What do you print your labels on?

CornyKegs 728
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Collembola!
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We are getting ready to bottle our first batch and have been having fun playing around with logo ideas and names. We don't really know how to go about the labels, though. What do you print them on? Do you get pre-cut stickers (from Avery or something) that you can print on? Do you print and then cut them?

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.
 
I would suggest what was suggested to me.. print them out on your printer, cut them out, brush the back of the label with some milk and apply it to your bottle. It sounds odd but works great.
 
That's one way to go about it. Another is to use dilute Elmer's glue as the adhesive. Both of those methods have the side-effect of being water-soluble, which both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate in that it requires no work at all to remove your labels from your bottles, unfortunate in that it is impossible to chuck your bottles into a cooler and keep the labels on the bottles!

You can make a quite simple, yet elegant, label using Microsoft Office. First, go to Staples or OfficeMax and buy a package of Avery label #8164 - those labels are 3.33" tall and 4" wide, perfect for bottles.

Next, go home, open MS Office, and click on Tools. Select Letters and Mailings. Select Envelopes and Labels. Click the Labels tab, then click the Options button. Under Label Information, find Label products - select Avery standard from the drop-down menu. Under Product number, select "8164 - Shipping". Click the Ok button. Once that dialog box is gone, click the New Document button.

Now you've got a preformatted Word document perfectly aligned to the Avery labels. You can make some pretty groovy labels in this way, with some neat graphics.

It's quick and easy. Have fun!

Cheers,

Bob
 
BobNQ3X said:
That's one way to go about it. Another is to use dilute Elmer's glue as the adhesive. Both of those methods have the side-effect of being water-soluble, which both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate in that it requires no work at all to remove your labels from your bottles, unfortunate in that it is impossible to chuck your bottles into a cooler and keep the labels on the bottles!

You can make a quite simple, yet elegant, label using Microsoft Office. First, go to Staples or OfficeMax and buy a package of Avery label #8164 - those labels are 3.33" tall and 4" wide, perfect for bottles.

Next, go home, open MS Office, and click on Tools. Select Letters and Mailings. Select Envelopes and Labels. Click the Labels tab, then click the Options button. Under Label Information, find Label products - select Avery standard from the drop-down menu. Under Product number, select "8164 - Shipping". Click the Ok button. Once that dialog box is gone, click the New Document button.

Now you've got a preformatted Word document perfectly aligned to the Avery labels. You can make some pretty groovy labels in this way, with some neat graphics.

It's quick and easy. Have fun!

Cheers,

Bob
Click to expand...

Good stuff, thanks man!
 
I use the Avery 8164s. I picked up some spray lacquer from Lowes and spray the hell out of the labels. I'm not sure if I'm not waiting long enough between coats, but even after a dozen or so passes over, they never get totally shiny, but they prevent general smearing, but are not waterproof. The one problem I do encounter is the labels get thick and stiff if too many coats are put on and sometimes doesn't apply to the bottle to well.
 
Hopleaf said:
I would suggest what was suggested to me.. print them out on your printer, cut them out, brush the back of the label with some milk and apply it to your bottle. It sounds odd but works great.
Click to expand...
+1. When I saw this suggested for the first time, I thought it was a stupid idea that would never work. How wrong I was - it works great, and this is how I do it every time.
 
Originally Posted by Hopleaf
I would suggest what was suggested to me.. print them out on your printer, cut them out, brush the back of the label with some milk and apply it to your bottle. It sounds odd but works great.
Click to expand...

Ok So i am a total newbie. Are you printing them on regular old copy paper? And does it have to be whole milk? This just seems wierd.
 
Yah, regular printer paper. I use skim and works fine. Like mentioned above though, they don't hold up to the ice cooler.
 
What if I went to my local copy shop and had them printed out on the semi-glossy paper. Do you think the slight slickness of the paper would prevent them from sticking? I am going to try this milk thing as soon as I get home.
 
I'm brand new to homebrew and am already looking ahead to labels so I find this thread and forum great but how do make them? More specifically is there a program that you use or can download like people use for cd copying? I have no idea.... Thanks for the help.
Ben
 
I use the Avery labels along with Microsoft Publisher, if you have it. They have label templates especially for bottles and jars that fit perfectly on beer bottles. It also makes it easy to make a cool, colorful label without a lot of effort.
 
I use Avery labels also, but do my layout and design in Photoshop. Once the labels are printed, I take them down into the basement and spray them with a light coat of matte finish spray shellac. I usually go for about three very light coats of the shellac, and they look fantastic. They are also VERY water proof, at least from the front side. If left in an ice bath for too long, the water starts to seep down behind the labels, through the adhesive, and they start bleeding UNDER the shellac. You still don't get anything on your hands, but the labels will quite literally slide right off the bottles.
 
I'm a newbie brewer too. On good tip I got from this site after my first brew had to do with printing your labels on your printer. If you have an inkjet printer like I do, your labels will bleed if they get any water on them. The solution....print a page of labels on your inkjet, then use a color photocopier to make all your copies. The copies won't bleed. Haven't tried the Avery Labels yet.
 
Milk will work as the protein in it will work as a glue. If you want a more serious but cheap water soluble glue use Gelatin. Plain unflavored Knox gelatin.

One of my other hobbies is making traditional longbows and one of the glues I have used is Gelatin. A test was done using two pieces and maple and gelatin, and the maple broke before the glue joint did. Better than 2-ton epoxy.

Also you can use cottage cheese as a glue (No I have never done it :) )
 
I get assorted color parchment paper in the craft section at Wally World. I stick 'em on the bottle with Duck glue sticks (what else would Fat Duc Brewing use?), which is water soluble and releases the labels after just a few seconds in a sink full of warm water.
 
If you have access to a laser printer, use it for you labels and they won't run when they get wet! Color lasers do exist, but they are a little harder to find.
 
Just wanted to check in to cast a vote for the milk-as-glue label method. As mentioned, these do come off in an icy cooler, but as one who usually takes 'em straight from the fridge, you just can't beat this. It's free, it's a very strong bond, and the labels rinse right off in warm water. I've tried everything and I don't even consider any other method these days.
 
agreed ... just tried the milk adhesive trick today, and I'm totally blown away by how well this works!! I'll try to post pics with the results. It's very impressive!

Whoever came up with this trick is pure genius.
 
QuailAle.jpg
 
BobNQ3X said:
That's one way to go about it. Another is to use dilute Elmer's glue as the adhesive. Both of those methods have the side-effect of being water-soluble, which both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate in that it requires no work at all to remove your labels from your bottles, unfortunate in that it is impossible to chuck your bottles into a cooler and keep the labels on the bottles!

You can make a quite simple, yet elegant, label using Microsoft Office. First, go to Staples or OfficeMax and buy a package of Avery label #8164 - those labels are 3.33" tall and 4" wide, perfect for bottles.

Next, go home, open MS Office, and click on Tools. Select Letters and Mailings. Select Envelopes and Labels. Click the Labels tab, then click the Options button. Under Label Information, find Label products - select Avery standard from the drop-down menu. Under Product number, select "8164 - Shipping". Click the Ok button. Once that dialog box is gone, click the New Document button.

Now you've got a preformatted Word document perfectly aligned to the Avery labels. You can make some pretty groovy labels in this way, with some neat graphics.

It's quick and easy. Have fun!

Cheers,

Bob
Click to expand...

Very helpful. Thanks.
 
I use the avery 55164 Repositionable labels. They come off pretty easily when you need them to.

I also used the color laser printer at work and didn't top coat. They came out great.

B
 
I use 24lb coasted paper that is shiny. I print them on a lazer printer and I stick on with milk/flour paint. I uualy only make a neck band label so if we want to plop them into a cooler up to the sholder it does not take the label off right away.
 
If your printing on Avery labels from an inkjet printer and spray with thin coats of shellac will this keep condensation from smearing the ink or do you have to use a laserjet?
 
Loving the ingenuity being shown here with the milk to bond and shellac to seal. Could try one of specialist short run labelers, those that specialise in printing on sheets of 25 can be a reasonable value and would probably look nicer if you're wanting to present them at a farm shop or similar. But for pure homebrewing, with only a few labels I'm not sure we can beat the milk trick.
 
lately I've been just printing on plain paper on my inkjet, then spraying front and back with a quick coat of clear acrylic spray paint, then sticking them on with good old rubber cement.

Works great. Water proof, stays on until I peel them off, and the rubber cement comes off easy when it's time to clean.
 

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