Beer labels and caps!

Hi.
I recently found a site that'll do custom printed caps pretty cheap but I was wondering what the best way to get a custom label printed at the best price. Any ideas?

 

You can actually get software and design and print them yourself. Just takes "start-up" costs and supplies. I may look into it someday. Usually your friendly LHBS has labels and can otherwise lead you in the right direction.

V/R,
BrewTech

 

I use bottlemark.com for caps and print my own labels on my color laser printer.

 

At risk of hijacking the thread and turning this into a 'worth it vs not worth it' argument (not my intent):

I suppose I could just e-mail and ask them myself, but do you know if their caps are oxygen absorbing? I couldn't find that info listed anywhere on the site...

 

I recently bought some waterproof labels from onlinelabels.com. I got the 7" x 3" (3 to a sheet) and it works out to 0.20 per label (not counting your ink costs.) So far I'm happy with them - takes a while to dry but once they do they don't bleed as much as regular labels (even after running water over them for a minute.) You also get use of their online software with a purchase which makes alignment pretty simple (I used Photoshop Elements 10 to create my 7x3 image and just put it in the label and printed, but you can also build a label with the software.)

 

The one company advertised on this forum has a pretty cool setup for labels. You should check them out:
http://zumula.com/categories/createfromscratch

 

They have oxy caps available on request (I think it's 1 cent more per cap), but the caps are gold, not white like their other caps, so printing may or may not look right depending on the design.

 

Yeah, you're correct...after I posted I figured "why not just go ahead and e-mail just in case no one knows," so I sent this e-mail:

Just wondering...are the caps you do your custom printing on oxygen absorbing? I see that you do sell plain oxygen absorbing (gold) caps...can you get custom printing on the oxygen absorbing type of cap?​

I very promptly got this reply:

Our standard white caps are standard PVC and are not oxygen-absorbing. We can print on the gold for special orders; they don't work well with colors (especially light ones) so we encourage black-only designs for the gold. Also, we think the printing on the gold caps has about the same adhesion as the white, but they're not as well tested.

The gold oxy caps are 1¢ more ea; special orders for color are $3 unless you order more than 100, in which case there's no additional charge. And at this time we have to do them as email orders. If you'd like to do so, let me know.​

So it seems as if you can also get other colors besides white, which doesn't even cost more as long as you buy more than 100 caps...he doesn't specify, but perhaps you can even get the oxygen absorbing in other colors? I think I may eventually order some caps from these guys (I have a $h!tload of other caps I have to use for now)...would be very cool to have some personalized caps, since I personally can't stand the hassle of labeling!

 

A bit more communication from bottlemark.com:

I appreciate your quick reply! To clarify, it seems as if you can get other colors besides white with no additional charge, although you must order at least 100 caps.

That's our current (unpublished) policy, though it's kind of based on not many people wanting to do so. (Our workflow isn't yet set up to handle lots of different color orders nicely.) So I can't guarantee it'll stay like that, but it probably will for a while.​

Does this mean you can get oxygen absorbing caps in a variety of colors?

I'm afraid not; the only caps we have in stock are those shown here:
http://www.bottlemark.com/shop/plain-caps

Those are: white, silver, gold, and gold oxy. I wish we did have an oxy option for more of those, but I don't think any manufacturer makes them as a stock item.
​

I appreciate your time; I also wanted to let you know that I'm posting this info on a thread that's been developing at www.homebrewtalk.com (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/beer-labels-caps-350633/) where your service has been being discussed. I hope you get some new business as a result!
​

Thanks!​

 

Awesome thread, y'all!

So when you print your own, do you need a special adhesive label or an adhesive in general to apply them?

 

I've used Avery shipping labels in the past, but they're really difficult to remove. Most guys just print on regular paper and affix them using milk (yeah, milk). I did that on my last batch and they stick really well. Haven't tried to remove one yet though.

 

I've never had any problems with the Avery labels, I soak the empties in warm water for about 20 mins and they peel off mostly OK, any residue I just use a nylon scourer to remove.

 

I bought a pack of dry-gummed paper from www.coasttocoastlabel.com, and with my design software (and, I might add, chops at graphic art), beer labels come cheap and easy. I spend maybe 4 bucks for beer bottle labels for an entire batch, full color, by taking some paper and a USB jump drive to Kinkos, and they crank 'em out for me.

Here, let me show you them.

 

IMO, Dry-Gummed paper is THE.WAY.TO.GO.

Moisture activates the gelatin-based adhesive on the back of the paper, which also means that five minutes in water, and the labels come off effortlessly.

 

I have done over 20 batches with laser printer paper and milk. One of the coolest tricks i have learned on this forum. The thinner the paper the better. Always impresses my friends and labels come off easily for reuse. They also do not bleed. Only downside is that you cannot submerge them in ice water in a cooler without loosing labels. I overcome this by freezing water in plastic bottles to keep them cool in a cooler during transport.

 

At The Studio Pub we use laser printable White Polyester Labels that are permanent, however, they are completely waterproof, hold up great....and ultimately I've found that the strength of the labels make it easy to rip them off in one piece. Worst case scenario you use a bit of Goof-off to wipe off any residual glue. These are definitely not the cheapest labels, but you get what you pay for. www.thestudiopub.com

 

I started offering "small order" paper and vinyl label printing.

Check out my online shop here... http://garagemonk.com

My favorites so far for my own use are the "Naked Labels" there sold on Etsy here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/126243997