Custom caps are expensive!

[pkincaid]

Even just colors... although I was looking for something with a little bit of personality to it. Any ideas on where I can find this for a reasonable price. Crafty caps are $.45 per custom cap. That's waaaay to much when you are bottling 100+ beers.

 

[maxamuus]

Maybe think of it a different route. The approach I saw on here that work well was to use water-slide decal transfer paper. Print on that, then apply to the caps as you would apply a decal to a model.

 

[bad coffee]

colored caps are pretty cheap!
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12547&osCsid=9e03a36cf1733722675adb87ba762c50

If you want all one color,
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-equipment/bottling/caps-cappers.html

B

 

[PintOfBitter]

I do custom for much less than $0.45 per. Any full color process will cost quite a bit more, but check out my caps! I hope this is a little bit better for you.

 

[akthor]

Just buy stickers, print your logo or whatever on the stickers and stick them on the caps.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

If you go the sticker route, you need 3/4" diameter. I bought the 1" because thats all I could find and it hangs off the edges of the caps ever so slightly.

 

[nutty_gnome]

I love the etched caps, but I would reserve those for special brews. I opted to use 3/4 inch round stickers from staples and a decent printer. They work great even in an picnic/ice chest with water. I also bought the cheapo staples brand chunky highlighter pack to color the stickers on the sheet after printing. This makes identification a lot easier when you have mixed cases or multiple cases. You can easily and quickly do one to three color striped labels with the thick markers. And 'most' of the colors don't fade when wet (the purple one fades when wet for some reason).

You can label around 1000 bottles for like 11 bucks with this method. I like it a lot.

labels http://www.staples.com/Avery-Print-or-Write-Multiuse-ID-Labels/product_SS297341 1000 for 6 bucks

and markers http://www.staples.com/Staples-Hype!-Highlighters-with-Grip/product_SS1049867 6 for 5 bucks.

 

[JetSmooth]

Custom cars are expensive.
Custom suits are expensive.
Custom furniture is expensive.
Custom t-shirts are expensive.

 

[alexdagrate]

There's a vendor on this board named CustomCrownCaps that makes color laser-engraved caps, I think $0.20 each.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/custom-crown-bottle-caps-114286/

 

[akthor]

Anything printed like t-shirts glasses ect. Are expensive the first run because of the set up fees. Consecutive runs of the same design are much less.

Custom cars are expensive.
Custom suits are expensive.
Custom furniture is expensive.
Custom t-shirts are expensive.

 

[JetSmooth]

Anything printed like t-shirts glasses ect. Are expensive the first run because of the set up fees. Consecutive runs of the same design are much less.

True. By the time I bought my fifth custom car, the prices were very reasonable.

I keed!! I keed!!

 

[alexdagrate]

There's a vendor on this board named CustomCrownCaps that makes color laser-engraved caps, I think $0.20 each.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/custom-crown-bottle-caps-114286/

Hmmm, looks like that thread may be dead... too bad, damn cool caps.

 

[PintOfBitter]

I also noticed that thread, but he's been long gone it seems. I'm producing the same kinds of caps, actually. Please check out my site if you're interested. Look at my Vendor Ads for a discount code.

The sticker route is great for identification purposes, though I'd just recommend a sharpie - stickers tend to bleed, and forget about putting your bottles in a cooler with ice. Custom caps really aren't for everyday use for most people. Better for sharing sixpacks, special brews, or gifts. People do seem to really love them, though.

Just have to plug my business - gotta feed the kids

 

[nutty_gnome]

and forget about putting your bottles in a cooler with ice.

That statment isn't always true. In my experience, the ink on the laser printed 3/4" round labels doesn't smear over a 12 hour period in an iced cooler. And they don't come unstuck. They remain highly useful for quick and easy beer ID. Ink jet inks may behave differently and I've no experience with them.

I would certainly consider etched caps for special beers. -N_G

 

[PintOfBitter]

You're probably right - laser printers don't bleed, and if the paper is good, it could be pretty durable. For obvious reasons, I've been using engraved caps when I bottle but I did try the labels on an inkjet, and ended up just using a sharpie.

 

[alexdagrate]

Just have to plug my business - gotta feed the kids

and $0.22/a cap is a fair price.

Do the caps all have to be the same color? Or is it possible to order the same logo printed on multiple colors?

 

[PintOfBitter]

Multiple colors is an option on the site. Each color reacts slightly differently to the laser, and the batch requires a bit of tuning per-color to get the best results, thus the small added fee. Otherwise, it all gets burned in one setup.

 

[TBag]

could try stencilling?

 

[SweetSounds]

If you're just looking for a color to ID the beer, how about fingernail polish?

Maybe pink.
Or Purple. :rockin:

 

[pkincaid]

Thanks guys... I'm just looking to make my brews custom. A lot of them get given away, and there something about having your mark all over your crap to make sure people get the idea lol.

Nah... Really I just like the way they look.

I'll be checking out Wild Hops for sure.

** Sometimes reading these threads is a hoot. Most people are helpful, others assume that they are brewing Gods or at least to amazing to productively help out. lol