Call me lazy, labels are a pain

I tried labels one time and thought "What was I thinking" as I scraped them off in the sink so I could re-use the bottles.

I started writing the description & date on the cap. Call me lazy or just practical, I just don't see the point in labels for home brew.

I hear you. I bought some labels but never used for fear of having to remove them!

I'm just as lazy. That's a lot of work just to make your bottle look pretty.

I print on 3/4" round stickers from my printer, and stick on the cap. Faster for me than writing on each cap, and readable. I stand the bottles in a cooler with ice in between and the caps above the ice level so it is easy for folks to choose their beer. They are also different colors, so I can just say "grab me one with the yellow sticker".

I didn't bother with labels either until recently. I just marked each bottle with the batch number. That was fine for the first 10 batches or so but then I started to forget what each batch was, so I decided to start some simple labelling. My approach is cheap, easy and no problem removing labels. I made a template that prints 6 labels per sheet of regular computer paper. Just print and cut out and stick them on to the bottles with glue stick. Then to remove them you just soak in water and they fall off completely, easy! See my writeup here: http://beerandgarden.com/getting-all-fancy/

tryn2brew said:

I print on 3/4" round stickers from my printer, and stick on the cap. Faster for me than writing on each cap, and readable. I stand the bottles in a cooler with ice in between and the caps above the ice level so it is easy for folks to choose their beer. They are also different colors, so I can just say "grab me one with the yellow sticker".

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That's what I do. They are round, go through the printer, and fit on the cap. Makes life grand!

Disclaimer: I am not criticizing anyone for using sharpies or stickers. Whatever works for you! With that being said...

I may be in for a rude awakening, being a noob and all, but I'm of the opinion that I'm going to all of this effort to make great beer... I want it to look great, too.

To that end, I have an artist friend doing up custom graphics for my labels, and I've bought custom bottle caps from bottlemark.com. I got he notice today that my caps are shipping, and I'm stoked.

We'll see how I feel after having to peel labels later.

I use a Sharpie on the cap- AA for American Ale. etc. Been doing it that way for years. If the labels fall off on their own, so much the better.

That's why I use these
http://www.freshpreserving.com/images/pdt_dissolvableLabels.jpg

Decidedly low- tech and disappear after a few seconds hot water rinse.

Heh, I get my 7yo brewing assistant to write the beer initials on the cap w/ a sharpie. I print 1 label sheet and stick them on w/ milk for any bottles I give away.

homebrewdad said:

Disclaimer: I am not criticizing anyone for using sharpies or stickers. Whatever works for you! With that being said...

I may be in for a rude awakening, being a noob and all, but I'm of the opinion that I'm going to all of this effort to make great beer... I want it to look great, too.

To that end, I have an artist friend doing up custom graphics for my labels, and I've bought custom bottle caps from bottlemark.com. I got he notice today that my caps are shipping, and I'm stoked.

We'll see how I feel after having to peel labels later.

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Don't worry....we all went through that.

I really only label beer if I'm giving it away. Even then it's just printer paper and gluesticks. Works great and looks great too.

So glad this thread is up. Wanted to hear some creative ways to distinguish beers apart. Online labels are too expensive for me. I actually used wine shrinks for a couple of brews to identify them.

daksin said:

I really only label beer if I'm giving it away. Even then it's just printer paper and gluesticks. Works great and looks great too.

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+1, as I mentioned earlier, printer paper and glue stick is a breeze to remove.

I am thinking of trying the cigar band type label. Wraps all the way around the bottle and taped or glued to itself. When done, a utility knife or a tear and it's off!

You think you are lazy? Hell, I dont even remove the lables from the beer I buy at the store. The easy ones like Sam Adams wich I don't care for most of those beers come off sometimes by themselves but the beers I do like have impossible labels like Sweetwater and Harpoon so I just quit taking them off.

lou2row said:

I am thinking of trying the cigar band type label. Wraps all the way around the bottle and taped or glued to itself. When done, a utility knife or a tear and it's off!

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As a guy with over 1,000 cigars in a cabinet humidor, I have to say....what a darn good idea! Good thinking!!

steelerfanatic7 said:

So glad this thread is up. Wanted to hear some creative ways to distinguish beers apart. Online labels are too expensive for me. I actually used wine shrinks for a couple of brews to identify them.

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I bought a pack of blank labels from onlinelabels.com - cost $18, I think, for 400 labels (plus 400 of the little neck labels). They print in any printer.

So I'm set for 8 batches of beer. Unless I become jaded and give up on labeling.

homebrewdad said:

I bought a pack of blank labels from onlinelabels.com - cost $18, I think, for 400 labels (plus 400 of the little neck labels). They print in any printer.

So I'm set for 8 batches of beer. Unless I become jaded and give up on labeling.

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Do they require any kind of special software?

I just put masking tape with the initials of the beer type on the bottles or bottle caps.

When I give bottles as gifts, I make labels. That's the only time.

I just buy small colored stickers and put them on the caps

steelerfanatic7 said:

Do they require any kind of special software?

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You might need photoshop or something similar to handle the layout.

Black photography tape and a silver sharpie.

I did labels for my first couple beers because I do a little graphic design here and there. Two hobbies went together great. I stopped after that, and stopped removing commercial labels because I was lazy. They just got a letter designation on the cap. Then I moved to kegging and only bottle very special beers which I do make labels for.

flabyboy said:

I just buy small colored stickers and put them on the caps

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Same here. I just put a batch number on them, and can look up if need be. A few hundred 3/4 inch stickers for $1 and a Sharpie is fast and cheap.

I just use a sharpie to put a number on the bottle cap. Since I don't drink from the bottle, labels are not necessary.

NRS

I just made these little guys for the brews I give away... Simple and cheap to make, and no peeling of later!

+1 Sharpie on the cap

When I give them away, I just tell them not to worry about what it is, just drink it.

I actually have a template on my computer, and sheets of dots. I just type what I want, print them out and stick them on the caps. Easy peasy!

amingo said:

+1 Sharpie on the cap

When I give them away, I just tell them not to worry about what it is, just drink it.

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"it's beer and tastes good.... Trust me" that's usually how it goes.

I just sharpie the bottle cap with the initial of what ale it is. R is for red ale.

I only label bottles I'm giving away. It looks impressive to the people who get them, but I'm not labeling the ones I drink at home.

And the easiest to remove adhesive is... milk. Just brush some on the back of the label, stick it on the bottle and you're done. The labels wash right off, there's no odor, it's perfect.

A nice online tool to create labels is Beerlabelizer.

For my own brews, I color code them by using different color caps. I have a list of brews on the inside of the door of my brewing supplies cupboard with a bit of double sided tape running from top to bottom on the right side: add new brew name to list, stick a cap on the tape next to the name, done

I buy different colour caps so right now I have bright red (lager), dark red (stout) and I've got blue and yellow waiting so I'll use one of those for my bitter and have another for the next brew. If I give any away (at the moment just to other home brewers for feedback) I just write maybe the beer type and date with a Sharpie on the cap.

AllHopAbandon said:

A nice online tool to create labels is Beerlabelizer.

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That looks awesome!

I will try this a) when I give some away and b) when I have a colour printer!

lazy...

Awesome idea!

tryn2brew said:

I print on 3/4" round stickers from my printer, and stick on the cap. Faster for me than writing on each cap, and readable. I stand the bottles in a cooler with ice in between and the caps above the ice level so it is easy for folks to choose their beer. They are also different colors, so I can just say "grab me one with the yellow sticker".

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Great idea!

boomer135 said:

I just made these little guys for the brews I give away... Simple and cheap to make, and no peeling of later!

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Another great idea

I use avery easy peel address labels with their free online software, fairly cheap, very easy and comes off easy if kept dry.

We got an assortment of differnt colored caps from Austin. This is good for 9 batches.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12547&osCsid=b9cf53a55d37179e01a55355f334f99b

cincydave said:

We got an assortment of differnt colored caps from Austin. This is good for 9 batches.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12547&osCsid=b9cf53a55d37179e01a55355f334f99b

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Nice lineup! A couple brown tints and another lighter green one would be sweet.

You aren't DaveinCincy on cbid by chance?