

Though not necessarily limited to Belgian beer, this bottle size is typically the container of choice for lambic and gueuze-style beers. The size can vary, with many Belgian beers packaged in 330-ml (11.2-oz) bottles.

British (500 ml or 16.9 oz)

This is the standard beer bottle size in the U.K., though 330-ml and 275-ml bottles are also used there.

Bomber / Large Format (650 ml or 22 oz / 750 ml or 25.4 oz)

The 22-oz “bomber” and 750-ml large format bottle are often used by brewers for special limited-release beers and barrel-aged beers (imperial stouts, wild ales, etc.). Bombers are dressed up by being dipped in wax, while 750-ml large format bottles are corked and caged like Champagne.

Long staples of the craft beer community, “bombers” are beginning to see a drop in popularity in favor of 4-packs of 16-oz cans for limited-release beers. Offered singularly, a 22-ounce bottle offers consumers the ability to try to more beer and share with friends as they embrace the experiential qualities of beer culture. Bombers were the standard-bearers for limited-release offerings from the finest breweries for a long time; however, pint cans have quickly overtaken them due to the rise of New England IPAs, which are almost always found in pint cans, as well as the fact that cans are much more transportable. Bomber tops can also be dipped in wax to add to the exclusivity.

Darwin Stubby

A Darwin Stubby refers to several large beer bottle sizes in Australia. It was first introduced in April 1958 with an 80-imperial-fluid-ounce (2,270 ml; 76.9 U.S. fl oz) capacity.

750 mL
Another large-format bottle, this one is most commonly found as a “standard” wine bottle size. Brewers often turn to this size (and similar mL sizes) to showcase specialty beers, especially wild and sour beer categories. A 750-mL bottle contains a little more than a pint and a half of liquid, or 25.28 ounces, while a similar-sized 765 mL bottle contains almost 25.87 ounces. Refined beers found in this container are often caged and corked, adding to the overall elegance of the graceful shape of this bottle.

Caguama / Ballena (940 ml or 32 oz)

Mexican beer brands like Tecate, Sol, and Pacifico can be found in caguama or ballena bottles.

64 oz
growler is a great way for a drinker to experience beer from breweries − and other venues − with beers only available on draft. Most often a familiar glass jug with a small finger handle by the mouth of the container, growlers can also be stainless steel or ceramic. The containers can also be a variety of sizes, including 32 ounces.

Crowler
A canned growler, the crowler is a rather new addition to the craft beer container world, and it has skyrocketed in popularity as it its single usage keeps beer fresher than the resealable growler. Crowlers are sealed in-house, often behind the bar at the taproom, and come in 32-ounce variants (though smaller versions are apparently being worked on). As has been stated, cans have risen in popularity due to their apparent ability to keep beers fresher for longer.

Color me beautiful

Color communicates product and brand positioning, while playing a role in the protection of your brew. The color of a glass bottle is literally molded into the container, giving it a depth as a natural characteristic of the material as a substrate. Color can be heightened by shape, embossing and the varying thickness of the glass. Most importantly, glass bottles pair color with translucence, which helps to showcase and enhance the natural visual properties of beer. There are three basic colors of glass available to you.

Amber beer bottles                                                       

The oldest and most widely used color for beer bottles is amber. Most stock bottles are available in this color. Amber is perhaps the most identifiable color for beer bottles. It announces to the consumer that the bottle is filled with (or should be filled with) beer.

Amber glass provides excellent protection from ultraviolet radiation, blocking all wavelengths shorter than 450 mm. This protection safeguards the quality of your brand by ensuring the taste of your brew remains untouched, undisturbed and unaltered.

While amber is the most distinctive and historical beer bottle color, standing out on the shelf is becoming more vital in the sea of craft beers. Those seeking a more visually disruptive color should consider using flint or green glass bottles.

Flint beer bottles

Flint is another commonly used color for beer bottles. The transparency of this color showcases the actual color of your beer. It highlights the visual aesthetic of your brew in all its glory. Due to its lucidity, beers bottled in flint glass should not require strict ultraviolet light protection. UV stable ciders and flavored malt beverages are often bottled in flint glass.

Green beer bottles

To become even more visually disruptive, consider using green glass. It conveys a slightly nostalgic, historic character and complements older styled brews and brands. Green glass provides slightly more ultraviolet protection than flint glass but not as much as amber.

Other color considerations

Color is a fabulous substrate for ACL (Applied Ceramic Labels), PSL (Pressure Sensitive Labels) and special shaped or windowed die cut labels looking to use the bottle’s natural color as a background. As important as color is to your brand, do not sacrifice protection if the selected glass color does not provide the UV protection your brew needs. After shape, color is the next characteristic to which the eye is drawn. The color of the bottle and the beer, and how they work together, will have an impact on how consumers see and experience your brand.

Labels and decorations

The artwork on your bottle is the narrator of your brand’s great story. It frames your brand/brewery’s name and informs the consumer as to what kind of beer they are drinking. It also meets the legal obligation for government information, including alcohol warning and capacity.

Labels

The bottle comes to the aid in this labeling process. It provides a specific location for label placement. The bottle also protects the label during the application process, handling, shipping and consumption of the product. There are two main label placement areas on a bottle: the main body and the neck.

Traditional paper labels are the most commonly used. They are easy to apply and available at economical pricing. Paper labels offer plenty of space for branding and additional information. These labels do fully cover the space they are placed on, not allowing the consumer to see the brew through the label. Label shapes can vary, providing additional opportunity to uniquely brand the bottle.

For additional flexibility, look at pressure-sensitive label (PSL) printing. PSL printing requires less setup time and less initial expense than traditional paper printing, allowing you to start at a much lower minimum order quantity. It also offers a variety of options in size and shape as well laminates and varnishes. PSL printing allows you to use clear film to create see-through labels or unique shapes that seem to float on the bottle. PSLs also hold up well in wet environments like an ice bucket.

Screen printing

Applied ceramic label (ACL) – or screen printing – is a more premium option. Each color is applied to the bottle individually through a robust screen printing process. There does not need to be a background color if it is not a desired part of the design, as every element is essentially a cut out.

Direct to glass digital printing

For extreme flexibility and unique brand-building opportunities, direct-to-glass digital printing offers interesting opportunities: multiple designs, flexible volumes, full Pantone color spectrum, photo quality printing – with a faster time to market.

Customization

Beer bottles are sold in one of three categories: stock, semi-custom or custom. Each category has advantages, and they are often strategically used together as a packaging solution that evolves with needs of the brewery.

Stock 

Stock (also known as “standard”) bottles are the most convenient to specify and use. These fast-from-stock options can often be ordered in volume sizes of a pallet at a time. Stock bottles can be ordered directly from various manufacturers or distributors, who break volumes down to even smaller sizes. Stock bottles are available in a wide variety of styles and capacity sizes. However, your ability to differentiate the bottle through glass characteristics themselves will be limited with stock bottles.

Semi-custom 

Semi-custom bottles were developed specifically to overcome this limitation. This category begins as a stock option and then adds brand iconography to the bottle profile with in-molded glass decoration.

Typically applied on the bottle’s shoulder, virtually any signature element can be embossed on the bottle; type, logos or texture or slogans are added by leveraging the advantages of glass packaging mold production.

Many breweries who begin with a stock bottle can easily move over to a semi-custom bottle because the critical bottle dimensions remain the same. Semi-custom bottles are a fast way for brands to create unique elements in their bottle profile.

The recently launched O-I : expressions relife has just made the access to semi-custom bottles easier and faster, while broadening the possibilities of customization that can be achieved through digitally printed, transparent or colored texture and embossing.

Custom beer bottles

Some of the most exciting bottles on the retail shelf are those that break with the conventions of a stock or semi-custom bottle profile. Full custom bottles have the advantage of creating an optimized bottle shape that is immediately recognizable. These custom shapes can further be made identifiable with in-molded brand names, iconography and textures.

Many brewers choose to work with a design agency or directly with the beer bottle manufacturers design team to create a bottle that is entirely custom to their brand. These one-of-a-kind bottles can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and capacities and open the door to endless options for decoration, embossment and label panels. The tradeoffs to custom bottles are private mold costs, longer speed to market and bottle production scheduling and availability. Yet, custom bottles provide the greatest opportunity to create an iconic package with high brand equity.

Picking the correct bottle for your beer requires careful consideration of several packaging design elements. You must successfully choose how you will bring together various packaging components from size and shape to color and decoration to create a successful and compelling brand presence. You need the right product and packaging with the right positioning and the right market timing to be successful, and glass packaging offers a number of advantages to help you achieve success.