Bottle label rant

[Asalpaws]

Doing some de-labeling today, going through a big box of empties some from me but many donations.

There seems to be a few variations on the way breweries label there bottles and how easy they are to remove. You could say why bother removing them? Well I don't know I just feel compelled to do it.

I would say there's three catogories of de-labeling ease:

1) Falls off with a bit of hot water soak or a film label that peels off in one go leaving no residue.

2) Comes off with a good soak, helped by viadene or oxyclean. May need some mild scrubbing.

3) You might as well throw em in the re-cycling or use em labeled. Mostly filmy kind with silver backing. Virtually impossible to remove. Some removable with oil soak but this is messy. Or labels that appear to be painted onto the glass itself. Or otherwise not useful unless for cider (clear) or won't take crown caps well (Wytchwood)

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A quick poll of the empties has lumped breweries into the afore mention catogories. These catogories in no way reflect the quality of the original beer. Also I recognize that convinience to the home brewer is not the breweries main concern!

1) Anything Belgian (Morgat, Leffe, Chimay, Rodenbach etc.), Erdinger, Paulanner, Steigl, Brewdog, Fishcer, Franziskaner, Blacksheep, Timothy Taylor

2) Sam Adams, Budweiser, Mcewans, Adnams, Batemans, Coopers, Some Slaters, Jennings, Theakston's,

3) Hook Norton, Holts, Titanic, Badger, Cains, Henneys cider, Meantime, Wytchwood

Recognizing that it's not really economically important, how easy it is to get a label off. It does influence my shopping habits, I tend to avoid cat 3 breweries now. Also it does show a certain European divide, I understand that in much of Europe beer bottles are collected, delabeled and re-used directly, this is much more environmentally friendly than collecting the bottles, smashing them and blowing new bottles. Anyway, rant over, better go do some scrubbing......

 

[prolix]

chuck them in the dish washer, remove before drying complete. use a good pair of gloves.

well thats how i do it :

 

[Asalpaws]

Yeah I've tried that, works fine for Cat 1 and some Cat 2 bottles. I have heard of people putting them in the oven but I worry about heat stressing the glass.

 

[Darcey]

I used to work for holts so I had lots of used bottles. I had the Sticky Stuff Remover. Used to work but quite frankly after afew packs of metal scourers it was prob easier just chucking them and just collecting the bulmers ones. They are the easiest for me.

At Marble we use ones that need a really good soak or two goes in the dish washer before I can HB with them!

D

 

[Asalpaws]

Is that Marble Arch in Manchester? I went there a few years ago, do they still brew on the premises? T

 

[Stihler]

I generally give the bottles a good soaking overnight in bleach water and then take one of those metal scrubs you get at the grocery store and scrub off any glue or labels that remain.
The labels usually come off quite easily. Many require no encouragement at all but those that do tend to require only a little scrubbing.

Foil labels are, however, the worse. They almost never come off with soaking and tend to be quite stubborn. The labels will eventually come off with a lot of scrubbing but unless I really need bottles I don't even bother with them any more.

- Scott

 

[operon]

I find with foil back labels white spirit does the trick and a good wash afterwards. I really enjoy the bottles where the labels practically fall of themselves.

 

[Asalpaws]

I really like the embossed bottles Robinson's Old Tom comes in but they seem to have recently gone to foil backed labels. I have got a few of them off by soaking in kitchen oil. It is a real pain though. T

 

[bunkerbrewer]

I find with foil back labels white spirit does the trick and a good wash afterwards. I really enjoy the bottles where the labels practically fall of themselves.

Yep, white spirit is nasty stuff though! I've found that a lot of the foil-backed and plasticky labels come off better dry - just peel them straight off the bottle (e.g. Bath Ales). You're then left with a residue which can be soaked / scrubbed off.

 

[operon]

I find with foil back labels white spirit does the trick and a good wash afterwards. I really enjoy the bottles where the labels practically fall of themselves.

Yep, white spirit is nasty stuff though! I've found that a lot of the foil-backed and plasticky labels come off better dry - just peel them straight off the bottle (e.g. Bath Ales). You're then left with a residue which can be soaked / scrubbed off.

I only use a small bit of white spirit and the glue comes of easy enough than a good wash.

 

[mashman]

A lot depends on what design the brewery wants on their bottle, whether they want bits of shiny chromy stuff depends whether it is paper or plastic or a combination of the two, this dictates the glue.
The process means the label has to go on the bottle first while its at room temp and dry, as the bottle is filling with beer it forms condensation on the glass so the label glue has to hold the label on as this forms without lifting off.
Once the label has been on the bottle a few hours the glue tends to get a good hold and needs a little patience to get off but there is no quick fix as you won't know what glue is used but all the usual methods are the way to deal with them and white spirit usually gets the glue off.

Steve W. Bottling process, local micro. :thumb:

 

[keith1664]

The Wytchwood bottles are great if you have a bench capper, I've found they're very easy to get the labels off.

 

[DethApostle]

I have always said that if I were ever to go commercial I would ensure I used a glue that meant the labels were easy to remove from the bottle on washing.
A commercial 'nod of the head' to the homebrew roots I suppose!

I have delabeled a couple of bottles recently from a brewery near Manchester that had just pasted their label over the previous brewery label! Whether it was intentional, or they employed some work-shy yoik to label for them, I don't know!

DA

 

[Andyhull]

The Wytchwood bottles are great if you have a bench capper, I've found they're very easy to get the labels off.

I can do them with a BB emily hand capper no problem.
It leaves a shallow circular dent in the lid but seals perfectly!

 

[winelight]

Useful thread, confirms my own findings, some are almost impossible to get off. White spirit is a useful tip, I will try that next time. Some I think need an angle grinder, flame thrower and sand blaster.

Actually, maybe burning them off really would work. Perhaps I'll try that next time. Might stress the glass, though.

 

[Asalpaws]

Having smashed a glass demijohn by pouring boiling wort into it, I think burning them off is probably a bad idea.

Interesting insights from the commercial brewer. Are we Brits that obsessed with appearance that each brewery needs such eye catching bottles to get them sold in the supermarket? I think we should take after the Belgians and Germans and use a standard bottle that is easily re-used and let the beer do the talking but then I am a hippy, europhile... (Don't tell the BNP)

 

[winelight]

Having smashed a glass demijohn by pouring boiling wort into it, I think burning them off is probably a bad idea.

lol good point

Yes pouring boiling water into a glass is an excellent way of instantly breaking it! Although I watched someone do that every day for about a year until one day it decided it had had enough and broke into 1,000 pieces (like car windscreens used to).