FYI- heineken bottles not worth the effort

most of you know this, but just in case.

1. They are green, search for it.
2. They now have plastic labels that are TOTALLY waterproof. Soaking them hot helps a bit, but when they cool again you're right back where you started.
3. Their head is too short for a hand capper to grab well, I remebered this from Anchor Steam Bottles as soon as I started trying to cap them.

just thought I'd post some obvious info that I just re-remebered all at once.

thankfully I only used 10 Heinekin's and have 60 Sam Adams Bottles. The Sams where still cooling from their run in the Dishwasher (Pre Star San) so i didn't want to bottle in 200F Bottles so I used the 10 henekins that I had spent 36 hours* prepping

and for what it's worth I drink lots of Heinekin and haven't had a skunked one in years

*more like 20 mins but you get the point.

I had similar problems with their Amstel light bottles, same annoying labels. Luckily there were only 6 of them and I had plenty of other emptys. From now on i am only using the Sam Adams style bottle (until I start kegging that is).

Ditto.

I imagine that Amstel is the same exact bottle.

I know what you mean about the Heineken labels - very tough glue. But I wanted to mention that I've had really good luck with the Heineken light bottles... labels peel right off with no residue.

Also, out of every bottle with paper labels I've tried, Sam Adams have consistently been the easiest to clean off the labels. Just soak them in hot water for a few minutes, take a dull knife and scrape the labels off, let them soak a little more, scrape them one more time and clean with a paper towel to remove any remaining residue. Works everytime. Can do a 12 pack in just a few minutes.

Fat Tire labels come off extremely easy in my experience as well

The only time I bother with Heinekin bottles is with the large ones. What, aren't they 24oz?

I find that an SOS pad works wonders on the glue. After a good hot soaking and label removal, of course.

I use the butter knife, as John Beere suggested, to remove that pesky foil on top of Sam Smith's bottles.

I've found that an overnight soak in Oxyclean causes Sam Adam's labels to float to the top. Rub your hand over the bottle as you rinse them off in the morning and the glue is gone. I haven't scrubbed or scraped in months.

I like having green and brown bottles so I didn't worry about that. Becks bottles are nice and the labels come off easy; and IMO the beer is better than Heineken too.

In my short time the Fat Tire is the best to drink and use. The bottles come VERY clean with little effort.

The labels on Fuller's bottles float right off after a few hours in water. I'm going to try the Oxy Clean suggestion on the more stubborn ones, though, like the Breckenridge Breweries bottles and some of the Spaten labels.

Also, I might add that lighter fluid (Naptha, as found in Zippo and Ronson and other fluids intended for wick type lighters like a Zippo) is a solvent that will remove stubborn glue with gentle rubbing.

...no kidden....I buy mine...

Yards Brewing from Philly--some of the best damn beers I've ever had, and the toughest damn labels. What a conuundrum...

Try Goo-Be-Gone for the labels.

As for the capper...I've mentioned this several times before...if you have a red capper look at the two metal plates that grab the neck of the bottle under the rim. The part that grabs the neck has a cresent shape cut into it to surround the bottle...right?

Look to see if your metal plates have another set of cresents on the other side (that is away from the side you use). Slide the plates out and turn them around. They are made for 2 different size necks...

Some plates are flat on the other side and serve no purpose for capping so you're kind of SOL.