10 things i learned removing lables last night....

[waskelton4]

1. I want a kegging system.

2. A 2 hour soak in ammonia and wather bath will let MOST of the lables fall right off.

3. I hate scrubbing labels off the bottles that don't fall into the category above.

4. ammonia smells horrible.

5. Bottles dry with a streak free shine

6. Bottles with clear stickers as lables (i.e. amstel light and heinekin) will keep their lables.... forever. and i'm OK with that

7. Guiness bottles with the plastic wrapper around them RULE! no scubbing, no soaking.

8. I want a kegging system.

9. Buying larger labeless bottles MIGHT be worth it.

FYI..
the bottles that performed well in the ammonia bath were.
pacifico, two different red hook beers, stella artois, sam smith's lables (not the foil crap on the neck), john courage amber

the ones i had to scrub were..
Sam Adams and dos equis ( i guess they use a different glue or have foil in the label that doesn't alow the liquid to get to the glue)
too bad I drank lots of sam adams in teh past few months.

the ones with plastic sticker type lables (as metioned above) weren't affected at all..

the guiness wrappers came off by just running a knife blade under the wrapper. sweet!

10. I want a kegging system.

 

[HomerT]

Well, I did the same to 4.5 cases. I used B-Brite mixed with water.

1) My old home brew labels (4th/vine me thinks) fall off after 30seconds of dunk time.
2) My new home brew labels (Avery SHipping Labels) require alot of scrubbing...might fair better in Amonia soak.
3) Kings Brewing Java Stout (MI brwery)labels turn my water black instantly...
4) B-Brite works perfectly for Sam Adams, Hoegarten, Bells, Bass...labels fall off after 15min.
5) B-Brite doesn't work as well as Amonia for Petes Wiked and Kings.
6) I'd like to start kegging
7) New labels (Avery) make it easier to label...but a PIA to de-label.....
8) God I love my bottling tree.
9)God I love my bottle jet-washer
10) Man...I drink alot of friggin beer.

-Todd

 

[brewhead]

pressure washer after the soak - no probs

 

[waskelton4]

pressure washer after the soak - no probs

like the kind that folks use to clean house siding and decks and driveways?
seems like overkill to me.. (but i'm still listening )

 

[Beer Snob]

When I was trying to figure out how to handle the labeling situation and reading all the diffeent posts here, the first thing I thought was ... what a pain in the A$$ this is going to be... bottling is already as big of a pain in the A$$ as I want it without the added steps to get a label off the bottle.

I do like to play with label design and I think the process is all real cool, just dont want to do it for 48 bottles. So here is the compromise..... I have the full label and its all sitting and ready when I need it like... giving some beer away as a gift. It looks a lot better as a gift if it has a label. For the rest....I have these round 3/4 inch stickers from Avery that fit PERFECTLY on the bottle cap. I've put small images in the space... name of the beer.... its got enough room for the name. Dont have to use some special code.

2 importatnt things I have seen with this....
1. Most of the bottles dont need a full label.
2. If I wash out the bottle after I drink it there is NO cleanup work needed.

Wash out, sanitize and bam....another beer is in the bottle

 

[HomerT]

I agree, ita a PIA, but its nice to open the fridge and see the labels. Like this:

Thas was my beer fridge a few months back. Only 5 or 6 rows are homebrew...but they blend in nice. Especially in our basement, which is the party room.

 

[Beer Snob]

You know with all those choices..... if I was around and you picked that beer "It's Over"....I might assume you had a rather terrible day

 

[Ize]

I was going to post this somewhere else last night, but I slept instead...

I have had no real issues with soaking bottle labels off up until this point. Oh sure I ran into a couple that I had to scrub off, but no big concern.

I have however run into some bottle labels that give Baron the Bear a run for his money in the evil department... I mean I'd swear I'm hearing laughter from the cooler they have been soaking in since SATURDAY... They're mocking me, they aren't coming off... I've soaked almost a 12 of other brands along with them... THOSE labels came off... The labels on these? Not even REMOTELY loose at the edges...

Are they painted on? No.

And the name? Two Brothers Prairie Path....

I mean what the hell did they use to glue these things on??? Some super-strength glue that only a certain banned individual who swears by the "almighty power of bleach and bleach alone by God" would be impressed with????

Let me use that power washer when you're done with it Brewhead....


Ize

 

[cweston]

There is no way I would ever put labels on all of my homebrews. I mean, that is something I would not even consider. Of course, I personally drink about 95% of them, so why would I bother?

I print small number labels that go on the bottle cap. When I give someone a sixer, I print up a card that says which number is what, a brief description of the beers, and staple it to the sixpack holder. I just absolutely have no pretense that my homebrews have to be presented "professionally. It's a hobby, not my job.

Speaking of labelling, here's a good tip: I put a special mark on the cap of the last six or so bottles to be filled of each batch. Since they're much more likely to have a little trub in them, I make sure those stay at home and don't go out as gifts or to a party. I usually open those first, when they've just finished conditioning and probably aren't at their peak yet anyway.

 

[Radarbrew]

We are all in agreement then, that bottling a whole batch is a PIA, and that kegging is the way to go. Also in agreement that TBO (the banned one) was a pretty funny thread...

 

[Igorstien]

I just use my SWMBO's scrapbooking stamps and put different stamps and colours on the caps, then just keep a record of which stamp is for each kind. Works OK and she has about a billion colours and stamps to choose from.

IGOR

 

[budbo]

Oxy-clean and warm water has yet to fail me no scrubbing the only mess is the soaked labels at the bottom of bucket..

Igor, I use a sharpie and just put a letter code on the caps works great I only label the ones I give away

 

[Lost]

Today I joined the kegging club.. hopefully I'll get to use it soon and find it to be as great as everyone says. Damn I'm excited. Anyhow, when I was bottling here's how I'd keep the bottles straight..

Draw a line or letter across the cap with a permanent marker. Rocket science you say.. nonesense, it's easier than you'd think.

C for cream ale, P for porter, S for smoked, sounds like a sesame street episode..

When you combine letters with colors then the options become endless, just be sure to keep a legend around somewhere in case you forget.

edit: dammit, someone beat me to it as always.

 

[Bopper]

I just use a sharpie on top of the bottle cap....works fine for me. I'm not as concerned with the lables....just the product inside.

 

[Igorstien]

Igor, I use a sharpie and just put a letter code on the caps works great I only label the ones I give away

Yeah.........but........well.........i secretly like scrapbooking..........WHOOPS SAID THE QUIET PART LOUD AND THE LOUD PART QUIET....

Actually I do like scrapbooking.........that's her thing and beer is my thing!!!!!

Why did you spend $100 on beer stuff..........OK...Why did you spent $200 on scrapbooking stuff...................conversation over!!!(and I'm still in trouble)

IGOR

 

[chillHayze]

Oxy-clean and warm water has yet to fail me no scrubbing the only mess is the soaked labels at the bottom of bucket..

Igor, I use a sharpie and just put a letter code on the caps works great I only label the ones I give away

Yep thats what I do. Usually it's just some kind of caveman type mark. I have some I forgot to label and those are in my "grabbag" where i don't know what it is till I pour it. Most people prefer more predictibility, tho.

You could just use different bottle caps for different brews, assuming you don't overlap.

As far as the bottles go:
1. You only have to de-label them once (assuming you don't label your own brews). After this, it is just the rinse job and sanatize at bottling time.
2. If you invest in some larger bottles, you will have less work ahead of you. How often do you sit down and have just one 12ozer?