This sucks 1st time bottling

[passedpawn]

Boiling? WTH? A big bin, hot water, oxyclean and overnight soak is all you need/

Don't need the hot water. I've been removing labels with oxyclean & cold water forever. They usually are floating the next day.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

Use hot water for quicker results,

 

[5L1mm]

theres this vodka.
360
they come in swing top fifths.
ive been buying a bunch of that stuff.
its also damn yummy vodka

 

[Cwetherford]

theres this vodka.
360
they come in swing top fifths.
ive been buying a bunch of that stuff.
its also damn yummy vodka

Random...

 

[passedpawn]

Random...

I'm guessing he's drinking it now....

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Sounds like you are cleaning bottles and bottling at the same time? from now on have a couple cases of bottles setting cleaned and ready to sanitize, then find revvys bottling thread and go from there.

 

[PHillBrewCo]

don't need the hot water. I've been removing labels with oxyclean & cold water forever. They usually are floating the next day.

+1.

 

[KsHopHead]

theres this vodka.
360
they come in swing top fifths.
ive been buying a bunch of that stuff.
its also damn yummy vodka

Yeah, they distill that stuff just up the road from me in Weston, Mo. Pretty good stuff, and the "double chocolate" tastes just like chocolate milk! So, I've been buying a good bit of it myself.

 

[gtlaw10]

the best thing you can do is let them soak for a couple days in whatever chemical you use to clean/sanitize, most labels will literally fall off, the pesky ones can be scrapped off and the really pesky glue (i've had glue be resistant after a week long soak in starsan solution) can be easily removed with steel wool, you wont even scratch the glass if you don't rub too hard.
IMHO the chemical soak is the easiest method, plus it cleans and, with the right chemical, sanitizes your used bottles.

 

[houndsbreath]

I just leave the labels on, some fall off during cleanin empties or when I run them through the dishwasher prior to bottling. Deschutes seem to be well glued...

 

[Beezy]

Sierra Nevada and founders are very easy shorts are literally impossible I Soak and boil and everything and the glue stays on

I have done whole cases of both. Oxy clean has the labels floating in the water. Work smart not hard.

 

[PHillBrewCo]

Definitely save yourself the grief and invest in some oxy clean and a plastic tub. I let them sit for a day or two and then scrub with a coarse sponge under hot water to finish them off if needed. You can also do something kind of crazy and wash the inside of the bottles with a bottle brush if you're skeeved by dead horse byproduct. Imagine that, cleaning your bottles not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.

 

[osagedr]

I remember when I started making beer about three years ago and decided I needed bottles. A buddy gave me about 25 cases of MGD bottles he had in his garage. A lot of them had mould, cigarette butts, etc. Plus even with Oxyclean and superhot water they were just miserable to de-label. Spent an entire weekend on it (about 20 hours) but got 'em clean.

Worst part of all that was, of course, that they are clear bottles. Didn't know any better at the time. Hardly use any of them for beer anymore but do use them for wine coolers. Man, that weekend sucked!

 

[KuntyBrew]

Sierra Nevada and founders are very easy shorts are literally impossible I Soak and boil and everything and the glue stays on

i havent had issues with founders but i only drink the Dirty Bastard rarely

 

[Brasco20]

I just leave the labels on, im lazy!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I used to soak bottles in hot soapy water overnight, then the few labels & glue that didn't fall off got scrubbed off with a green scrubbie pad...
Then I discovered flip-top bottles & bought several cases new; they make bottling a breeze! With flip-tops, I can bottle twice as much in half the time...
Worth every penny.
Regards, GF.

 

[Jota21]

+1 for oxyclean... but the water doesn't even have to be hot.

I use a rubbermaid tote and just keep re-using the same water until it gets a little nasty. I fill the bottles with water too so they stand upright under the water and i can fit more, then i throw the lid on it and slide it under the laundry room table until i have time to get back to them (1 day - 2 months...) pull the bottles out of the water and most of them are spotless. Touch a green scratchy kitchen pad to the ones that still have some residue.

Give them a quick rinse and set them out to dry, then put them in a case and leave them until bottling day.

In the event that the labels dont come off easily, just throw those in the recycling... you'll soon have enough empties that it wont be worth your headache of scraping a stubborn lable with a razor.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Another vote for oxyclean. I can fit two cases of bottles in my kitchen sink. Bottles, a scoop or so of oxyclean, and hot water. Let sit for a couple hours and most labels will just fall right off. Some brands take a bit more effort than others. I swear some brewers use cement.

I just don't know where my de-labeled bottles have gone to - I seem to be missing a bunch.

 

[Dons]

As you've seen, there are a million methods to label removal. I personally don't like labels on my brew. Also, it REALLY depends on the glue used by the bottler. One thing not mentioned above that I saw is that if you opt for 22 oz bottles, you need to know that they are often/generally of much thinner glass than the standard 12. If you have over-carbonation due to timing issues, contamination or just luck, these are going to blow first. I've been there. Of 10 22oz bottles, I lost 8. All of the remaining 12s were fine - course I've made better beer......

 

[bniesen]

I just went through this myself just last Monday. This is what I did: I got out my 62qt mash cooler, hot tap water and Oxy-clean in mash cooler, put bottles in mash cooler and make sure they fill with the water/oxy-clean, close mash cooler for about an hour. I did about a case of 22oz bottles and a little over a case of 12oz bottles (I did two loads of bottles). Most of the labels came off with no glue left on bottles and only a hand full required scrapping off the glue/labels.

 

[JetSmooth]

When we bought a baby pool for my toddler son, I never imagined it would double as a bottle de-labeling tub. Until my wife took the kid to her mother's the other weekend.



>100 bottles soaking in (cold) oxyclean water over night + a little scrubbing to get the stubborn labels off = plenty of empties! (two nights to do 100 bottles, that is)

 

[Big_Belgian]

JetSmooth - What do you do with the large Ommengang bottles? Do you use a corker? I've got several of those empties, but only a standard bottle capper.

(apologies for the thread hijack - I soak for a few hours in a tub of hot oxyclean like most do and have no problems with labels.)

 

[SimonHucko]

another vote for oxyclean. I keep a bucket of the stuff in a corner of the kitchen. empties get rinsed and dropped into the bucket, labels and glue come right off the next day.

no reason not to go buy some, it's cheap as hell and really works

 

[boostsr20]

Sierra Nevada and founders are very easy shorts are literally impossible I Soak and boil and everything and the glue stays on

Shorts and Dark horse go in the trash. Founders and Bells are super easy to get off. Once you get a stock built up its not so bad. When you pour out a bottle, rinse it with hot water immediately and you won't need to do anything else beside sanitize before bottling next time.

 

[wormraper]

why bother going through the hassle of de-labeling... can't you just keep the labels on and bottle as is????

 

[bferullo]

I have found that hot water plus a lemon zester (yes lemon zester) peels most labels right off. My lemon zester was the OXO brand you get at any store for like 6 bucks.

 

[unionrdr]

I always have PBW handy. When I had a huge stack of bottles all over the downstairs,I used a 5G home cheapo bucket that holds 12-13 bottles. With just enough PBW to cover them by 2" or so. Let'em soak overnight. Then take a dobie & my bottle brush & go over'em real quick. Rinse & place on bottle tree.
Now that I'm caught up on that,I can use my 12 pack cooler & a small amount of PBW to soak a 6'r at a time. Then,on bottling day,fill the vinitor half full of star-san,& sanitize 45 bottles at a time & bottle.

 

[Rivenin]

Most of this thread is twilight zone. I agree with the many WTF's.

Oxiclean to clean and remove labels. Starsan and vinator and bottling tree for sanitation.

This. And if you do not have a vinator, use a spray bottle, i ususally do about 10 sprays inside.Shake the bottle up and down a few times. Then when i am bottling, i dunk the tip of the bottle into my starsan cocktail that the caps are sitting in.

 

[bniesen]

two local breweries have labels/glue that are homebrewer friendly. New Glarus labels will fall right off and the glue will come off just by rubbing it off with your hand, Lake Louie adhesive labels peel off real easy with nothing left on the bottle. For 22oz, I like Fat Tire bottles, labels come off easy that the glue will come off with some light scrubbing.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

why bother going through the hassle of de-labeling... can't you just keep the labels on and bottle as is????

You could, but for me, it makes it easier to distinguish between the beer I have in my fridge. Less confusion that way. For example, if I'm in the mood for a certain type of commercial pale ale, reach into the fridge and grab one, I'd be annoyed if I pop the cap only to see that it's really a porter I had made. If it has no label on it, I know to look at the cap.