I have gotten doing both bottles and kegs to keep things moving along and have a question. Do you folks use any software or website to print up labels for your different brews? I am not looking for anything super fancy, but something that is easy to use and fun to play around with. My wife is good with designing stuff and she wants to kinda be my label person. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
I used to really get into it but have dialed it back to using a graphic from the internet and some script in PowerPoint. Ken has some good looking labels.
I used to use small Avery labels that could be applied to the caps (once they dried) to label the beer and add the bottling date. Not good when stuff gets wet, but good for beers that I planned to cellar. The downside is the size and the ability to add graphics, which you indicated you are trying to do.
I would be curious to hear what you ultimately decide as I think this could be fun for events.
I used to design labels using Microsoft Publisher and glue them on with an Elmer’s glue stick. Haven’t done it in years, though.
It will be fun to do for a while then you will gradually get away from it. I bottled a dozen or so for a family reunion last weekend and toyed with the idea of labels but instead just used a silver sharpie and wrote on the bottles what it was and ABV.
I only label 3 bottles from each batch. If I bottle more than that I just use color-coded caps to tell me what is what.
I use Word and print 3 labels per page, each 8" wide and 3.5" high. I use the Fastlabel shrink wrap beer sleeves to hold the paper labels in place. No adhesive, and easy to remove. https://www.morebeer.com/products/fastlabel-beer-label-sleeves-12-oz.html Those work great for long neck bottles, not so well for stubbies.
I always just write on the cap with a sharpie. I usually a 2 letter code that represents the name of the beer. They don’t seem to last long enough to worry about forgetting what batch it is from. I have been looking at low cost and easy options for labels or cap stickers for when I gift them to someone else. Who else would know that “WS” means Wicked Summer (my Pete’s Wicked Summer Brew tribute)? The sleeve seems like a reasonable option.
Back when I bottled, I used round 1/2" stickers and a micro sharpie to write the name on the sticker and put it on the cap. I made labels during my early years, because I gifted bottles to co-workers and friends at holiday time - but that became too much of a PITA. I had meads stored for about 10 years and the stickers remained until the bottles were opened…so they work pretty well until you put them in water or a cooler with ice.
I label bottles by writing a code on the cap and then I have a list of the codes. It’s just abbreviations of a name (when I name) or initials of something with a year. It seemed fun to design labels and slap them on bottles but I hate delabeling bottles and never went through with it. My MIL gave me this old hand printer from the mid-twentieth century that uses stencils to print postcards and labels. I thought it would be fun to design black and white labels for some of my sour beers but I haven’t done it yet.
If I wanted to make labels for fun I’d probably look at making the tags that hang from the neck of the bottle so there’s no delabeling involved.
I always just wrote the batch number on the cap with a sharpie. When I took bottles somewhere I’d print a list of batch #'s and what they were so people could ID them.
Labels were always an idea that seemed like fun, someday. That day has not yet come.
Paul
There are plenty of options out there, but cleaning labels off bottles gets old fast. I moved to just labeling the caps with something like these:
If you want labels that won’t come off when wet (a pro when keeping them in a cooler with ice, but a big con when prepping them for the next batch), then these are nice:
I use Canva to design labels and then lay them out on level sheets with libre office. I use ~3×4" making labels.
I’ve used Grog Tag successfully before, too.
I’ll still label bottles occasionally, but not as often as I used to. I print to regular laser printer paper, and I’ve been using this recipe for an easy-to-remove label glue:
Basic Waterproof Glue
- 6 tbsp water
- 2 packets unflavored gelatin (1/2 oz.)
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp glycerine
Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until it is dissolved. Add vinegar and glycerin and stir well. Let the mixture cool slightly and pour into a jar and seal tightly. To Use: This glue is best applied while warm. Apply to surfaces using a brush. Glue will gel after a few days. To re-use, warm by placing the jar in a pan of hot water. Good for binding leather to leather, fabrics to cardboard, paper to paper.
However, I typically only label the bottles that I give away, so I don’t feel that I’m gaining much by using an easy-to-remove glue, and I’m inclined to start using something that’s easier / less messy than this glue. Like regular, adhesive labels. [emoji1]
Regular mailing labels pop right off with a quick soak in a mild PBW solution — which is part of my normal post-use cleaning regimen anyway.
I’m a graphic designer so I have Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. When I used to design my own labels I sometimes used a glue stick to attach them. As long as they didn’t get wet they stayed on fairly well and were cheap and easy to apply.
I also suggest canva. You can make an artsy label with little effort. FOR FREE!! I have illustrator, Photoshop, and all that too. They work great. I have used my cricut as well but for gifts only. That is a pita.