Does anyone leave label on? Am I terrible?

[kpr121]

I have been kegging for the majority of my (short) brewing career. I frequently will bottle a 6 pack or 3 for friends and family, as well as if we are going to a party or something. I probably have about 5 cases of de-labeled bottles in my rotation. Just this morning, I decided that if I don't need to soak a new commercial bottle in oxyclean to get rid of gunk, then I am simply not doing it. Just a scalding hot water rinse, dry, and throw em in a bottle box.

Now of course I will use the delabeled bottles for when I am worried about presentation (special friends or family who don't always get to try my homebrew), but now when my buddy come over to help(ish) me brew and wants a six pack for holding the waterline as the HLT fills, I am just going to give him the labeled bottles. I always write what the beer is on the caps, so I would think that confusion wouldnt be an issue. He usually drinks bud light anyways.

I just hate the pain and agony that is cleaning bottles (yes I am spoiled from kegging), and I think this may be a good brewing chore that I can skimp on a lil.

Does anyone else do anything similar? Or am I a terrible person and extremely lazy?

 

[Revvy]

I have a buddy who does too. Sometimes he gives me beers that go in the fridge with the rest of my beer including commercial micros often of the same brand as the bottle, and it gets confusing. Usually the only clue is a plain cap.

 

[kpr121]

Yea I could see it getting confusing if I left it in my beer fridge, since I frequently have multiple brands of commercial, and obviously it would be more likely that I had the same brand as one of the label-on homebrews. But this is mostly for giving away beers to people that often get my homebrew, and they don't drink much else (brew buddy, my dad, brother, etc.)

I figure if I am giving the beer away for free so often, I shouldnt be spending extra time cleaning bottles.

 

[KevinM]

Sharpie an X on the label, or stick some masking tape on it with the current beer. Can put a bit of spray paint on the label if you want to go through that sort of effort.

I don't bother taking off the labels for those that I give away either.

 

[FromZwolle]

lately i've been doing the same. to make it even more confusing, i've been reusing caps from commercial beers.

the only clue is that the cap doesn't match the label.

 

[kpr121]

I like the X idea, that is simple enough. Seems like spray paint would ruin the whole 'trying to save time' idea, but it makes sense.

 

[joeybeer]

Fill a bucket half full with water and a scoop of oxyclean, drop your empties in there and when it's full, pull them out and rinse !! Easy peasy !

 

[quigsnshad]

Staples or officemax sells a pack of 1008 3/4" round labels for about $3.50, you can get like 5 or so different colors or just an assorted pack that are printable with laser or inkjet. Takes about 10 minutes to figure out your label setup and you can use any font or picture you want. After your initial template, just change the name for different beers and print off 48 for a 5 gallon batch. Takes less than a minute.

 

[woodstone]

Sorry guys, I might be a snob here...lazy, lazy, lazy.

I think it says you don't care.

Some folks have a hard enough time trying a homebrew, nevermind tossing them one with a banged up label still on it.

It screams "if you can't clean the label off, what the hell is IN the bottle?".

Just one man's opinion.

 

[Agent]

When I get new bottles, I just dump them in a sink with hot bleach water, and by the time I've filled the sink with bottles, the labels from the first bottles are ready to come off. Just hit them with those Pampered Chef Nylon Pan Scrapers to get the paper off, and maybe a scouring pad if the glue bugs you. It's ridiculously quick.
The only ones that take a little longer that I've encountered are those New Belgium bottles. They need like 10 minutes of soaking.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

I just use a bit of oxyclean in an old fermenter filled with water. The labels and the glue melt right off in an hour or so. A few scrubs with the back of a kitchen sponge will get rid of the remaining glue.