Opinion on labeling...

[BlackDuck]

Here is a pic that I stole from a thread that blackduck posted on. I think this should cover the necessities.

Thanks for having my back on this....I was just about to go searching for that picture.

[Dawg LB Steve]

I label when I bottle from the keg to take a quantity of different bottles. I use a site called labeley.com its free and just download the saved label and print 4 per sheet of paper. Then just trim out and stick on with kids glue stick.

[Easy Trotter]

That's great, Louie! I do have a Google account and will be looking up some templates.

Dawg, the Labely site sounds interesting. Wonder how much of a pain getting the labels off would be.

[Inkleg]

Unless they have a plastic coating, all labels come off pretty easy with a soak in OxyClean Free.

[Dawg LB Steve]

If your talking about your own labels coming off, they come off Sooooooo easy using the glue stick. Just run under warm water for about 30 seconds to saturate the paper to get to the glue and they basically wipe off. If your talking about de-labeling a commercial bottle, like Inkleg said, with a little bit of scrubbing with a scotch brite pad sometimes for stubborn labels. Also if you are going to save bottles, don't bother with the twist off bottles, best to use the pry off bottles. Thicker glass around the neck and will give a superior seal.

[LouieMacGoo]

Labeley is a great site to make your labels. Also a great tip I learned years ago is to print labels on plain paper, you can usually get 6 labels per sheet. After you cut them up, dip the back of your labels into a shallow plate of milk and stick them on your bottles. The milk, having lactose acts like an adhesive when it dries. The good part of this is that it's quick and easy to get labels on your beer bottles. The bad, any type of moisture will usually cause the labels to fall off, but if you get enough milk on them to begin with they will stay put fairly well.

[HerbMeowing]

Marked with a letter or two to indicate the recipe.
Small piece of paper on the shelf with the brew date, bottling date, start chill date, and expected peak flavor date.
.

[jpsherman]

Marked with a letter or two to indicate the recipe.
Small piece of paper on the shelf with the brew date, bottling date, start chill date, and expected peak flavor date.
.

I love painters tape!

I only put bottled date on label. Brew date goes in my brew log book.

[swenocha]

I used to do printed labels with a lot of info and fancy graphics and such (see the link in my sig), and I have also done written labels with dates and such. For the last several years, though, I have reverted to using a Sharpie to write a letter on the cap indicating the beer. Any stats on the beer are in BeerSmith if I want to look them up. If I intend to hand them out, I sometimes label, or other times print out info from Beersmith to include with the bottles. #lowMaintenance

[BigPapaG]

I keg a lot, but I also bottle, particularly for beers that I want to compete or age..

So, I generally label the case of 24 bottles with a yellow sticky note that I staple on to the box top.

It contains:

Beer Name:
Date Bottled:
OG:
FG:
ABV:

For bottles that I end up keeping around for aging or drinking, particularly when I'm consolidating different beers into one case, I use a Sharpie on the bottle cap...

It would generally have a 2-3 character abbreviation of the name: ie: HG for Hayride Grisette

It would also have the bottle date and ABV.



IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: a lot of members make some really great, creative, funny and impactful labels for their bottles! I think that's great! Keep up the good work!

I on the other hand, feel that beer is a fleeting experience... Each brew being but a moment in time. Unfortunately, for me those moments don't last long so the task of attempting to be creative, producing the label, affixing it to the bottle, drinking the beer and then de-labeling the bottle seems too labor intensive for me... Especially given the fact that, as opposed to wine making, brewing seems much more, shall we say industrious... Lots to do to get a brew, and they go oh so fast...

[TonyKZ1]

I use the site http://www.beerlabelizer.com, there's not as many label choices as other sites but it works pretty good. I normally put on the label, the beer name and type, my name, where it was brewed, bottle size, and alcohol percentage. I used to but bottling date too, but usually have ran out of room by that point. I use normal printing paper and glue stick adhesive to attach the label to the PET bottles and milk to attach the labels to the glass bottles.

[John Sand]

I use generic labels for my brewery with a picture of the boat. I label the bottle necks or caps with a Brother Label Maker. I think it cost me $20-30. Name or style, abv. bottling date.

[FrozenInTime]

I keg, don't bottle. I use from office supply those tags with a string to write what is in keg. I used to label them when I bottled, but I don't do that any longer.

[FedoraDave]

Whatever works for you, obviously, is the best approach.

Me, I use beerlabelizer.com, and I include the ABV% and date of bottling/kegging. Other brewers do different things, because that's what works for them.

Some guys don't name their beers, other than "Batch 25" or "Irish Red." Or they write the style on the cap with a Sharpie. Part of the fun, for me, though, is coming up with a name, and I like the label designs I can use.

[Easy Trotter]

Lots of great tips and it's cool to see everyone's different labeling ideas. I tab the caps on all bottles with name, abv and date bottled. I made these labels just for the ones to be given away. Since I live in the U.S. southwest, I went with a western theme...