For some homebrewers, personalizing bottles is as much a labor of love as brewing the beer itself. I’ve seen a great number of impressive beer bottle labels that are testaments to the creative skills of the brewers who design them. I am, unfortunately, not one of those brewers (it’s not about disinterest, but rather a dearth of talent).
I probably bottle about half the beer I brew, and the vast majority of those bottles receive little more than a few swipes of the Sharpie on the crown cap to indicate what’s inside. But, every so often, I want to class up a batch to give as gifts or lay down for later. In these cases, I take the time to make real labels for my bottles of homebrew.
Designing label art is a discipline unto itself, and I’m definitely not the person to speak authoritatively on perspective, complementary colors, typography, or other aspects of bottle artwork. I can, however, suggest how to get those creations onto bottles. Today’s homebrewers can choose from several excellent options.
Online services such as Grog Tag let you upload your own artwork or customize one of the site’s many templates, click a few buttons, and have personalized labels shipped right to your door. If you’re brewing beer as gifts for, say, your wedding, this is the ultimate way to make those bottles look professional.
The makers of FastRack market an innovative shrink-wrap solution called FastLabel. Slide the plastic sleeve around a bottle, slip in a homemade label, and give the whole thing a quick dunk in hot water or a short blast from the heat gun. The plastic sleeve shrinks, trapping your artwork inside and rendering it waterproof to boot. When the bottle is empty, simply take a knife to the plastic and pop it right off so you can fill that bottle with more homebrew!
Many homebrew retailers sell purpose-made adhesive-backed paper for printing in your own inkjet or laser printer at home. Simply print a sheet of labels, cut them to size, and moisten the adhesive to affix them to your bottles.
For a true DIY solution, milk is a surprisingly effective, if somewhat unusual, adhesive. It sounds strange, but it works! Just print your labels on standard paper and brush a thin coat of milk on the backs. Stick them on your bottles, and let the milk dry. Voilà! Only a small amount of milk is needed, but consider storing your bottles somewhere cool (a good idea anyway) to avoid any undesirable aromas.
If you’re vegan, or just weirded out by the thought of using dairy products to adhere labels, I hear glue sticks work great, too.
Whether you’re snazzing up bottles to give as gifts or simply because it’s fun, labeling your bottles of homebrew is a simple way to make that final presentation uniquely yours.