Cheap and Easy Bottle Cap Labels

jackson_d · 06-25-2009, 04:58 AM

Fellow Homebrewers...

I have not made to move to kegging due to finances. I would love to put nice graphic designs on bottle labels, but I re use most of my bottles and I HATE peeling lables. I was looking for a solution to my problem of labeling bottles but not having to peel them... Bottle Cap stickers? Yuh huh. Tried a few different options and styles and landed on this convienent little option. Pictures to follow...

A typical bottle cap is about 1" in diameter. So we want a sticker a little smaller to account for labeling while you are drunk and having some wiggle room beyond dead center. 3/4" will work best. Go to Staples. Item # 166132, 3/4" Print&Write Multiuse Labels. The package says they are removeable but this does not concern us. 1008 labels per package, they come in sheets of 4 lables across by 6 lables down. This allows you to mess up your first few printings and overprint due to 5.5 or 6.7 gal batches or any uneven number of bottles that your custom batch created without being upset that you printed more than you bottled... i.e they are cheap so chill out!

Here is one confusing thing. The outside of the package you will find hanging on the rack at the store will say 'item# 166132' when you open the package, the individual sheets will say 'item # 13932' in the top right. I have no idea why or how that works, but I would suggest you purchase based on the item number listed on the outside of the package...

when you find the sheets, use this link to get to the Template that will set up Microsoft Word to print appropriately on the stickers you just bought. I had a friend who is good with graphic design make very minor adjustments to my margins, but I'm sure with a little tinkering, you can figure it out for yourself...

Free AveryÂ® Template for Microsoft Word, Round Label 5461

Enjoy! Now you can label your bottle caps without labeling the bottle and having to peel the labels everytime you want to re use the bottle...

flylock_jac · 06-25-2009, 05:20 AM

I've been using the 3/4 round stickers since my printer crapped out. They work great and are cheap . I just write mine with a pen and stick em on.

dilligas2u · 06-25-2009, 10:16 AM

I also use the round labels. If I remember right I got them from onlinelabels.com

zzees · 06-26-2009, 01:13 AM

good find thanks.

**rico567** · 07-23-2009, 01:40 AM

Good resource- thanks. The template for Word is the important part. Labels are available on Amazon cheap with free shipping. I've just been writing on the caps with a Sharpie up to this point, this'll be much better.

kanielb1 · 07-23-2009, 03:49 PM

Whenever I make labels for my bottles, I print them on regular, white printer paper. I cut them out and use a glue stick to glue the labels to the bottle. Works like a champ, its cheap, and it super easy to remove the label.

**Hang Glider** · 07-23-2009, 05:36 PM

+1 on the Glue Stick - soaks right off in the sink - stays on in the fridge.
a light spray of krylon and the inkjet won't run...

I DO have an old Coke machine, and I like the OPs labels for the bottles I can only see the top of...

Schnitzengiggle · 07-23-2009, 06:27 PM

That's a great find!

Good lookin out, thanks!

**nutty_gnome** · 07-23-2009, 07:26 PM

I've been doing this for a few months with the Staples round labels. I had been using a Sanford paint pen to mark each bottle, but it took a strong ammonia solution to get rid of the paint marks prior to reuse... so I switched to this instead.

I like this method a lot and can label two cases in recycled commercial beer boxes in under 5 mins. Also, now I just look at the caps when I pull beer up from the basement to toss in the kitchen fridge. The same benefit occurs when you put the bottles in a cooler under ice; I dont have to pull a bottle to read a label. When wet, the stickers I use lose some opacity, but the ink from my laser printer holds up really well over the course of a day in the ice chest. Haven't had a problem yet.

**JVD_X** · 07-23-2009, 11:08 PM

That's a great idea... my issue is you can't put bottles on ice for parties... labels fall right off once they get wet.

I just use a paint pen on the cap.