First batch is now labeled... and man, they look GREAT!

If I do say so, myself.

I had an artist friend do the custom graphics for the labels, and I made the little coat of arms used ont he bottle caps. Sorry for the washout on the pics; I experimented a good bit to try to get it just right.

click here if you care to see the pics.

I am so very pleased with how these turned out, and my friend has expressed a willingness to create a new label for every batch that I brew. To say that I'm pleased is an understatement.

Yes, I know that many of you would never bother with the effort for labels (let alone custom caps), but I feel like I have put in time and effrot to make good beer, and I want it to look good, too.

Anyway, feedback of any sort is appreciated.

They look great. Love the dragon. How are the labels attached (milk, glue, adhesive)?

Looks sharp. Nicely done.

Looks very good!

Tanks for the positive feedback. The labels are self-stick; peel them off and stick them like you would any sticker.

They are sticky enough that they don't peel back, but if you get a wrinkle while applying one, it's not a problem to smooth them out. Onlinelabels sells them in quite a few varieties (glossy, waterproof, etc) but these seem great to me... and they work out to 4.5 cents per bottle.

They come in a sheet of four labels (plus four of the neck labels), and you just run them through your printer. They have a template (edit in photoshop or similar program) for creating your design.

The labels and caps look great. Very professional. Where did you get the caps done? I ask because I’m brewing for a friends wedding and Id love to get some caps done. I have the labels but I think I will be going with the website you provided. That way I’m not using a glue stick or milk for over 200 labels.

Also, which option on the page did you use for your labels?

For the caps, go to bottlemark.com. You upload your design (they allow you to preview it, which I used to tweak about a hundred times), and they print as many or as few as you want for twelve cents apiece. I ordered 160 caps (three batches plus a few extra), and shipping was $5 for priority mail. I rceived my caps about a week and a half after I ordered. Do note that they only have white caps. You can print any background color you like on them (I did gray for mine), but a tiny bit of white will show on the crinkled edges of the caps. no issue, they look great... but if you are wanting a metallic gold cap to show through as a background for your image, you won't be happy with these (you'll obviously get white instead).

For the labels, I went to this link: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=printable%20beer%20labels&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CGYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlinelabels.com%2FOL3078.htm&ei=Bf8nT9nBJ8yztwfcoaHeBA&usg=AFQjCNFVnfmYQrnH0ueNP5ZGN3dj2tw_ag and went with the first option (matte labels, $18 for the pack).

For what it's worth, my artist friend will do bottle art on a comission basis. She's already mocked up labels for my nex batch.

Thanks man. I really appreciate the information. My artist friend did my labels. Its good to know people. He is customizing them now for the wedding but I can go ahead an order my caps.

Here is my label. Only difference is it says brewing instead of Brewery now.

1stTimer said:

Thanks man. I really appreciate the information. My artist friend did my labels. Its good to know people. He is customizing them now for the wedding but I can go ahead an order my caps.

Here is my label. Only difference is it says brewing instead of Brewery now.

Click to expand...

You are quite welcome... and that label is fantastic!

Thanks. My buddy does all the landscape design for Kurt Schillings video game company. If you have played one of their video games you've seen his work.

Love the blog by the way. I just did my first yeast started as well and to say it worked well would be a gross understatement.

1stTimer said:

Thanks. My buddy does all the landscape design for Kurt Schillings video game company. If you have played one of their video games you've seen his work.

Love the blog by the way. I just did my first yeast started as well and to say it worked well would be a gross understatement.

Click to expand...

Heh. Yay for explosive fermentation!

How easy is it to remove the labels? Are there any out there that are reusable?

justabrewin said:

How easy is it to remove the labels? Are there any out there that are reusable?

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I just put these on a couple of days ago, and the beer needs to carb up still (and probably needs to age after that). In short, I have no idea how hard they are to remove, though I expect that the typical soak with oxy clean will do the trick.

That link I gave to onlinelabels DOES have a removable version for $33.

Looks awesome!!!

Thanks for all of the positive replies. You guys made my day!

Those bottles are gorgeous! Well done. Thanks for the inspiration.

Im with you, I am going to label all mine too. For now anyway! They look great :rockin:

I am honestly shocked by so much positive feedback. Thanks a million, folks.

I'll be sure to post pics of the next batch after I bottle it. Of course, it's only a week and a half into primary, and I plan to do a full month with it... and maybe a couple of weeks of secondary (it's a huge imperial nut brown ale, and will need a loooong time to mellow out).

Those look awesome! I thought I did enough research on custom caps a couple months ago, but the cheapest I could find was 30 cents per cap (which didn't quite seem worth it to me at the time). But your pics and link have definitely re-inspired me to order my own caps!

I have a couple questions about the labels though -- If I understood one of your other posts in this thread, when you ordered your labels, you basically paid the $18 for the sticky paper, right? And then you put your image into the template and printed them yourself? Was it all pre-cut, or did you have to scissor-cut the labels out?

Thanks for the great links/recommendations and nice work on the labels and caps!

DJP00829 said:

Those look awesome! I thought I did enough research on custom caps a couple months ago, but the cheapest I could find was 30 cents per cap (which didn't quite seem worth it to me at the time). But your pics and link have definitely re-inspired me to order my own caps!

I have a couple questions about the labels though -- If I understood one of your other posts in this thread, when you ordered your labels, you basically paid the $18 for the sticky paper, right? And then you put your image into the template and printed them yourself? Was it all pre-cut, or did you have to scissor-cut the labels out?

Thanks for the great links/recommendations and nice work on the labels and caps!

Click to expand...

The labels are pre cut, so you run them through your printer, then peel and stick - no scissors, no dealing with adhesives, milk, etc. Each page includes four main labels (the rectangle) and four of the neck labels. I bought a pack of 800 labels (400 of each type).

There is a link to the template right there on the onlinelabels.com page - these labels correspond exactly to the specs of an Avery label (Avery is the stanmdard for pretty much any type of label).

I used photoshop to edit the template and insert my design; you may be able to do the same with free software like the Gimp (I have not tried).

As for the bottle caps - just create a high res image (png is probably the best, but jpeg will work) that prints at 1"x1". I did mine at 300 DPI for the best possible quality. Realize that it will have to fit within an imaginary circle in the middle (it does go on a cap), but the bottlemark tool shows you almost exactly what the caps will look lke before you order.

homebrewdad said:

The labels are pre cut, so you run them through your printer, then peel and stick - no scissors, no dealing with adhesives, milk, etc. Each page includes four main labels (the rectangle) and four of the neck labels. I bought a pack of 800 labels (400 of each type).

Click to expand...

Aaaah, it all makes sense now - I was wondering why it said 800 labels, but you were saying it was only 400.

homebrewdad said:

I used photoshop to edit the template and insert my design; you may be able to do the same with free software like the Gimp (I have not tried).

Click to expand...

I've had Gimp for a few years now, and as far as I can tell it's similar enough to photoshop that this should work. I'll let you know for sure once I get around to trying it out.

homebrewdad said:

As for the bottle caps - just create a high res image (png is probably the best, but jpeg will work) that prints at 1"x1". I did mine at 300 DPI for the best possible quality. Realize that it will have to fit within an imaginary circle int e middle (it does go on a cap), but the bottlemark tool shows you almost exactly what the caps will look lke before you order.

Click to expand...

This will probably be my first step before I make custom labels. Now all I have to do is make some sweet artwork ... to Gimp!

DJP00829 said:

Aaaah, it all makes sense now - I was wondering why it said 800 labels, but you were saying it was only 400.

Click to expand...

Sorry. The 800/400 thing confused me to start with, too. The package says 800 labels, but if you read closer, it's 400 "main" labels and 400 neck labels. Whcih is fine... it's still a great deal.

The Avery template you use for these labels is a .PSD (photoshop) format. However, Gimp ought to open it just fine, as it's only a couple of simple layers with one mask layer built in (so that you know exactly where the cropping will occur).

I was expecting to feel "meh" about the labels, since I would be printing them on my own inkjet at home, as opposed to one of the cool color lasers at work... but they really turned out great. I can't recommend this product enough!

For those asking about label cleanup - I drank my first bottle last night (which was great!). When done, I ran the bottle under my faucet and soaked the label, which peeled right off with little residue left behind (and that came off easily). I expect that a soak in plan water will do the trick.