A fiber carrier for ringing beverage containers has upstanding walls to engage a flange or chime on a beverage container. The walls extend circumferentially around container engaging apertures in the carrier. The carrier may have concentric strengthening members, such as scores or corrugations surrounding the container engaging apertures. The carriers may be installed on arrays of beverage containers by automated or manually driven ringing machines. These machines index the carriers to locations which correspond to the location of an array of containers received in the machines. The machines have mechanisms to utilize preformed webs of joined carriers. The ringing machines position the carriers over an array of containers and force the carriers into ringing engagement with the arry. The fiber carrier may be compatible with modern disposal methods including incineration and biodegradation.