How do you label your bottles?

Question

How do you mark, label, or otherwise identify the contents of your bottles? I'm currently using masking tape and a marker, but I'm curious what most other people use.

Answer 1

I design my labels in Inkscape and print them with a laser printer onto labels from Minilabels which have an enormous number of labels available in different materials/adhesive and printing methods.

Answer 2

I don't label the bottle itself, because I hate removing the labels later.

Instead, I mark the cap with a sharpie. I have a number/naming convention I use, typically something like Year-Batch Abbreviation

For example, 10-04 HB is the fourth beer of 2010, and is my Hellcat Bitter.

Answer 3

I started off just marking bottle caps with a sharpie. This worked well for my own purposes, but whenever I give it to someone they had no idea what it was. Last Christmas I gave beer as gifts, so I made a special label. I bought beer bottle label paper and was able to design any shape and print it out. Cutting out the labels was a pain, applying the labels was a pain, and after wards half of them came off.

Lately I have been using those mailing label sheets that are meant for your printer. They are adhesive so it is really easy to put them on. They are also really cheap. I usually just write the label by hand but you could print it. I think they give the bottles a "bootleg" feel, which I like.

Answer 4

I started writing on the bottle caps with a marker, but it could be hard to write on the cap. Lately I've been using circle shaped garage sale stickers on the caps. It's easy to use and I don't have to remove anything from the bottle itself. If you can find the multi-colored labels, it makes it much easier to identify the beer at a glance.

Answer 5

I prepare my labels in inkscape/gimp and print them out onto card stock. I cut them a bit smaller than a business card, punch a hole in one side, and tie it around the bottle neck with a bit of twine. It gives a really classy effect without having to scrape stickers off the bottle.

Answer 6

When I'm going to be giving beer as a gift or will be cellaring my beer for a while I print my labels on mailing labels. Then I give them a light spray of lacquer to waterproof them (so the ink doesn't run from condensation).

If they're not for such a formal affair I mark the cap with a sharpie.

Answer 7

I've done some printing of labels and also some stickers from StickerMule.com, but for quick labels, I use one of those "DYMO" labelmaker machines where you type on it and it spits out a text label. It's pretty handy for labeling fermenters, kegs, etc. with contents and date. We bought it to label crap in the garage, but it turned out useful for bottles and the rest too.

Answer 8

I design my labels in OOo Writer and print them on this label paper. I can't remember the brand name off the top of my head (I threw away the packaging), but it's great stuff. A lot cheaper than Minilabels and more versatile since you have the whole 8.5x11 to work with (I usually do 9 labels per sheet).

Answer 9

For wine bottles.. we use Wine Cellar Bottle Tags. It's nice to be able to read what you have shelved without pulling all your bottles out trying to find the one you are looking for. They sell cheap disposable paper ones & reusable dry-erase style ones.

Answer 10

I like to use custom bottle caps. They are really cheap and you can design whatever you want and have it printed on them. They also make for good stocking stuffers for any home brewing friend/family members.

Answer 11

Head to your local home improvement store and pick up some "Chalk Board Paint" (spray paint). You can tape off a section of your bottle, paint, and label with chalk. You will want to paint a portion that doesn't get touched so much... perhaps the neck of the bottle.

Answer 12

Checkout www.BeerClings.com. This is by far the easiest way to label, plus you can reuse the labels. They work great.

Answer 13

+1 for a sharpie on the caps.

I sometimes print labels out and wet the back of the paper with a sponge that has been soaked in milk - then slap the labels on. When the milk dries, the labels are stuck on pretty good...and are super easy to remove with a short soak.

Answer 14

If you don't need anything too custom, http://beerlabelizer.com/ is a great site for making easy labels. They claim to have good luck using milk as an adhesive, though I've yet to personally try it.

Answer 15

On the low-end of things -- similar to "sharpie on the cap" but more environmental friendly -- I use grease pencil. You can write right on the bottle, and it comes off easily with a "brillo" type scrubber.

The peelings from the grease pencil can go in the woodstove or compost, and there's no hunk of plastic to discard.

Answer 16

Printer Paper and milk. that's right milk!

I print the labels on my ink jet (laser is better as the ink won't run) and then dip it in milk and attach to the bottle. Run the bottle under hot water for a few seconds and the label comes right off.

Answer 17

I have no artistic skills. I use beerlabelizer.com to create a label. Print it on normal paper. Cut the labels out. Use regular glue sticks to apply glue to the back of the paper label and fix onto the bottle.

The disadvantage of this approach is that you can't put these in a cooler with ice as the label will come off. This is also an advantage because de-labeling is super easy. The labels seem to stay just fine in storage and in refrigerators.

I sharpie the cap for identification if I haven't applied labels yet.

Answer 18

I design my labels in Pixelmator. They are pretty small at 2.25" x 1.25" but this way I don't use too much paper. Speaking of paper I like to take grocery bags and cut them into 8.5" x 11" sheets, then feed them into my inkjet printer just like standard letter sized paper. Grocery bag paper has a nice texture, thickness and brown color that isn't as blindingly bright as normal printer paper.

Just like Timone mentioned, I use twine to attach around the neck of the bottle. Much nicer than scraping an adhesive label off. Although the twine loop can slide off when putting the bottle into a six-pack sleeve.

A quick coat of polyurethane will give the labels a nice shine and keep them from getting wet in a cooler of ice. You can get a spray bottle of it at the hardware store.

Answer 19

Most of the time I get my labels from beerlabelcreator.com. They have some cool designs, and it takes just a couple of minutes to create a nice label and save it as a printable PDF with 2x3 or 3x4 labels per sheet, depending on bottle size. Use glue stick or milk to attach to bottles.

Answer 20

I have designed a label for myself in Inkscape and bought some Wheatpaste that I use to glue it on the bottle. Works quite nice, but is quite easy to remove again.

I discovered that sometimes the label comes partly off while drying, but if you just remove it then, resoak it in the past and apply it again, it normally sticks.