Help with Removing Silk Screened Labels

I have read almost every topic on pretty much ever Homebrew site and need some advice. I really want to bottle my next batch in some old school Stubby Bottles and from what I have found you cannot buy them anywhere that are label free and ready to go. The only option I have is to use Red Stripe bottles, but the issue that lies with that is the labels are Silk Screened on.

One person stated that all you needed to do was soak the empty bottles in a 3:1 ration of water to Muriatic Acid for 15 minutes and the paint will just wipe off. Last night I did exactly that and used two gallons of Muriatic Acid to six gallons of water and after 15 minutes of soaking it didn't even make a dent in the paint. I scrubbed away at it with a wire brush and barely scratched the surface. I decided to let them soak for an hour and when I went back I had the same end result. For poops and gigs I again let them soak this time overnight and still after 12+ hours of soaking there has been no difference.

Another person suggested soaking them in straight CLR (no dilution) and that will do the trick. Well as of right now they have been soaking for almost three hours in the CLR and it isn't making much of a difference. I scrubbed them and this time at least the bubbles from scrubbing started to turn red and white from the paint, but the thing is no paint was coming off.

I am getting very frustrated with this whole process. I really don't want to be out the $30 I spent for the case of Red Stripe even though I drank them (not a big fan of the beer) nor do I want to be out the $25 I spent thus far on chemicals to remove the labels. Did Red Stripe change the way they label their bottles in the past year that made it harder to remove them? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone knows where I can buy empty label free Stubbies that would be awesome or of a different beer that bottles in Stubbies, but doesn't Silk Screen on their labels that would be another option too I guess. Thanks in advance for the help.

Hello...I have used lacquer thinner with great success! just be sure to clean them really well afterwords.

What about founders bottles?

wedge421 said:

What about founders bottles?

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Care to be a bit more specific? I just went on their site and none of the beers they have listed look like they come in Stubby Bottles.

Kamen said:

Care to be a bit more specific? I just went on their site and none of the beers they have listed look like they come in Stubby Bottles.

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Depends what you mean by stubbies. Founders, Lagunitas, Abita, Sierra Nevada all come in shorter bottles than normal "longnecks." There are some differences between those 4 bottles (SN has a bigger lip and Abita usually has markings on the glass).

Pic: http://beerblog.genx40.com/file/blueb1.JPG

You'll see the SN bottle is much shorter than the others...it holds the same amount because it's wider.

BrewThruYou said:

Depends what you mean by stubbies. Founders, Lagunitas, Abita, Sierra Nevada all come in shorter bottles than normal "longnecks." There are some differences between those 4 bottles (SN has a bigger lip and Abita usually has markings on the glass).

Pic: http://beerblog.genx40.com/file/blueb1.JPG

You'll see the SN bottle is much shorter than the others...it holds the same amount because it's wider.

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He means the Red Stripe style stubbie.

Session Black comes in those type of bottles, but they're twist off.

I just picked up another gallon of Muriatic Acid from the Hardware store and am gonna use that straight up, no diluting, and see how that goes. If it works, awesome, if not I am only out another $5 and will submit to defeat.

I tried soaking those bottles in a 1:2 solution of muriatic acid for about a week, and it did absolutely squat. It was then that I realized it wasn't worth it.

paint thinner.

I concede, give up, throw in the towel. Kudos to Red Stripe for whatever methods they use for Silk Screening their labels because everything I tried failed. I just let a sixer soak in straight Muriatic Acid for two hours and it didn't do a damn thing besides give me a headache from the smell. The only bit of paint that came off was the small lettering on the back of the bottle, but that was only after 5 minutes of hardcore scrubbing.

Guess you'll have to brew a red stripe clone

Have you tried using DRUMROLL .... paint thinnner? Already a few people suggesting it and you have not mentioned if you tried it.

Also, if you are going to use HCL to clean your bottles put it in a plastic container and not a metal one. It looks like you were using a steel bucket, probably galvanized if its not SS. That HCL will most DEFINITELY prefer the zinc to the paint on the bottles.

Yep, looks like the acid was reacting with the galvanized steel instead of the paint. I'd use a plastic bucket for acid baths. But I would try lacquer thinner first.

I never tried lacquer thinner because I figured that Muriatic Acid would be a lot stronger. As for the bucket I used, it was an old stainless steel stockpot. If using a plastic bucket will give me the results I want I am willing to give it a shot.

If someone gives me red stripe bottles, I put them in the recycling bin. There's too many good bottles out there with a lot less work. For Stone bombers, I just re-use them as is without taking the silk-screened label off.

Kamen said:

I never tried lacquer thinner because I figured that Muriatic Acid would be a lot stronger. As for the bucket I used, it was an old stainless steel stockpot. If using a plastic bucket will give me the results I want I am willing to give it a shot.

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Thinner and acid are diffrent chemicals and a diffrent process. Think starsan vs pbw you can't just adjust concentration to use pbw to sanitize. Same idea.

Kamen said:

I never tried lacquer thinner because I figured that Muriatic Acid would be a lot stronger. As for the bucket I used, it was an old stainless steel stockpot. If using a plastic bucket will give me the results I want I am willing to give it a shot.

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I am telling you...Lacquer thinner will work, I know this because I have used it in the past to remove red stripe logo's for an ex-girlfriend who wanted them for candle holders (which is probably the best use for red stripe!).

I've had good luck with Star-San, make it double strength. Let it soak for a bit and pull them out and scrubby it off, if you just rinse it after with water some of the silk screen will get stuck again. Gloves are good to use for this BTW.

Toss those Red Stripe bottles! North Peak Brewing Company: northpeakbeer.com. They are located in Traverse City Michigan, and from the looks of it you are in Michigan, how serendipitous! They use the stubby bottles just like Red Stripe except they use paper labels. I just bottled with them and the labels came right off with a little bit of oxy-clean and hot water. Also, their "Diabolical" is a very decent IPA. I think I paid $9-$10/6 pack. Hope that helps.

RussetBurbanck said:

Toss those Red Stripe bottles! North Peak Brewing Company: northpeakbeer.com. They are located in Traverse City Michigan, and from the looks of it you are in Michigan, how serendipitous! They use the stubby bottles just like Red Stripe except they use paper labels. I just bottled with them and the labels came right off with a little bit of oxy-clean and hot water. Also, their "Diabolical" is a very decent IPA. I think I paid $9-$10/6 pack. Hope that helps.

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Yeah I just saw that beer yesterday actually when I went to my local Homebrew store. I will go that route and just get a sixer at a time and go from there until I have all I need.

lacquer thinner works by having a polarity that will dissolve paint. HCL literally destroys it. However, if the HCL isn't eating it up then you aren't going to get anywhere.

Seriously, its half the price of HCL. People on here have given you first hand accounts that it works.

11 oz. Red Stripe bottles are a waste of time, unless you just love to crank caps on silly little bottles.

Get you some 1/2 liter swing-tops (or better yet, 1 liter) and be done with it.
They even come from the store devoid of any markings, and usually perfectly clean

Personally, for style purposes (if I plan on screwing around with capping silly little bottles) I'm very fond of those sexy 12 oz. Anchor Steam bottles. The bonus is that Anchor Steam is quite tasty compared to that Jamaican swill.

Just wanted to give a quick update on things. I finally defeated my old nemesis that is the Red Stripe bottle and got the label off with Aircraft Remover. The stuff is made by Rust Oleum and costs around $8.00 a can and can be bought at any auto parts store. Spray it on and let it sit at least 15 minutes (30 for easier removal) and it will just peel right off and I used an old BBQ brush I had in my garage to scrap and scrub off the parts that didn't peel right off. All in all the job from start to finish took about an hour for 24 bottles. After all the paint was off I rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher to clean off the chemicals I had used.