blackonblack
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- Jun 2, 2014
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Ok everyone. I thought I'd share a little discovery to anyone whos interested. After bottling my last few batches I decided that my bottles needed a little pizazz. As I've ramped up my brewing I found myself storing a few different varieties of beer but no real way to label them easily and cheaply and decipher one from another. My beers have been in a bit more in demand amongst friends these days and I thought it would be nice to label them so my friends know what the heck Ive brewed em.. Furthermore, wouldn't it be nice to EASILY AND CHEAPLY label bottles and provide a complete ingredient list and instructions to fellow home brewers? Hand a buddy a bottle and if he likes it he's got everything he needs to know to brew a copy right on the bottle?
These labels are far from glamorous. But this technique will indeed put data on a beer bottle. Nothing fancy.
I found an alternative to traditional "home brew caliber" expensive bottle labels by using a Thermal Label Printer. (Zebra Model LP2844).
A thermal printer does not use ink so they cost next to nothing to operate and print insanely quickly. They use a special label paper that turns shades of black when heat is applied via an internal laser. Labels for these printers are practically free. A roll of 4x6 adhesive labels contains 250 labels. On ebay you can buy 2 rolls (500 total) for $14 dollars shipped. THATS A COST OF 2.7 CENTS A LABEL. By buying in bulk you can get the labels under 2 cents each. In short you can label a six pack for 16 (or less) cents and printing 6 labels takes about 6 seconds.
Pros of labeling Bottles With a Zebra Thermal Printer:
Ridiculously cheap labels. For the first time in your life you wont cringe when you print 50 mostly black labels because the device uses no ink. 50 labels will cost you $1.35 max. 50% less if you buy in bulk.
Speed.
Thermal printers were developed for use in high volume printing so they are extremely fast. Each label prints in about 1-3 seconds.
The standard shipping labels which are 4x6 seem to be the perfect size for a beer bottle! And the labels are already adhesive so just peel and stick!
These labels remove far easier than commercial beer bottle labels.
Cons:
You'll have to acquire a label printer. I recommend the Zebra LP2844. Perfect working refurbished units can be found for $120-$150 on eBay and similiar sites.. Tons are availabe refurished as UPS bought thousands to lease to shipping customers. These were sold off as they were returned. Mine is marked UPS LP2844.
Color: Thermal printers to my understanding print only in greyscale so I hope black and white are your favorite colors. They print text perfectly crisp but hugely lack in printing photos. Thats just not what they were developed for. I've attached some photos to see how they print images.
As basically a shipping label I was surprised how well they held up when they got wet! The label feels almost plasticky and it didn't turn to mush like id expected. Furthermore there is no ink on the labels so no ink running! These labels are good to go getting wet in a cooler but I'm sure aren't as durable as commercial labels.
After you've found a printer. Connect via USB to a PC. Zebra has full support for the LP2844 so you can get drivers and even free label printing software through their website.
Once you've printed the label tear it off and remove the backing. Place the label face down with the adhesive side up on a flat surface and like a rolling pin roll the bottle over the label while applying pressure... Labeled.
You can print and label a 6 pack in under a minute.
The Printer:
Designing a Label with the Free zebra software:
Few different bottles: you can see how crisp the text is. I tried printing a zombie dust logo just for fun:
Zombie Dust label out of the printer:
Custom label with complete recipe:
Another black and white label
Box of label rolls from eBay.
These labels are far from glamorous. But this technique will indeed put data on a beer bottle. Nothing fancy.
I found an alternative to traditional "home brew caliber" expensive bottle labels by using a Thermal Label Printer. (Zebra Model LP2844).
A thermal printer does not use ink so they cost next to nothing to operate and print insanely quickly. They use a special label paper that turns shades of black when heat is applied via an internal laser. Labels for these printers are practically free. A roll of 4x6 adhesive labels contains 250 labels. On ebay you can buy 2 rolls (500 total) for $14 dollars shipped. THATS A COST OF 2.7 CENTS A LABEL. By buying in bulk you can get the labels under 2 cents each. In short you can label a six pack for 16 (or less) cents and printing 6 labels takes about 6 seconds.
Pros of labeling Bottles With a Zebra Thermal Printer:
Ridiculously cheap labels. For the first time in your life you wont cringe when you print 50 mostly black labels because the device uses no ink. 50 labels will cost you $1.35 max. 50% less if you buy in bulk.
Speed.
Thermal printers were developed for use in high volume printing so they are extremely fast. Each label prints in about 1-3 seconds.
The standard shipping labels which are 4x6 seem to be the perfect size for a beer bottle! And the labels are already adhesive so just peel and stick!
These labels remove far easier than commercial beer bottle labels.
Cons:
You'll have to acquire a label printer. I recommend the Zebra LP2844. Perfect working refurbished units can be found for $120-$150 on eBay and similiar sites.. Tons are availabe refurished as UPS bought thousands to lease to shipping customers. These were sold off as they were returned. Mine is marked UPS LP2844.
Color: Thermal printers to my understanding print only in greyscale so I hope black and white are your favorite colors. They print text perfectly crisp but hugely lack in printing photos. Thats just not what they were developed for. I've attached some photos to see how they print images.
As basically a shipping label I was surprised how well they held up when they got wet! The label feels almost plasticky and it didn't turn to mush like id expected. Furthermore there is no ink on the labels so no ink running! These labels are good to go getting wet in a cooler but I'm sure aren't as durable as commercial labels.
After you've found a printer. Connect via USB to a PC. Zebra has full support for the LP2844 so you can get drivers and even free label printing software through their website.
Once you've printed the label tear it off and remove the backing. Place the label face down with the adhesive side up on a flat surface and like a rolling pin roll the bottle over the label while applying pressure... Labeled.
You can print and label a 6 pack in under a minute.
The Printer:
Designing a Label with the Free zebra software:
Few different bottles: you can see how crisp the text is. I tried printing a zombie dust logo just for fun:
Zombie Dust label out of the printer:
Custom label with complete recipe:
Another black and white label
Box of label rolls from eBay.
