First Aluminum Beer Bottle

Big Sky Aluminum Bottle

How about a little historical aluminum bottle trivia?

What was the first aluminum beer bottle in the USA?

Nope – it wasn’t from Anheuser-Busch.  It was from Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, Montana.

Actually, Heineken has the distinction of launching the first aluminum beer bottle in the world.  Big Sky Brewing was second, launching its Moose Drool ale about a week after Heineken.

Moose Drool?  Talk about risky branding.

Big Sky launched its aluminum bottle in 1999.  They didn’t want to use cans because of the popular perception that beers in cans were inferior.  So they took the plunge and used an aluminum bottle.

According to this interesting article in Massachusetts Beverage World, the decision to go with an aluminum bottle paid off.  “Pittsburgh Brewing followed Big Sky in less than a year, putting the iconic but sagging Iron City into an Aluminum Bottle. For this big, aging brewery, losing its big, aging customer base, aluminum bottles represented more than just something outdoorsy and different. They were a lifeline. “It revitalized the brand,” said Tony Ferraro, VP of sales and marketing at Pittsburgh. “That bottle is the best POS there is.”

Aluminum Bottle for Chardonnay

It seems I overlooked this aluminum bottle for Elk & Wolf Chardonnay.

The bottle design itself – which was  created by SocialUK – is certainly bold.

Aluminum Wine Bottle: Elk & Wolf

First of all, they decided on an aluminum color finish.  They didn’t decorate it with bright colors which one might associate more readily with wine.  I’ve posted about some of the designs for aluminum bottles used for fruit juices, mixed drinks, beer, chocolate milk, etc.  All of them used lots of color.

The minimalist, monochromatic design of the Elk & Wolk aluminum bottle is certainly different.  I don’t normally associate the silvery finish of aluminum with wine.   In fact, the Elk & Wolf bottle looks a lot like some of our standard, undecorated aluminum bottles.

At least, they used a wine bottle shape.

Aluminum Perfume Bottles – Keep ‘Em Cold

I came across another article that espouses keeping perfumes and other expensive scents in aluminum bottles and in the refrigerator.

Fragonard Aluminum Bottle Gold

This article from Healthmad.com suggests the following:

• keep the perfumes in their original boxes or
• store them in aluminum bottles and
• store the aluminum bottles in the refrigerator at between 37-45 degrees Fahrenheit
• use aluminum bottles of the same capacity as the original packaging so that there is little space between the liquid and the lid
• use a spray head to minimize contact with the outside air

Aluminum Spray Head

For the spray head, something like our white spray pump would do very well.  Just get one of our cosmetic aluminum bottles, transfer the perfume, attach the spray head, and then stick the bottle in the fridge.

It won’t look as pretty as a custom designed aluminum perfume bottle such as the gorgeous gold bottle we developed for Fragonard.

Then again, if you’re paying big bucks for your scents, you might as well make sure they last.  Using an aluminum bottle seems a very small price to pay.