Bottle Cleaning

I have a bucket that fits about 19 bottles, and when I have that many bottles between ones that need de-labeling and already plain bottles that need a wash before using them again I give them a soak in oxyclean. I use one big scoop and just enough water to cover the bottles. Usually I end up leaving the bottles in for a couple days, and at that point labels are either off on their own or will be too much of a pain to get off. I can usually clean a couple rounds of bottles with the same water.

 

If you're using blank crowns then you can just write on them with a sharpie.

 

Because it looks like crap when you give someone a sixer and the bottles all have ragged brewery labels on them. Sure it's just for aesthetics, but I'm going through the trouble of brewing my own beer so why have the final product look like garbage?

 

I use hot water with vinegar and Stainless Steel wool Scrubbers. let the bottle soak for couple of hours in hot water with some Heinz White Vinegar, the next step is peeing the labels and scrub the remaining with the Stainless Steel wool.
The effort is very much dependent on the amount and type of glue used on the labels.

 

A few local breweries around me have been using labels lately that don't come off or soften up at all in an oxyclean soak. However, if I get underneath them with a paint scraper they'll peel right off without leaving any residue behind. It's kind of awesome.

 

Yeah, I tried a bottle of something from Clown Shoes. I wanted to keep the 22 oz bottle, and I discovered it came off the same way.