How do you identify your homebrews?

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italynstallyn44

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I have 4 different homebrews in the bottle and I'm having a little difficulty identifying which is which when grabbing them from the fridge. Some brews are similar in color plus I mainly use dark brown bottles. When I put them in the fridge I try to keep them all in order, but between the wife moving them around and taking a cooler full out to bring to a friends house and putting the leftovers back in the fridge, they seem to get mixed up.

I was wondering what everyone's method for identifying their homebrews is? Permanent marker on the cap? Make labels? Different caps?
 
I have found little circular stickers that are different colors. I just put these on top of the caps. I have found them at Target and Walgreens. I know at Target they were with the packaging / labeling stuff. I have six different colors. When I've had more beers in stock than six, I've used different stickers. I had a hefeweizen that was rocking Sponge Bob tops.
 
Sharpy codes on my caps. Usually a letter code, and maybe a number if it's a new version of a recipe. For example, "CMP2" would stand for Chocolate Mole Porter version 2.
 
I have found little circular stickers that are different colors. I just put these on top of the caps. I have found them at Target and Walgreens. I know at Target they were with the packaging / labeling stuff. I have six different colors. When I've had more beers in stock than six, I've used different stickers. I had a hefeweizen that was rocking Sponge Bob tops.

I use similar stickers, but just get the plain white ones. You can write a solid description on them. I usually write things like "Cent Blonde," "Sweet Porter," "APA1" etc.
 
Duct Tape with the name of the beer on the six packs works for me...also its nice and handy to grab a sixer from the closet and transfer it to the fridge.
-Jefe-
 
I'm getting to the point where I need to deal with this and have been thinking about it for a while now..

I keg... I'm thinking of using post card paper 'tags' with strings.. that I can record/update all the relevant data on.. from recipes, to brew day data, to gravity measurements, to ferment notes and times, and so on on the tags, and then just move them from being tied around the neck of the fermenter to the secondary corny, to the serving keg, as I transfer wort/beer from stage to stage......

I'd be interested in hearing how others who keg deal with this..
 
I use sharpie on the caps with a code (that I record in my brew log) but that's beginning to be a pita so I'll probably get some colored stickers like those mentioned before
 
Normally I just buy some of those plain white rectangular stickers you pick up at any office supply store, write the name on them and slap them on the bottle.

I'm getting ready to finally get into making my own labels, but for now that's how I label them.
 
i just write the style and abv on the cap in sharpie and if i can't fit the style i just write an abbreviation
 
Right now, I'm just putting the batch # on the caps with a sharpie.
Working fine since I'm only on batch 6 right now, but as I start brewing more, this could become problematic...
 
I'm getting to the point where I need to deal with this and have been thinking about it for a while now..

I keg... I'm thinking of using post card paper 'tags' with strings.. that I can record/update all the relevant data on.. from recipes, to brew day data, to gravity measurements, to ferment notes and times, and so on on the tags, and then just move them from being tied around the neck of the fermenter to the secondary corny, to the serving keg, as I transfer wort/beer from stage to stage......

I'd be interested in hearing how others who keg deal with this..

my last order from AHS they sent me a little notepad/brewsheets I call them. you just fill out all the info and stick it on your fermenter or keg. they're pretty sweet! as far as bottles, another vote for sharpie on cap
 
My main session beers are kegged, with a tag on the keg.

For things I bottle, I have a full batch worth of regular longnecks, Anchor steam curvy stubbies, Sierra normal stubbies, Grolsch flip-tops, and Sam Smith victorian pints. I bottle batches in different shaped bottles and remember what's in each; occasionally I'll take a sharpie to the caps if I'm putting 2 things in the same shape bottle at the same time.

Anything I'm cellaring long-term I put labels on (often I'll be down to only 10-12 bottles before I label the remainder for the long term, but if I brew a big Belgian or barleywine or RIS or something that I know will last I'll label basically the whole batch up fron).

And I have a ton of 750ml and 375ml corkable belgians and Orval bottles for bottling stuff where I want nice presentation (I wax the Orvals) to give as gifts. Gift-appropriate brews are all given real labels, printed from templates and stuck on with the milk method.
 
I think the color sticker on the cap is the easiest/quickest, I will probably go with that method. But it's cool to see all the different methods people use.
 
I used to use round labels on the caps. Then I decided kegging was easier. Just one label to make for the tap handle!

I have ramped up my brewing lately and have had as many as 6 batches floating around the apartment in fermenters alone. Plastic buckets and carboys get written on in dry erase marker to keep them straight. Glass carboys and kegs are labeled with masking tape. Every vessel also gets assigned a number which is written in my brew journal along with its contents and who it is being brewed for. Overkill? Yes, but I crossed 2 batches once while going into kegs (there were 4 total). There was a brief oh-**** moment until taste testing found my mistake ;-)
 
Round labels, and I print on them. I put on the BJCP category and subcategory, and a date (and there is room for additional info as needed). I like that I can take these off with 1 second and a fingernail. The BJCP info and a date is enough to remind me of the batch or to map to my records if needed.

I do keg and use painters tape on those.
 
You can get white address labels 1" x 2-5/8" - Box of 750 for only $6.

I just put a little bit of a description and sometimes a small picture or logo of some sort into a template and print them out, and it ends up being about 1 cent each for the sticker and a little more for the ink.
 
I work in a large 500 seat call center, we have 500+ computers on the floor. We use color coded stickers (dots) when we need to identity builds, etc.

You could color "dot" your brews if needed. They are simple, cheap, and very effective.
 
I used to write a letter code on the caps, but I recently switched to return address labels with the brew name, date bottled, and yeast generation incase I need to harvest it later. Mind you I got this creative/smart on the last batch before I started kegging...
 
I keep it simple. Sharpie on the cap with the batch number. I'm only on batch #30, so I haven't thought about whether I will go to 3 digits or reset back to 1 once I reach 99. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I haven't done this yet, but I think I will make a menu on the fridge with batch #, style, short description, ABV, and IBU, mostly for guests.
 
Sharpie here too, but I use the batch number, so it'll just say 125 or something. I know all of my batches and their numbers so I don't need a code or anything.
 
The LHBS that I used in Tacoma when I lived there stocked different colored bottle caps. I knew I was going to have several different styles bottled over a period of time so I bought a bag of each color (red, blue, gold, silver etc). Its worked for me so far
 
I always wondered why people have a difficult time with this. I assume most people keep logs of their brews? On that log, do you have a batch number? I write the batch number on the cap with a Sharpie. If I can't remember what it is (have some bottles from each batch for the past year ie 60+ batches), I look in my brew log for that batch number. Easy as that.
tom
 
I went to Menards and picked up a variety of paint sticks (like a Sharpie but with paint) and put a dab of a specifc color for each brew. If I run out of colors, I just put two dabs of either the same or different colors. The combinations result in a lot of possibilities.

I just keep a spreadsheet in Excel with the codes for the batches I have. I used to use stickers but find this more versatile.
 
Each batch get's it's own name and label. I design each label with unique pictures, fonts, ect (to the best of my ability...) and put a date on it. It's fun, confusion is impossible, and they are quite impressive when I share them as well. It's worth the extra work. :)

Each batch should have an identity. Every beer deserves to be someone. :)
 
IMAG0085.jpg


A brief letter code for the beer and the bottle date.

IS=Irish Stout
AL=American Light

The wife and I know what they are and If I have friends over they will ask first
 
dang stickers on the cap? seems like a lot of extra work. i just do sharpie straight on the cap.
First off, I have two caps, one with the B on it, and plain gold. Then I have 2 symbols, and 4 different colors (green, red, blue, black), so 18 combinations in all.
it's either:
0, x, or nothing at all.

takes about 2 minutes once i've capped all bottles and they are together in cases. then i make a note in brewsmith, and on my fridge, a sheet of paper with a legend.
After about the 5th batch, i wish i would have just done batch # on cap..

of course now i keg, so I just write the name or style of beer on some blue painters tape and tape it around the pressure relief valve.
I only bottled about 14 batches.
 
dang stickers on the cap? seems like a lot of extra work.

Hardly a lot of extra work. It takes me a few minutes to enter the info into Word, copy/paste across the template, print the labels and stick them on the caps. It allows me to get a lot more information on the bottle than a sharpie... I can fit the full beer name, date bottled, ABV and IBU.. it's great.
 

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