Where Do Pros Get Their Labels Made?

I was wondering if anyone can tell me where pro brewers get their labels made. I assume you'd have to order quite a few at a time for them to even print any. Am I right in this assumption?

It really depends on what you want your label to do. I mark my beers with little stickers on the cap. I like this because I don't have to remove labels again. I've used smileys and stars so far. I got a nice pack of whale stickers that will probably be on the next batch. I think it was Revvy who made hang tags that would fit over then neck. They are kind of similar to a hotel "Do Not Disturb" design. Dogfish Head uses labels that look like they could be printed on a home inkjet printer. I bet you could find the right labels at Staples or Office Max for something like that. If you want fancier, check out your local printing company.

My LHBS sells them. If you don't have one close I'm sure any of the HBT vendors sell the stock to make them.

But I'm like itsme6582, I don't use them 'cause I don't want to mess with soaking them off. I just write initials on the cap. BA = Blonde Ale, IB = Imperial Blonde, W = Wheat, etc.

http://www.inlandlabel.com/

I don't think they would do less than a few thousand. It is fairly costly to set up the printing machines for some of those custom cut labels.

Design, print, and apply them myself.

I use regular office paper in the InkJet printer. If it's a gift, I get a heavier-weight paper.

Many of the label companies, such as Avery, have templates you can use in M$Word or LibreOffice for their labels, but I just take scissors and cut them out from the plain paper, because I don't want the sticky glue mess when cleaning.

To stick them on, I use basic flour-and-water paste, with a very little bit of white glue ('Elmer's') mixed-in. Plain white glue is also good over the surface and along the edges to create a water-resistant cover (suitable for protection from condensation), but comes right off during a hot-water dip when cleaning.

Of course, this process is good for my small batches. I suppose if I was planning on mass quantities, I'd find a nearby professional printer.

Regular printer paper labels applied with milk works wonders. No hassle of trying to soak labels off, because if you run it under hot water while you wash out the bottle the label falls right off.

depends on the application - if they have a labeling setup, they apply the glue on the bottling line - if not, they use pressure-sensitive roll labels - both typically require a fairly high volume to get decent pricing (you have to figure in print plates, press setup, die cutting/tooling) You can have labels printed digitally by a printer - this will bring the volume required down - you still might have a setup fee, though. It cuts out the plate charge. You can also use standard/in-house dies - but you're still probably looking at around $275/100 labels for digital printing

As hard as it was for me to believe the Milk trick works like a champion. Easy to apply the label, and even easier to take it off. No mess, no glue, and looks great. Try it and you will see.