E-Malt.com News article: USA: Pittsburgh Brewing Company to Honor Hometown Hero

With football great Dan Marino's pending induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this August, Pittsburgh Brewing Company (PBC) is preparing to launch its Iron City Premier Lager in a sleek, aluminum bottle, featuring Marino's image, to commemorate the event, Business Wire communicated on July 27. The bottle, produced by CCL Container, will be available in Western Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

Pittsburgh born and bred, the former Miami Dolphin quarterback ranked among the NFL's all-time top ranked passers. Joe Piccirilli, Vice Chairman at PBC, comments, "Dan has never forgotten his roots. He's done so much for charities. We wanted to honor his efforts."

Pittsburgh Brewing and CCL Container have a longstanding relationship as CCL developed and produced the distinctive Iron City aluminum bottles, making the brewer the first major beer distributor to use aluminum bottles. CCL's aluminum bottles are lightweight, shatterproof, re-sealable, and offer the quick chilling properties of aluminum, unparalleled UV light protection, and flavor preservation. They are also available in an unlimited variety of sleek shapes, sizes, finishes, and designs.

CCL's decorating capabilities allowed PBC to also be the first brewery in the nation to print images honoring local sports teams and players.

"In addition to high performance, aluminum has many more decorating and shaping options than glass," says Ed Martin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of CCL Container. "It's a great way to draw attention to a product line, drive consumption, and create memorable packages that drive the brand experience even more," says Martin.

CCL Container uses new high-speed, quick change-over production lines, part of a recent $100 million capital expansion program. In addition, proprietary prepress processes and new plate-making technologies allow CCL to create graphics of higher resolution than available on standard beverage cans.

CCL Container is North America's leading producer of recyclable aluminum bottles, aluminum aerosol containers, and other aluminum specialty packaging. The company has ISO 9002 Registered manufacturing facilities located in Hermitage, PA, Penetang, ONT and Mexico City, Mexico.


30 July, 2005