Best/Worst Beer Label Removals!!!

I always have a pretty easy time with dogfish heads bottles after a 20 minute soak in hot soapy water. And I just put a couple things on top of the label to keep it from curling and they turn out perfect as well.

 

DFH

 

Dude, I was wondering why the only bottles I've ever had were like that. Glad it's something common and not just obvious signs of age.

 

The sticker type labels are the best ! Brewdog, The Bruery, Port Brewing etc ...
Also De Molen labels go off pretty easly.

The worst to remove , actually they can't be removed are the Lost Abbey labels !
U can't pull'm off without a soak because you tear them apart, and when u do put them in water they kinda dissolve/turn flakey ! horrible !
Also Mikkeller labels are pretty difficult to get unfortunatly ...

 

Pliny the Elder labels always give me a hard time.
Sierra Nevada are easy like mentioned above, plus it is the beer that I most often buy in bulk.

I basically keep a cooler filled with water and oxyclean (or even better cheap walmart oxycleanish type stuff) . Whenever I finish a bottle, I just put it in that cooler until I have a bunch, then I see what effort I have to put in.

A problem that I have with some bottles is that the standard caps dont always fit. I wish there was a way to know what bottlecaps are not standard so I dont go through the effort of de-labelling them.

 

Lawson's. come off in 2 seconds and easily reapply to anything.

 

southern tier labels require a pneumatic hammer,flamethrower, and voodoo priest to remove them from the bottle. most belgian bottles the label comes right off in hot water,instantly.

 

Whaaat? I'm the exact opposite...I think they are some of the best value bombers around (they usually run 3.50-4.50 around here). I do wish they sold sixers though.

 

Bucket of really hot water + 1cup Oxiclean + 20 minute soak = easy removal of almost all labels.

 

Why in the hell would you use Samuel Smith's bottles? They're clear, unless you drink them real fast.

 

Duvel labels fall right off in a little bit of water.

 

I let a batch of bottles soak in hot soapy water Friday night, the results are as follows...

Best (labels peel right off with minimal scrubbing required):
Berkshire Brewing Company, Sam Adams, Samuel Smith, Green Flash

Worst (not worth it):
Great Divide, Southern Tier, Founders

 

Samuel Smith switched to brown bottles for their US exports 3-4 years ago or so.

​

 

Wow, I for got about that. Bigger Wow, so I saw a really old bottle recently.

 

Yeah, I noticed that, too - took a long time for the clear bottles to disappear off some shelves. Same thing happened when Young's merged with Wells and when Czechvar has changed US importers several times - it's amazing how long the old stuff sits around and it's a lot more noticeable than a tiny date code on a rear label.

Might be one answer to the frequent questions like "Why doesn't such 'n' such a brewery switch to brown bottles?"

A: Because it would expose to all how old so much of their stock is on most US retail import shelves.

 

I keep 750 bottles for homebrewing. La Chouffe and Chimay labels pop right off after a simple soaking. But St. Bernardus labels use some type special glue . . . the labels are plastic and the glue resisted two days of soaking. Success was achieved, but mucho effort required.

 

Long Trail labels almost fall off on their own. After not even 30 seconds in boiling water they come right off no problem. Most of the over 100 bottles I have and use for brewing were originally Long Trail Double Bag.

And yes, Southern Tier labels make you hate yourself.

 

Maybe you've noticed this too but didn't mention it, but the only times that I've experienced some bottles that don't seem to fit a standard crown cap for reuse in homebrewing have been imports. I don't recall which breweries to pinpoint it any more than that, and I never try to reuse imports anymore.

 

Dogfish Head Labels fall off in the fridge.

 

I microwave Short's bottles for a minute and they peel right off.
Great Lakes Cleveland is another story. I have yet to peel one off successfully (I save the labels not the bottle)