(Free) Custom Printed Crown Caps

[Leon103]

I did a simple stout picture and some text.. the image hasn't come out too bad on mine.. some are missing part of the picture (only some but its still poor)

However my main gripes are

Sample image covered the cap what was printed seems a lot smaller and I do not think I have a single one in the center they are all aligned to the right!

If the image was as quoted size in the middle and improved print quality they'd be worth it, but what we have is none of that.. Even free with �£1.50 postage you're better off buying 100 for 1:99 in your main brew order.

Agreed. I was only going to use say 10 per batch for friends and bottle swaps but I am too embarrassed to use them now.

 

[Leon103]

Email sent. I just noticed they plan to do label printing too.

 

[chuffer]

Mine arrived in the post yesterday. I was chuffed as they arrived 2 hrs before I started bottling so just in time for the bottling of my xmas brew. Didn't take a pic but it was simple - "parker's xmas brew" in red text around the perimeter of the cap. Most are fine but there are a few that are off a bit and so the text "falls off" the top a bit the when crimped. Also, I noticed that the text rubbed off a bit in places when I used my bench capper so some of them now say "aarkel's xmas oreu"

 

[Covrich]

Got an email from them and sure many have

Delivery Times
This one effected almost everyone. We opened a Royal Mail account to make posting the packages easier, however there was an issue with some of the documentation on the account. Instead of telling us about it, Royal Mail decided to wait until we found out about it from our customers asking where the orders were. Once we enquired it was a quick fix for the paper work and the orders came out of Royal Mails vortex and were delivered. We can only apologise for this and can say that it was simply a problem that won't happen again.

Alignment
This is one of the things we've had the most problems with, when printing in bulk we have found that the movement of the printer is moving the caps and the initial jigs we had made were unable to keep the caps steady. We have ordered a multitude of different jigs at great expense to fix this issue. We currently have a jig that has almost completely fixed the issue, however we are continuing to invest in better jigs to completely sort the issue and will have this fixed by the time we launch at the end of October.

Stickiness/Blurriness/Smudging
Some people found that the printed design was either blurred/smudged or they had a sticky texture to the top of the cap, this issue is completely our fault and is down to our order processing procedures. These have now been changed and the issue will not happen again. To explain, we trialled a gloss on some orders to increase the durability of the print, however this was not given enough time to fully cure and the pressure placed onto the caps from the packaging caused the images to blur and the gloss adhere to the paper liner in between layers. Again, one we realised what was happening we were able to fix this easily.

Image Size
We made an error with the sizing of our online order generator allowing people to believe we would print right up to the very edge of the crown cap. Again this is entirely our fault and has now been addressed to better manage expectations of the design. We are able to print up to the very edge of the caps, however as with any design process we need a "bleed" area. Normally with paper this is there to get rid of any alignment issues caused by the printer by having an extra area around the design that can be trimmed off to re-centre the image. Obviously this is impossible to do with a crown cap as we can't cut anything away. As we refine our process and get better jigs to make sure alignment is perfect every time, we will increase the size of the printed area gradually to the edge of the caps.

Packaging
We trialled a few different types of packaging on the sample orders and had the biggest problems with the "Amazon Style" cardboard wraps. These were used as the it allowed us to send the caps as a 'Large Letter' with Royal Mail (Our attempts to keep costs down for you), however as mentioned above these caused issues with a protective layer we used and also several people ended up with "cap bombs" as they ripped open the packing to find the caps flinging all over the place. We'll go with other packaging however it may mean a slight increase in postage costs due to having to send them as 'Small Parcels'. We'll look at this and have it fixed by the time we launch.

Durability
This caused a few issues as mentioned earlier. We sent some caps out with a coating on and some caps without. We've tested the caps ourselves and found them to be very durable with sterilisation and washing techniques that we've tried. We're well aware that if you take a knife to the image it will scratch (though we don't believe this is a common occurrence most people will face). We haven't found issues whilst capping and our images have been fine with our tests, but we welcome your feedback over the coming month so that we can address any issues ready for launch.

Colours
Some people have raised concerns that colours are not the same on the print as they are on screen. This is due to your screen (whether its a computer/laptop/phone or tablet) being displayed using RGB (lots of small red, green and blue dots). All printers use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black/key) the difference in ink use means that exact reproduction of on screen colours is impossible. As stated on the design page we recommend that you click the download button and print off your design at home so that you can see how it looks once printed - this will also allow you yo see if any text is legible.

Again, if anyone has experienced any of these issues then we are more than happy to refund your costs - simply get in touch and speak with us - we're not monsters!

We are aware that several people have voiced their concerns in the many home brew forums and Facebook groups, that is entirely your choice and we welcome any and all feedback both good and bad, however we would like to say that these sample orders were there to route out these problems before we launch so that we can ensure they don't happen going forward.

 

[ezraburke]

You know what, they're honest about it although had I known these were beta issues (was that properly explained, did I miss it?) I would have waited it out.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Leon103]

Good response and it addresses all issues stated here and in my email.

 

[BeardySi]

You know what, they're honest about it although had I known these were beta issues (was that properly explained, did I miss it?) I would have waited it out.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

That's basically what I've just fed back to them after reading that (good and honest) reply.

If people knew they were getting test parts with a range of finishes etc it wouldn't have been so disappointing. I was expecting finished product and what I received was a long way from that...

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[Leon103]

Exactly what I said, I wouldn't have ordered an extra 30 for sure. I have asked for more caps once he has perfected the process rather than a refund.

 

[AlanManley]

Same here. I like the idea. I think it should have been made more public that they were trials in the sense of quality and not just for us to "trial".

I fed back my points and if both print quality remains the same as my current batch and the alignment sorted I will reorder following his genuine reply.

If either is a no go. Then so will be my future business.

I genuinely hope it's the prior. 😁👌

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[Chippy_Tea]

Again, if anyone has experienced any of these issues then we are more than happy to refund your costs - simply get in touch and speak with us - we're not monsters!

We are aware that several people have voiced their concerns in the many home brew forums and Facebook groups, that is entirely your choice and we welcome any and all feedback both good and bad, however we would like to say that these sample orders were there to route out these problems before we launch so that we can ensure they don't happen going forward.

I think this is a good response and with luck they will get the issues sorted and customers will be satisfied in the future.

.

 

[Leon103]

They have communicated well. I said I didn't want a refund - new business and it was only a couple of quid. He said he would send me a code for free caps once they are fully up and running.

 

[MickDundee]

Mine arrived today. Apart from being off centre they seem fine. I might stick a picture up later.

Maybe ordering late had its advantages!

Edit: Picture added. I've just bottled my Santa Paws clone and my capper has rubbed part of the pint glass off every single cap, so the print quality obviously isn't that good either!

 

[ezraburke]

Mine arrived today. Apart from being off centre they seem fine. I might stick a picture up later.

Maybe ordering late had its advantages!

Edit: Picture added. I've just bottled my Santa Paws clone and my capper has rubbed part of the pint glass off every single cap, so the print quality obviously isn't that good either!

Looking good Mick!

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[Covrich]

I used mine last night, if star san or anything gets on teh caps make sure you dry them before capping as the paint comes off.. even the dry ones the paint flaked on some..

I know they said they will look into improving the process but they do not seem very good at all..

 

[BeardySi]

Hmm, didn't think to try them in sanitiser...

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[BeardySi]

Anybody put another order in with them since they came back online and offered another free run?

I ordered 10 days ago - caps and tryout of their labels. No update on the order so far and no replies to emails. They're rapidly losing any goodwill I had left tbh...

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[Leon103]

I went to do more but couldn't get my design to work so give up. I emailed them yesterday because they owe me more because I ordered extra last time. They emailed back straight away but said no more orders will be processed before Xmas

 

[Tanzanite]

After you sign up it gives you a personal link to post and share - the more people you get to sign up, the more caps you get.

It wasn't meant as a dig - you're the one who brought this to our attention so you deserve any free caps for getting people to sign up!

If you can buy small batches at a reasonable price it sounds like a great idea. I'm too lazy to label and at the moment just stick a single letter on my caps with a sharpie!

i just buy different coloured caps i have ten different colours green for cider , blue for IPA etc there 90 for £1.80,

 

[jceg316]

Hey everyone, a while ago there were a lot of links for Your Brew floating around offering free samples of their customised bottle caps. I did my order last week and they came through today.

They received some flak in bad reviews over the past few weeks but on first impressions I'm quite happy with my order. The image I've put on has come out really well, although they may be off centre slightly, but overall I like them.

 

[Badseed1974]

Hey everyone, a while ago there were a lot of links for Your Brew floating around offering free samples of their customised bottle caps. I did my order last week and they came through today.

They received some flak in bad reviews over the past few weeks but on first impressions I'm quite happy with my order. The image I've put on has come out really well, although they may be off centre slightly, but overall I like them.

Mine are really good as well, I'll be using them again :)