What do you do with your empty bottles?

garbage can, id like to display some of the the awesome bottles, but my small nyc shack does not allow me the space for it. plus i have a large fear that random bottles would scare away most if not all future mates ahaah.

 

Do you simply rip the label off or is there a special method to taking it off and keeping it intact?

 

Dirty ass bathroom or some plants? Those are not his pics btw. Unless he was banned and this is his new nick. Those pics were originally posted by @PlayaPlaya

 

Do a search here in the Brewerania forum and you'll find a number of threads with useful info on peeling labels. Essentially the bottle labels fall into three categories: soaking to remove; heating the label glue to remove; and impossible to remove.

 

Plagiarism is a serious offense.

 

I soak them in hot water for awhile and the labels usually come off relatively easy. If you toss a little Oxi Clean in the water that'll help them too, although not necessary if you don't have any.

 

Throw them out/recycle.......................

 

Find ones with a good taste for good brew----problem solved! The little lady loves what I like so it is pretty easy on that front....now just to get her to do the dishes.....THERE'S a trick....and one that strikes fear in most people.

 

have one who likes good beer, she's embraced my hobby. though i don't think the displaying of beers is in the cards for me. i already have a mountain of beer bed side that is an eye sore.

 

1) save 4 cases of 12 oz for a friend who has her environmental micro class brew
2) save Schlenkerla empties for home brewing
3) saved some bombers for home brewing
4) when possible, save one label from each new beer for photo albums
5) any cans or bottles not part of 1 - 3, recycled.

 

Already ran out of room in new apartment, but just recently started saving them

 

These are some old pics and sorry about the third one, but I try to display the most interesting ones. I have tossed out a lot and will probably toss out more. Problem is that both book shelves now are around 5 rows deep...can't really display much like that!! To the right of them is my "cellar". Stays pretty cool and keeps light out well.

 

REALLY COOL----the bottles, not the cellar----ok----maybe the cellar too!

 

Looks like one of my old apartments! Too cool! Plus can display the bigger ones!

 

The only one that won't fit is the Dogfish Sah Tea, it's a taller bottle.

 

In a similar thread, someone once explained their process for safely removing labels from bottles using oxi-clean - I'd really like to see that again, I have some I'd like to do that with.

Edit: to be more specific - the method included letting a bottle soak in a bucket with oxiclean and water, and apparently the label just peels right off and floats on the surface.

 

The use (and success) of Oxyclean depends on the label and glue that are used, so that method won't work for all labels.

I try just a long soaking in hot water first. If that doesn't work, then Oxyclean or baking soda can be tried. (A caution about Oxyclean: you have to be careful how much you use because it can take the ink off of some labels.) If these two methods fail, then the last method is to put the bottle into the microwave for 30-50 seconds, and then see if the glue is softened enough to start at a corner and try to peel the label off. (The bottle is hot!!) Some labels may need more heat (Pliny). Usually these labels are a type of vinyl that can take some good tugging, but not always. (Pliny is a paper label and tears easily.) Some of these vinyl-like labels can be pulled straight off the bottle, so you might want to try that first.