Hypothesis about quality of brewery and ease of label removal

Xpertskir · Sep 16, 2012

In my minimal experience in removal of labels I have stumbled across an interesting coincidence that I was curious if the more seasoned label removers have noticed this phenomenon or if it's my limited sample size skewing my results.

The better the brewery the easier it is to remove their labels.

Clearly no direct causation but it's been funny to me that my favorite breweries have labels that are very easy to remove and some beers I would not purchase again have labels that have a death grip on the bottle.

Desp · Sep 16, 2012

Xpertskir said:
In my minimal experience in removal of labels I have stumbled across an interesting coincidence that I was curious if the more seasoned label removers have noticed this phenomenon or if it's my limited sample size skewing my results.

The better the brewery the easier it is to remove their labels.

Clearly no direct causation but it's been funny to me that my favorite breweries have labels that are very easy to remove and some beers I would not purchase again have labels that have a death grip on the bottle.

Soak them in oxyclean, it dissolves the glue and after a few hours the labels either float to the top or the water or very easily are removed. Then you just take a sponge and wipe off the glue residue.

JimTheHick · Sep 16, 2012

Desp said:
Soak them in oxyclean, it dissolves the glue and after a few hours the labels either float to the top or the water or very easily are removed. Then you just take a sponge and wipe off the glue residue.

Just try this with schlafly bottles. You'll have the Brillo pad out on the third day of soaking.

New Glarus are the absolute best. Using the above method only takes about ten minutes for the labels to fall off!

I endorse the OP's hypothesis!

unionrdr · Sep 16, 2012

Paulaner & sam adams are about the quickest to float off in PBW imo. Michelobe,Franziskaner,Sierra nevada are a couple more that come off easy. But ones like Great Lakes soak a couple days & still have to be scraped off.

AmandaK · Sep 16, 2012

Schlafly bottles are super easy after a soak in warm water. Rogue bottle are damn near impossible to remove.

Both are excellent breweries.

Xpertskir · Sep 16, 2012

I did soak in oxyclean for 36 hours.

In support of my hypothesis 3floyds labels will float in cold water. Smuttynose took scrubbing after 36 hours in oxy.

Luckily for me I have 10x 3floyds bottles for every other bottle I have, especially bombers.

Calder · Sep 16, 2012

Stone, Rogue?

Denny · Sep 16, 2012

I don't think there's any connection at all.

krispy3d · Sep 16, 2012

Maybe it's the other way around? The ease of removing the labels has contributed to you buying them more often and enjoying them more?

Jukas · Sep 16, 2012

Russian River bottles are easy to get the label off after a 1hr soak in Oxyclean, but a gigantic PITA to get the glue off.

Their beer most definitely does not suck.

unionrdr · Sep 16, 2012

Rogue is another one I found hard to remove after an over night soak in PBW.

TNGabe · Sep 16, 2012

I guess that's why Westvleteren had no labels for so long. Sierra Nevadas are great, especially since they've been on sale for under $13 in NC off and on all Summer. Dark Horse labels suck - the ink disolves and leaves a residue on the bottles and the labels stay on.

Ubsr1024 · Sep 16, 2012

That's a funny thought, maybe they're your favorite because the labels come off so easily?

When I started brewing, I'd almost exclusively buy Sam Adams since their labels come off for like, no reason.

dallasdb · Sep 16, 2012

Since quality is an opinion I can't say this theory can be tested! However, I did notice that larger breweries labels removed easier than most local microbreweries.

tlg779 · Sep 16, 2012

I recently aquired some old 16 Oz strohs bottle and have had a heck of a time getting the lablels off

Ctforte · Sep 16, 2012

Harpoon has the most difficult lables to remove that i've seen

Jakeintoledo · Sep 16, 2012

funny side note, after walking into a new beer purveyor in town, I bought a sixer of Rogue Dead Guy Ale, and laughed, saying, "These bottles are going to be a ***** to get the labels off."

lol

BTW, I now call buying commercial beer, "augmenting my bottle supply".

AmandaK said:
Schlafly bottles are super easy after a soak in warm water. Rogue bottle are damn near impossible to remove.

Both are excellent breweries.

Xpertskir · Sep 16, 2012

Denny is likely right, it was just an amusing coincidence that I felt was worth talking about.

As for 3floyds being my fav because their labels come off easy...they have been my favorite brewery for years before I started home brewing.

JimTheHick · Sep 16, 2012

Wasn't this all kind of tongue in cheek?

Don't want you all to think I've seriously considered this scientifically and am ready to begin concerted experimentation towards the goal of testing this hilarious hypothesis.

Denny · Sep 17, 2012

unionrdr said:
Rogue is another one I found hard to remove after an over night soak in PBW.

Well, Rogue doesn't use paper labels. They silk screen the bottles.

JDFlow · Sep 17, 2012

Xpertskir said:
...my favorite breweries have labels that are very easy to remove and some beers I would not purchase again have labels that have a death grip on the bottle.

This is called a self serving bias. The mind is extremely powerful. The brain renders your interpretation of the physical world.

atom · Sep 17, 2012

Xpertskir said:
I did soak in oxyclean for 36 hours.

In support of my hypothesis 3floyds labels will float in cold water. Smuttynose took scrubbing after 36 hours in oxy.

Luckily for me I have 10x 3floyds bottles for every other bottle I have, especially bombers.

smuttynose use super glue or something... i don't even attempt to reuse their bottles anymore.

stratslinger · Sep 17, 2012

Southern Tier must do the same with their bombers - that last couple I've removed labels from, I've had a helluva time with...

EnjoyGoodBeer · Sep 17, 2012

Uh i just bottle the beer. Keep the lables on so far. I mark the cap on batch#

Hypothesis about quality of brewery and ease of label removal

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