General homebrew discussion, tips and help on kit and malt extract brewing, and talk about equipment. Queries on sourcing supplies and equipment should go in The Store.
melbourne man wrote:Why don't you just write the batch number on the cap with a permanent marker.
Long answer - Because it's quicker and easier to put a sticker on top than try to write a code/symbol etc on a bottle cap. For the princely cost of $2 I get a cheap labeling system that works for 160 bottles. Then, I change the colour of the caps and do it all again...
lethaldog wrote:Best way to remove labels is to fill the suckers with nice hot water and let them sit for a few minutes ( glass bottles obviously ) they should just come straight off! The other way is to just soak them in nice hot water for 5-10 minutes and same again they should bassically slide straight off, you may just have to scrub a little of the glue off witch when hot is a peice of cake!! hope this helped
Im with lethaldog and melbourneman.
Good soak in very hot water.
Mind you, i dont have that problem very often. I usually only drink my homebrew now days. Have a good stock of the old style roll top long necks.
" White Wine with Roast Beef ! how dare you ? "..... " I dare because I like it ! " ....Dogger on the meaning of life.
melbourne man wrote:Why don't you just write the batch number on the cap with a permanent marker.
Long answer - Because it's quicker and easier to put a sticker on top than try to write a code/symbol etc on a bottle cap. For the princely cost of $2 I get a cheap labeling system that works for 160 bottles. Then, I change the colour of the caps and do it all again...
Short answer - It works for me.
Hal.
I do the same, the only problem is that my three kids fight over putting the stckers on.
Thanks for all the replies.
I'm going to have a go at a few of the methods.
I can soak the bottles for a week while the brew is fermenting.
Sounds like the easiest, plus I'll have a go at the Alkaline salts too.
One of the processes at my work involves sticking yellow dots on packaging, so I'll have to 'borrow' a few boxes of dots to slap on my lids!
I soak my bottles in a bleach solution while my brew ferments, then when Im ready to bottle I just peel off the labels (or wire brush any that are hard to remove) and rinse/scrub the insides just before bottling
I suggest doing a price comparison: I soak my bottles in the laundry sink with dishwasher detergent which is essentially the same as alkaline salts. Try homebrand dishwasher detergent.
FWIW, it works really well on everthing except crownies, but then nothing else seems to work any better on them. For them I find I have to use a fairly agressive scourer (e.g. "curly girl"). Fortunately, I've got enough crownies now for an entire brew, and enough other bottles, that I don't feel tempted to get any more of them. 1L San Pellgrino mineral water bottles on the other hand....
As for labels, I have a template document that I copy and hack each time in Word that just prints onto DL24 labels from officeworks (DL24 is 3x8, so about 7cmx3cm). I usually lay my labels out something like:
brew# date
Witty Name
n.n% alc/vol
formatted nicely, etc, etc.
It took a bit of messing around the first time, but now it takes me only a minute or two to format up the page of labels, then I print of enough copies - 1 page using my 1L bottles, or 2-3 depending on whether they're longies or stubbies (actually, I've got different sets of 330ml, and 375ml bottles, not to mention my slowly growing collection of 485ml Grolsch swing-tops).
Krusty wrote:here's an answer then.... I don't know why one would bother, since they are clear. Clear bottles will allow your beer to become light struck.
- Krusty
I had a look but couldn't find the answer. I liked the info about being light-struck though, that fridge light can be real ferocious when the door's opened.
You can purchase sheets of blank 1" round adhesive labels that fit neatly on top of bottle caps, be they crown, plastic, Grolch ect.
Free Word templates and tutorial provided.
Design and print your own labels.
Quick and easy to attach. Throw away the label with the cap, so no more soaking and peeling.
If your bottles are in high rotation, the labels will come off in time. I find that after the third or fourth dousing and rinsing of my bottles (with a good brew in between each one) they've come up pretty shiny and clean.
Also, don't underestimate the power of a snail or two!
Of course if you are labelling each of your brews anywhere other than the bottle cap, my simple solution may not be the best for you...
