Marking bottles

I'm curious how people are marking their bottles to track which batch is in each. With 3 or 4 on the go, it's pretty easy to mix them up once they're in the fridge.

With glass bottles and crown caps, I've been using a sharpie to mark the cap. With PET bottles, different colour elastics around the necks because I reuse the caps, and don't want to mark them up.

Any other ideas?

Like you - sharpie on the cap.

I had looked into using wine bottle neck labels sprayed with the blackboard paint.

I don't bottle much any more, but I'm somewhat graphically inclined so what I did was buy sheets of 1" round label stickers and I'd print a logo for the beer on the sticker sheets. They're a hair bigger than the bottle caps themselves but close enough for government work, and for me it was more fun than using a sharpie.

I label mine but I have no life.

I'm a sharpiecapper as well.

I just sharpiecapped my first batch. I'll probably just continue to do that for a while. Maybe down the line a bit, I'll make some labels when I'm gifting, but not until I'm sure I've got a decent brew to slap it on!

Painter's tape and a sharpie.

Like this

Dollar store has 'labels' that are small round stickers....about 5 or 6 different colors in each package, and there's always the white ones too...i use them, or just a sharpie.

Sticky dots and a Sharpie.

Little white circle stickers from Staples. Sometimes I can talk the wife into printing me out some... But usually.... I keep my bottled brews in beer cases. I write on the case with a sharpie..(Date and brew). When I rotate a couple to the fridge (take one out...put one in...I keep about 3 of each in the beer fridge...) I just ID them with a sharpie on the cap......

Different colored caps. I usually rotate between four or so different colors.

If I have two different styles with the same colored cap, I'll just put an "X" on the one with the fewest bottles left.

I used to make lots of labels, but that was when I was playing on my laptop instead of paying attention in class. Also, it's a pain to remove labels when you re-use bottles.

If I end up labeling again, it will just be for special batches I give out as gifts.

alexdagrate said:

Different colored caps. I usually rotate between four or so different colors.

If I have two different styles with the same colored cap, I'll just put an "X" on the one with the fewest bottles left.

I used to make lots of labels, but that was when I was playing on my laptop instead of paying attention in class. Also, it's a pain to remove labels when you re-use bottles.

If I end up labeling again, it will just be for special batches I give out as gifts.

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The other thing about labels is that they come off in ice. I know.. "icing your fine beer!" but when I have 150 drunks at a party I don't have room in the fridge or enough kegs.

JVD_X said:

but when I have 150 drunks at a party I don't have room in the fridge or enough kegs.

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I want to come to one of your parties!!!!:rockin::rockin:

When i bottle, I mark the cap with a sharpie. For the fridge, I keep them in rows and put masking tape at the front of the row. seems easy enough and works for me.

ChshreCat said:

I'm a sharpiecapper as well.

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+7 or 10 or whatever we're up to on using a sharpie.... I've come up with some pretty crafty labels, but haven't actually applied more than a couple for each batch.

Avery, 1" round labels for the caps. 600 to a pack for about $5.

The template is downloadable and links to WORD. You can get a couple of lines on there. I usually have enough room for the batch number, name, OG/FG and alcohol %...then print them out...

I have no life so I label all of mine:

Sharpiecapper here too. It has it's pitfalls, though. I made some cider with cherry juice concentrate in it, and went a little overboard on the dextrose... I think it ended up around 9 or 10% alcohol. I labeled the bottles "CC" for cherry cider, of course.

I came home from work one day to find my fiance drunk as a skunk... turns out she had two bottles of the cider, thinking that they were for her... since CC are her initials.

Just make sure you remember what all your abbreviations stand for once you have a bunch of batches sitting around!

MacBruver said:

...I came home from work one day to find my fiance drunk as a skunk... turns out she had two bottles of the cider, thinking that they were for her... since CC are her initials.

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But, he asked inquisitively, did you get lucky that night? Then it was all worth it...

A gentlemen never tells!








..but I'm no gentleman. It was all worth it.

MacBruver said:

A gentlemen never tells! ..but I'm no gentleman. It was all worth it.

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Fake back, shift to the left and he SCORES!!!! :rockin:

Labeling is great if you're into it. I really enjoy designing labels. I realized a long time ago that I never actually labeled bottles, but still design a label for each batch. I keg now though so only have to print and apply one label.

Tx for all the feedback folks!

As I said in the OP, the sharpie is fine for crown caps, but I don't want to mark the plastic lids that go on the PET bottles...to hard to erase for re-use. Plus, it doesn't work for Grolsch bottles.

I can certainly see myself going with the painter's tape now, because it's quick and dirty, but I like the options of the various stickers that are available. My gf works at a library, and they have a bunch of different coloured dots they put on the books to show that they've circulated. They're pretty small, around 1/4" diameter. I'll just make up a chart relating colour to batch. If you can't read it anymore, you probably don't care what you're drinking anyways!

sharpies didnt always show up for me so i use some paint pens... probably works no better than a sharpie but i have more paint pens lying around

jkarp said:

Painter's tape and a sharpie.

Like this

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LOL, we're kindred spirits. I label everything with blue tape and sharpies. That blue tape is one of the greatest things ever.

Hell yeah it is. Sticks even after the bottles get wet with condensation, yet cleanly peels right off for washing.

I reuse glass bottles with new caps, and keep track of batches by number and simply write that number on the cap with a sharpie. Underline 6s and 9s.

same as most - sharpie's on the cap of the 12 oz'ers, and painter's tape with sharpie marks on the litre flip-tops.

This is what I use, it maybe takes me about 10 minutes to design something and print it out and I put them on my bottle caps so that they can just be thrown out with the cap, not having to do anything else

http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Products/Labels/Identification-Labels/Print-or-Write-Multi_Use-Labels_05408.htm?N=0&Ns=&refchannel=c042fd03ab30a110VgnVCM1000002118140aRCRD

jkarp said:

Hell yeah it is. Sticks even after the bottles get wet with condensation, yet cleanly peels right off for washing.

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Those 3M scientists are adhesive magicians!

+1 to those avery labels, just picked some up and went on a serious labeling spree