Beer Label Pet Peeves

Like op I prefer the style printed I often have no idea on style till I look it up on here....
Obviously abv and bottled on dates also that a given for all of us tho.

 

Yeah- with me it's not even so much as doing research, as there is just a long running list in my head of things I just have to get one of these days.

But, then and again I will grab random bottles from the shelves, especially if it's a style that interests me. In that case I'm definitely looking for the more info the better, and not necessarily a story. This last weekend I did just that with a German Berliner Weiss that I never heard of (BrauBacker), but the label indicated traditional fermentation methods with both lactobacillus and brettanomyces, so in that case I took a chance (glad I did, too - one of my lucky shots in the dark).

 

Hate when the label isn't cold activated.

How am I supposed to know if it's cold enough to drink if the mountains don't turn blue?

 

I don't like " hand crafted",
cos It makes me think of some bearded sweathog stirring the mash with their arm.

american beers without abv are irritating

 

When they affix the label with too much glue...makes it hard for us homebrewers to reuse the bottles. I sure don't have 20 minutes to clean and prep one bottle.
But seriously, I always like to see ABV, brewery, location, and style/description.

 

It annoys me when there is no ABV statement and then I look on here and it is listed as ??. Just put ?? on the label!

 

I hate how you can't get the Stone labels off to put them in your giant album of pressed labels...

 

I for one love a long description of a beer on a label. Convinces me the brewers took pride in the they did and it's always fun to read it while taking a few sips after I've poured It into a glass. I like Stone's wordy descriptions so much that I actually collect their bottles...plus they have cool designs.

What I don't like is NO description of your beer on the label...I mean they may say IPA or something but no insight to the inspiration behind it or behind the name. Apparently it's just like any other IPA?

 

No ABV. Don't make me get out my phone.

 

A bottled on date or best before date is a must especially when it comes to IPA/IIPAs, a style or description of the beer, I might be able to figure the style out if there's a description. Also for beers that can be cellared, a vintage year, love it when a I buy a high ABV beer for my cellar and the year is clearly printed in large letters right on front.

 

When it comes to IPAs I really prefer a hop list/profile/description of what is in the beer. There are certain hops that I prefer and I'm more likely to try out a new IPA when I know it contains specific ones. If not listing specific hops, a description of the beer will usually do as I can judge a little bit by that typically. This, to me, is a perfect label (and yes, it does have a date and ABV as well).

I definitely agree with this as well.

 

no ABV or bottling date

 

I liked these when I first got into beer. Now I cannot be bothered to read them, and frankly, the font is usually to small for me to do so.

 

No ABV is super annoying and very prevalent. Maybe you are taking it to an event and want to know if you should only drink one, or can have several. The other one is no indication of style. I understand that we are to the point where there are some very blurred lines in terms of styles, but give me something. I have passed by so many beers because the only description on the bottle was "Ale".

 

My biggest label pet peeve is when breweries use those paper sticker with a plastic coating type label. They are such a pain in the ass to peel off. I mean who wants to give out bottles of homebrew with elysian labels on them?

 

The BATF hasn't been involved in beer labeling approval since 2003, and I'm not aware of the TTB (or the vast majority of states' ABC regulators) having any problem with the Founder's label.
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The "malt beverage" labeling rules have made listing ABV on beer labels an option since the 1990s (after a Coors lawsuit went all the way to the SCOTUS). The original rule in LABELING AND ADVERTISING OF MALT BEVERAGES was:

Which was changed to after the Supreme Court decision:

Hard to keep up with the constant changes in the states' labeling requirements and ABV limits but, apparently, there are still some states that prohibit ABV listing on the label. In addition, the legal tolerance of the current TTB rules:

may make legal listing of the ABV by some brewers difficult, given batch-to-batch variations, COLAs approved well in advance, labels printed ahead of time in huge quantities, etc.

The Legislative History of the post-Repeal Federal Alcohol Administration Act (1935) explains the reason why regulators originally prohibited alcohol content on beer labels:

 

I thought that was just me!