I'll never understand why....

[DrBergeron]

I like to bottle 1/2 batches using "recycled" bottles with old labels on them and the other 1/2 bottles i've bought new. This way I have bottles to give away to people and don't have to ask for them back, and bottles for when people come over to share that look nice. Best of both worlds.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Hey, if you want to be the kid at school with stains all over his clothes, be my guest.

To quote George Thorogood "I drink alone".

if you're drinking at home, who cares if you've got stains on your clothes, labels on your bottles, or peanut shells on the floor. It's all about the beer.

 

[unionrdr]

I just think it's better to serve my beers in clean,delabeled bottled. Clean inside & out. It just makes for a neater presentation. I let them pour there own beer after aquick tutorial. Get's them a little more involved.

 

[AMonkey]

this is exactly why I don't drink people's beer when it still has labels on it. I saw one guy serving his beers at a local bar that has a homebrew happy hour. He had Samuel Smith Bottles with the labels on. Samuel Smith labels fall of in 2 minutes in lukewarm water. He had brought his first 4 batches of beer. It was obvious to me that the bottles hadn't been sanitized. Gross.

Jet washer and vinator. Just saying.

 

[Mb2658]

To quote George Thorogood "I drink alone".

if you're drinking at home, who cares if you've got stains on your clothes, labels on your bottles, or peanut shells on the floor. It's all about the beer.

True, and if no one sees it, no one will be the wiser. But then again, if you post pictures of your labeled bottles, stained clothes and peanut shell covered floor on the Internet, like some do, you intend for others to see.

For me, it's worth the small amount effort to clean up the bottles. For some it isn't. Fair enough. It doesn't make your beer any better or worse provided that you follow adequate sanitation methods. I would say that it does impact the overall image of the finished package/product. I think that it is fair to say that an outsider trying your beer who sees you pour it from a bottle with a janky faded 1554 label is going to have a different impression of your beer than if it comes out of a bottle that is clean or has a custom made label.

For me personally, it is a pride issue. I don't want someone else's tired old label on the fruits of my labor.

 

[RainyDay]

Just sandblast the bottles. Its quick, easy, and everyone has a sandblaster anyway

 

[unionrdr]

I don't,but I guess I could use one for my tuner. I just use PBW,starsan,a dobie & bottle brush for cleaning them. The PBW soak does most of the work.

 

[neko]

I will usually put my brew in 22oz bottles and a lot of those are silkscreened (Rogue, Stone, Hopworks) so the label isn't coming off. A little sharpie on the cap so I know what is inside is all I need.

The beer inside is great. The outside of the clean and sanitized bottle doesn't mean much so I'll spend my time on more important things.

 

[signpost]

Wow. I'm surprised none of you have died from label contamination. Everybody knows that beer labels go bad after their first use. You people must like living on the edge. I'm not even convinced the bottles even last more than a couple uses. If I could, I'd just drink straight from the fermenter and carbonate each gulp in my mouth.

 

[NervousDad]

We eat and drink with our eyes, so I would be leery of a bottle with some random label still attached, but really I wouldn't mind too much once I poured it into a pint glass. I mean really I would just prefer it on kegged anyway.

 

[Cambone]

Ahhhhhh.... First world problems.

To quote the venerable Casey Beathard

"You do your thing, I'll do mine"

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

Wow. I'm surprised none of you have died from label contamination. Everybody knows that beer labels go bad after their first use. You people must like living on the edge. I'm not even convinced the bottles even last more than a couple uses. If I could, I'd just drink straight from the fermenter and carbonate each gulp in my mouth.

My wife is wondering what is so dang funny right now.

 

[dietz31684]

My wife is wondering what is so dang funny right now.

I just got an awesome mental picutre of someone with a co2 hose shoved into their mouth and a horrified look on their face when wifey just opened the door to the brew room without knocking. hahaha

 

[unionrdr]

Ahhhhhh.... First world problems.

To quote the venerable Casey Beathard

"You do your thing, I'll do mine"

Maybe that's where my 9th grade math teacher got his saying above the blackboard-"do your own thing,but don't stop me from doing mine".

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

A lot of the bottles i can get cheaply are 22's that are misprints, but they are bottles where the label is printed onto the bottle itself with glue or epoxy or whatever whatever it is they use..and it never comes off.

 

[bioguy]

Just sandblast the bottles. Its quick, easy, and everyone has a sandblaster anyway

Please convince me I need a sandblaster for my hobby. So many uses...removing beer labels, de-rusting those patio chairs...mmm, I'm out of reasons--but I'm sure I need one.

 

[MinnesnowtaBrew]

Wow, am I ever disgusted with this thread. It's like listening to people discuss politics, vote this guy vote that guy, labels, no labels.

Shut the front door and make/brew/prepare beer the way you like...

Who drinks beer out of the bottle anyways? Do labels really matter? They don't at all, in fact it's a meaningless thread.

 

[ktblunden]

For a long time I was making my own labels using printable shipping labels. Now I've come to realize that the adhesive on those was forged in the fires of Mount Doom and it's a huge pain in the ass to remove those. So the last couple batches I've been a little lazy with removing those, but I actually just spent the weekend removing the labels from all my empties, so that's actually a relief. I've since started printing labels on glossy laser jet paper and using milk to affix them. These labels come off after 2 minutes of soaking, so that's my plan from now on.

 

[whitehause]

I de-label mine just because i use my dishwasher to wash them before I star-san and bottle. I have fisher-paykel dish drawers and keep the bottom one free of jet dry just so I can use it for bottles. I have a pretty good supply of de-labeled bottles now, so I only do a case or so every two months just to make up for ones that weren't returned.

 

[mcspanner]

I've since started printing labels on glossy laser jet paper and using milk to affix them. These labels come off after 2 minutes of soaking, so that's my plan from now on.

Milk?! As in cow juice?

 

[whitehause]

Milk?! As in cow juice?

Yep....works great, and the labels come off easy. Just don't put them in a cooler full of ice and water....you'll have floating labels in no time.

 

[whitehause]

Wow, am I ever disgusted with this thread. It's like listening to people discuss politics, vote this guy vote that guy, labels, no labels.

Shut the front door and make/brew/prepare beer the way you like...

Who drinks beer out of the bottle anyways? Do labels really matter? They don't at all, in fact it's a meaningless thread.

So........
do you leave em on (Obama)
or take em off (Romney)

 

[jwalk4]

I don't think that the label being left on the bottle matters much, and I certainly don't think that its an indicator of laziness.

To use another example, do you only drink your homebrew from an unlabeled glass? If you aren't screening or etching your own glassware, are you being lazy?

This thread should be removed.

 

[Boy]

The bottles with labels removed are the ones I keep for myself because I took the time and want to keep them. Anything I give away is typically in a painted bottle(rogue etc.) or still has a label. I remove labels when they begin to fall off or when I buy back recycled bottles that need cleaning in Oxi-Clean.

 

[jameshasnames]

I always remove the labels simply because I want to. I'm gonna give the bottles an Oxyclean soak anyway, so I might as well go ahead and remove the labels. Plus when I move up to kegging I'll have a large stock of label free bottles to sell to new brewers