Worst salvage bottles?

For all you bottle salvagers out there, what are your most hated bottles? I think we can take as given screw tops, non-brown, etc. so what bottles should work for you but just don't?

I was just cleaning a salvaged case when I had a struggle with Bobo's Robust Porter from Big Sky. Looked like a freakin paper label like everything else, but it would not come off! Also, anything with foil on the neck! What do they do? Super glue that crap on?

Dos Equis labels are impossible to delabel. I soak everything in oxy clean and all the labels float to the top except those damn dos Equis bottles... I have found magic hat to be a pain as well.

I second that Beardtree, but for me even more so is the pint sized Genesee beer bottles. Tough to get the label off and just never seem clean to me -_-

I suggest a small nylon scraper, will take paper, foil, glue clear off. Often times I can get a label cleared off w/o soaking

I've got one of those scrapers and it works great for paper labels but it doesn't do crap for foil for me. I got a bunch of Optimator bottles that I just don't even want.

rogue bombers. back when i was in real need of bottles, i was able to use star-san to get the paint off of stone labels, but that didn't do anything against the rogue paint.

The glue they are using these days is my problem.

I can get the label off, but the damn glue is almost impossible.

Worst for me are Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA. Glue just wouldn't come off. Ended up recycling them.

I tried taking a label off of a Short's beer once and it was impossible. I don't even bother trying with their bottles anymore.

I hate dos equis labels, on the bright side, Sam Adams bottles are crazy easy.

profbaker11 said:

I hate dos equis labels, on the bright side, Sam Adams bottles are crazy easy.

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Man, what do you use? I have to keep them in hot, soapy water for forever and then they only partially come off. I have to use my steel wool scrubber to get the paper and glue completely off. Abita bottles on the other hand...those labels just float away.

To stay on topic, my most hated one was from the Ola Dub 16 I drank. The glue is still so sticky on that one that I can lay my palm on it and carry it around without closing my hand around the bottle.

TheKeg81 said:

Man, what do you use?

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Oxyclean!

TheKeg81 said:

Abita bottles on the other hand...those labels just float away.

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Sure, but Abita bottles suck. I've had a few break on me during capping because of the thin lip. I have some cleaned and de-labelled that I don't want if you want some free bottles.

I've soaked my latest batch twice in hot oxy but the glue remains. I have to break out the 91% alcohol to get the gorilla snot off.

I like em all.. It's REALLY hard to get that Corona label off....

discnjh said:

Oxyclean!



Sure, but Abita bottles suck. I've had a few break on me during capping because of the thin lip. I have some cleaned and de-labelled that I don't want if you want some free bottles.

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yup, Founders beers use the same style, love the beer but they are the only bottles I've ever had break during capping.

I keep a bucket full of water and one step next to my bar. After every beer, I fill it with hot water and drop it in the bucket. Every week or so I pull the bottles out, rip off the labels and give them their first wash/rinse in the dishwasher. Anyway, I have never had any luck with my method and Smuttynose bottles. I just don't understand why they need labels adhered to withstand a nuke! What a PITA!!

Negro modelo with the foil. Crispin cider bombers (I am on my 5th multiday hot oxy soak and the stickiness is still there. Cigar City, same thing. Peel off the sticker label and the glue is still there.

Oh, and early on I tried heineken when I was short on bottles. Sticker was a PITA to pull off, and that glue will outlast cockroaches.

SittingDuck said:

Oh, and early on I tried heineken when I was short on bottles. Sticker was a PITA to pull off, and that glue will outlast cockroaches.

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Probably the same thing as the Southern Tier bombers like Pumking, Choklat, Gemini, Creme Brulee, etc. I've found the best solution is to peel the sticker and then go to town with Goo-Gone gel and a sponge with a little bit of roughness to it. Rinse very well with water afterwards.

I did it to Amstel Light bottles before, but the difference is that Pumking is just one giant sticker whereas Amstel Light had 4 separate stickers. So annoying.

Shorts labels are welded on. I simply don't save them.

While picking up a shtton of bottles from around Founders after the CBS release, one of the workers mentioned that they switched to water-based adhesive to make them easier to remove and to be more enviro friendly.

If there is a very special bottle that I just HAVE to have, I will resort to Goo Gone if necessary.

In the case of painted-on labels, hydrochloric Acid solution or even a strong StarSan solution will very often remove the paint until only a mere hint remains if the sunlight catches it just so. I wonder if they use an acid paint to get it to stick to the glass so well.

I use goof off for the residual sticky left from labels like Cigar city. I use the spray on gel version, let it sit and wipe it off in 15 minutes. Works like a charm. Though I switched to using purely Bruery bottles, those labels peel off with no soaking and all the glue stays on the label (added bonus I stick them on my fridge and they stay no problem).

My roommate brought a couple dozen short Mexican bottles with tinfoil by the top that is near impossible to remove.. filling them is also a spill waiting to happen. (They're on the bottom of my bottling cabinet)

TheKeg81 said:

Man, what do you use? I have to keep them in hot, soapy water for forever and then they only partially come off. I have to use my steel wool scrubber to get the paper and glue completely off. Abita bottles on the other hand...those labels just float away.

To stay on topic, my most hated one was from the Ola Dub 16 I drank. The glue is still so sticky on that one that I can lay my palm on it and carry it around without closing my hand around the bottle.

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I just do a hot soapy bath with dish detergent, let them sit about 20 mins and then use a razor blade. Labels and glue both come right off.

+1 on Short's bottles. I too gave up on those. They go straight to bottle return.

On a side note, I work in a restaurant which just throws their bottles out at night. Unfortunately the beer selection isn't great. I've been saving Sam Adam's bottles, and now have about 8 cases +. Those are a snap to De-label. Just a soak in HOT water and the body and neck labels come off easily.

An awful lot of trouble and time inveted in removing labels here. I don't even bother. I just buy multiple colors of caps and use a sharpie to mark them. The only time I was a clean, label free bottle is for sending to competition. As a rule of thumb the old labels don't bother me in the least. It seems a waste of water, cleaners and time to remove them.

SittingDuck said:

Negro modelo with the foil.

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+1

And I love those bottles, too: they are the absolute perfect shape for home brew/bottle conditioned beer since the bulbous flare before the neck traps all the yeast and sediment during the pour and the general shape of the bottle means there's never any glug.

Different thought... Anchor Steam 12 oz

They are paper thin and the neck flair is so small it it's extraordinarily hard to get a crown on straight with a wing capper .... That is if you don't break it in the process!

sendkyleanemail said:

It seems a waste of water, cleaners and time to remove them.

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what waste? I clean all bottles, whether labeled or otherwise, in an oxyclean solution prior to bottling. So there's no extra time, water, or cleaner involved.

BeardtreeBrewing said:

Dos Equis labels are impossible to delabel. I soak everything in oxy clean and all the labels float to the top except those damn dos Equis bottles... I have found magic hat to be a pain as well.

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I don't have any problem with Dos Equis bottles, peel the foil, soak, touch up with scorchbrite if necessary and they are clean.

I like em all.. It's REALLY hard to get that Corona label off....

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They are actually pretty easy, just soak in acid, and the paint dissolves right off.

discnjh said:

Oxyclean!



Sure, but Abita bottles suck. I've had a few break on me during capping because of the thin lip. I have some cleaned and de-labelled that I don't want if you want some free bottles.

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I will get myself some oxyclean before my next label removal/bottle cleaning "party" then.

I saw you offer bottles, thought "Hrmm, shipping would probably kill me." Noticed that you were <20 mins away....Awesome!:rockin:

As far as the bottles breaking, this was my first time using them and I didn't have any break, but it was only a dozen or so of them of the 85-90 I bottled last weekend. So, yes, I might indeed take those off your hands! Going to need some in about 2 more weeks.

Finally got these damn things clean.

Paper labels
Soak in Oxy - once...take of top layer of label.
Soak in Oxy - twice...scrub off remaining paper.
Let bottles dry....scrape off top layer of glue with straight edge.
Use alcohol and green scrubby....then scrape off remaining glue with straight edge.

Got the bottles for free so in the end with labor I ended up paying for them..

Great Divide Brewery uses labels that look like porous paper but are in fact rather hearty and glued on with JB weld.
Negro Modelo bottles have too fat a ring on the rim so my caps wouldn't grip. Found that on out mid bottling session with not enough other bottles sanitized.
Many european beers have the lower ring too close to the rim so my wing capper hits the stops before the bell comes down far enough to do any good.

Another vote for Short's - the labels come off, but I don't know what kind of glue they use to adhere them.

here, sat in a barn for YEARS

Thems ghost bottles.

Amstel Light labels don't come off very easily, and Two Brothers also do not come off in oxiclean.

I came across cases of 50Back for 10 bucks a couple months ago. Plain brown longneck bottles, should be easy. I bought four cases and figured even if the beer sucked, $10 for 24 bottles was a deal, and the beer is for a good cause.

But damn those labels. Soaking took the label off, but left enough glue and residue to keep me scrubbing for days.

I've recently discovered a place that keeps Red Hook on sale for $24 a case (24). I love the short bottles and they are the easiest in the world to delabel and clean.

I've got to tell ya. I used to have all those problems and found
the key to avoid work getting any labels off or cleaninig.
I walk up to my kegerator, pour a beer, when finished, refill glass,
when finished, place in dishwasher, hit start, done.

But seroiusly folks, the following was working great for even the toughest back when I was bottling. place bottles is a bucket of hot water, add dish-washer soap. this stuff will eat anything. walk away for a couple of days. Labels come right off. Don't let real old bottles sit in there too long though, it will eat old glass, leaves it foggy. Follow up with b-brite and rinse, rinse, rinse.

BeardtreeBrewing said:

Dos Equis labels are impossible to delabel. I soak everything in oxy clean and all the labels float to the top except those damn dos Equis bottles... I have found magic hat to be a pain as well.

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Interesting that I read this earlier today. Last night I put over three dozen bottles in a 48 qt Gott cooler with prob'ly 10 gallons of boiling water and a big scoop of Oxy Clean. Most of them were Dos Equis bottles from a variety pack that I picked up at Sams Club before Christmas. The rest were a mixture of Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams bottles. After reading this thread, I was dreading opening up the cooler this afternoon.

I just finished cleaning them and it wasn't an ordeal at all. All the labels floated off easily. The SN bottles had the nastiest glue, but all the DE bottles cleaned up nicely with just a wipe of a scotchbrite pad.

Papa