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Beer Awards 2013 Winners Announced

With a shortlist that included some of the industry leaders and a couple of newcomers, the judges finally made the decision of who to win the prestigious awards.

The winners are as follows:

Product innovation of the year

Winner: Volkan

Volkan is a premium product that supports a rich agricultural heritage that goes back millennia. Their goal was to support local and think global, taking the flavours of famous Santorini and Naxos to the world. Volkan’s fine beers support local islands’ agricultural traditions. In recognition of the Greek and local brand and the value it brings to Volkan, Volkan and its owner have donated 1.3million euros in bonds of national debt to Greece Debt Free.

Judges’ Comments: The idea to support the local supplier is brilliant and should work well to raise the Greek spirit and encourage the local producers. Santorini is a magic island and the products with the spirit of Volcano could be a good trigger for the consumers.

Pack design of the year

Winner: Badger Ales

Building on the brand’s unique and ownable ‘Countryside’ positioning, BrandOpus refreshed the Badger identity to emphasise the rural roots of the brand. The brand identity now features a badger leaping, sending leaves flying, with the brand name itself integrated within the shape of the animal’s body. BrandOpus positioned the brand identity within a countryside inspired framework, creating clear and consistent brand architecture, whilst the central space allows the flexibility to demonstrate quirky traits of each of the ales within the range. The core range is represented by a series of illustrated animals, designed to reflect the characters of the ales, whilst the higher ABV ‘ales to savour’, are brought together by depictions of countryside pursuits in deep jewel colours.

Judges’ Comments: Badger Ales offers here in fact even more than an excellent packaging design. It provides your consumer with a fantastic experience, therefore it was a clear winner in this category.

Ad/campaign of the year

Winner: Carlton Draught Beer Chase

Ad agency Clemenger BBDO decided that the excesses and predictability of Hollywood was going to be the target for this ad, in particular to poke fun at the over the top clichéd car chase scenes that serve up slightly different cars in essentially the same scenes over and over. It was time to let blokes behind the facade and revel in the absurdity of it all.

Judges’ Comments: Carlton Draught Beer Chase used an innovative Beer Chase campaign. With 2,419,012 views in first week and the biggest viral Australian beer launch in history is impressive.

Strong presence online across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, as well as increased brand awareness is indicative of a successful campaign.

As far as we are judging the ad campaign the campaign was established perfectly. Without spending a single dollar on media, it received 2,419,012 views in the first week, making it the biggest viral Australian beer launch in history.

Best environmental sustainability initative of the year

Winner: Heineken

The DAVID XL Green stores and chills the kegs directly below the tap so the beer does not have to travel far to the tap. This ensures that every beer is served at the correct temperature and together with the green cooling technology this results in a 50% lower energy consumption. Each keg is also supplied with a beer line from keg to the tap. This avoids potential infections that may occur with a conventional line if not cleaned properly. Together the improvements result in much longer shelf of 30 days for David 20 litre kegs compared with just three days for conventional draught systems. This ensuring that consumer always experienced fresh tasting draught beer. Outlet owners benefit from an easy to use system, no beer losses, no cleaning costs, low maintenance and significantly lower energy costs reducing 50-% compared to even the newest green draught systems available.

Label of the year

Winner: Cerveceria Sagrada

Cervecercia Sagrada is an homage to the legends that have written their names in the history of the Mexican lucha libre, three craft beer styles with flavours that commemorate the mysticism and lively colours of the most unique tradition in the world.

Judges’ Comments: Simple but incredibly effective. The label design makes this beer attractive. It is subtle but unmistakable to anyone familiar with Mexican Lucha Libre culture.

Each beer has a name steeped in character. Simple but prominent use of colour is effective and bottle top detail is another nice touch. Strong interest from across the globe is encouraging.

Packaging innovation of the year

Winner: Manter Craft Beer Label Collection

Among Manter’s different collections is the innovative and exclusive "The Craft Beer Label Collection." A visual-book which includes the widest range of specialty papers "Ultra Wet Strength" for beer labels. Special self-adhesive papers resistant to moisture, condensation and ice-water immersion, designed to withstand the most extreme wet conditions.

Judges’ Comments: Cutting edge, innovation on display that enables the industry to move forward.

To find out more about the Beer Awards, visit http://www.arena-international.com/beerawards/