De-labeling bottles

Really sucks.....


Luckily I have a Case of Dog Fish Head 90 min IPA to make it all better.

My first brew is going in the bottles in t-minus 25 clean bottles

wish me luck!!

Suddy

 

Oxyclean is your friend for label removal. Soak the bottles for a few hours in some oxyclean and hot water and they float to the surface!

 

I will have to give that a try next time. I tried to use goo-gone and it just made everything in my kitchen stink like gasoline and oranges.

 

+1 on oxyclean- works great for labels, any any gunk in the bottle.

 

My solution: drink Blue Moon. I can get those labels off with just a scrubber sponge. Also delabeling bottles as you drink them is no less work in the long run, but seems easier as it's divided over time.

 

In case you need any more convincing. OxyClean OxyClean OxyClean. Hot Water + 30 minutes OR Cold Water + Overnight = Success.

 

An overnight soak is magical!

Oxyclean Free for labels

StarSan for Stone's painted labels

 

Does the StarSan work with Rogue's painted labels as well?

 

+4 on the Oxyclean. I do 4 day soaks (I am away from home then) and they just fall off. A light scrubbing with a sponge gets off the last gunky bits.

Only label that does not seem to come off is the Amstel Light. But who drinks that anyway???

 

I thought Blue Moon bottles were twist offs. Am I mistaken?

 

i found that Sam Adams and Sapporo labels come off real easy in some water and soap over night.

 

The 22oz bottles are not. I can't really say on the 12oz bottles.

 

Yeah, blue moon just screwed me. I got a case for my wife forgetting they were twist. I was counting on them for my upcoming bottling.

 

DFH labels come off pretty easily if you soak them overnight in just water.

 

Hot water soak + SOS pad = clean bottles

 

Can't use twist-offs for bottling?

 

Not sure as I rarely drink Rogue stuff, but I'll have to buy a bottle just to try to remove the label! Mmmm Mocha Porter

 

I have used dish washing detergent with some success but oxyclean is the best!

 

OXYCLEAN!

I have only found one label that it wont take off, but it does loosen it. Its some strange plastic label on the Lewis and Clark brewery bottles (part of the reason I don't buy their bottled beer anymore)

Other than that an overnighter in oxyclean, or just an hour is HOT water and oxyclean and a chore boy and its easy livin.

 

It's hard to get a good seal using crimp on caps on a screw top bottle.

 

Just another OxyClean user checking in. Just leave the bottles soaking until the lanbels fall off. I use about 2 tablespoons in a kitchen sink, maybe half a scoop in a five gallon bucket.

Unless it is Guiness draught with the shrink fit plastic labels. Those peel off real nice and the darn widget comes out super easy with standard needle nose pliers.

I'll try the StarSan on Rogue and Stone, I have been collecting bombers lately.

 

just like everyone else +1 for oxy clean a large tub of that is only around 7 bucks and will last a long time. and it's nice to have around when doing laundry too!

 

the one's here in VA are twist off. Started saving bottles before coming on here and realizing twist off's weren't good. Had to throw out about 15 Blue Moon Bombers because they were all twist offs

 

I'm glad I read this thread. Just did 2 cases worth of bottles in about 2 hours (1.5 of which was soaking). Fuller's & Stoudt's labels fell right off, with Smithwick's I had to rub a sponge over to get some residue off. Thanks to the OxyClean suggestion I have a feeling this went easier than it could have.

 

I found the following thread discussing this topic...unless I am missing something it sounds like a number of posters have used twist offs without much trouble. But...I sure don't want to make a mistake and lose a bunch of beer! For now I have enough clear non-twist offs to handle a few more batches. I guess I kind of have a tradeoff: brown twist-off bottles (better bottle colour for storage some say) vs. clear non-twist-offs (better seal some say).

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/re-capping-twist-off-84273/

 

I have not used Oxyclean. I just soak for an hour in really hot water and most labels come right off. Just follow up with a light scrubbing with scotch brite and detergent to clean any residue.

But I love Guiness Draught bottles. Run a knife down the label and peel off. Yank out widget with needle nose and you're good to go. And sexy shape too!

Arcadia labels use a water-soluble glue. I soak some in water and they just slid off. The glue looked like some sort of flour concoction.

 

Oof, glad I learned this now rather than when bottling. And that's what happens when I try to help answer questions as a newbie

 

Why remove those nice painted labels that they went through the trouble to put there? They make it through oxyclean and proper-strength sanitizer just fine, then you have a nice pretty bottle to put your OWN beer in. I guess it can get confusing, but with a sharpie-on-the-cap labeling system I'm making it work.

Sometimes it's nice to remember where your bottles came from.

 

Heineken labels are pretty tough. Even if you can get the label peeled off the goo is super sticky. I have had a bottle in water and one step for 3 days now. It's still hard to get clean.

 

I don't think the Heineken labels use a water based glue - I soaked some for a few days and the glue still didn't really dissolve, had to use Goo Gone to get the sticky off. Won't use them again because of it.

The hot water and oxyclean (or bleach) works well for me, they start slipping in an hour or less.

 

I use hot water and let it soak overnight. Sometimes I'll add a little bleach.

 

Wow, I tried the Oxyclean method, and it really does work like magic. It's weird though: now they look like the beer bottles in Fallout 3.

 

I put my bottles in a cooler full of hot water and Bbrite. Let it sit for a couple days. It only takes a scoop or two, The lables fall off. No scrubbing required. Ready to sanitize. However, I have had trouble with the port brewing 22oz lables leaving glue....

 

Fortunately...for YOU...you must live in a state, and only travel through states, where Homebrewing is legal!

After a close call a few months ago, I've begun leaving the painted and plastic labels on my empty bottles.

Plus, I've started using a Zap-Cap bottle opener to open ALL of my bottles. It doesn't deform the original bottle cap, which I've found allows me to re-use them with their same brand of bottle.

Now...when traveling to the lake, or say, a cook-out, I don't have to worry about having blank bottle caps on un-labled bottles of beer, if I end up being stopped in a DL check-point or have a fender-bender, or something!

When I'm carrying a cooler full of Homebrew in the back seat of the car, or the back of the pick-up, it all looks "Good-to-go"!!!

Pogo

 

For the first time yesterday I de-labeled 2 cases of Sam Adams. (.10 a piece from my local distributor) I put them in a 15 gallon cooler with hot water and two scoops of Oxy clean.
The next day all the labels floated to the top. Now they are rinsed, dried, boxed and waiting for the next batch. Which will be a Bass Ale clone.

 

The oxyclean should do it. If not you can leave the labels on and just serve the ones with labels to college girls, they seem to like peeling the labels off as they drink.

 

Methinks you worry too much. What about states where ANY loose bottle or can not in the original container (not just with the cap or tab removed) can be construed an "open container" unless it's in the trunk? There are all kinds of goofy laws around, and we're all probably breaking a half-dozen of them at any given moment. My approach: life's too short. "Relax and....you fill in the rest."

 

I just oxycleaned 100+ bottles in my tub.

 

has anyone had any luck with Amstel light bottles... received a couple dozen of them... but haven't found anything that is quick and simple.. any ideas...