Everything Homebrew!

Labeling your Brews....

Sure, you craft brews. Let's slap a label on them. Give a few as gifts, but you want your label to follow you.

I tinker with graphics, and wanted to learn how to affix the labels to my brews. Believe it or not, it's quite simple.

How do you get a paper printed label to stick to your bottle with the least fuss and muss? I've gleaned the most fool proof method ever.

Here's a few labels I've designed:


One of the first, I forgot to add a brew date and ABV.


This was a 13 pound mead. Very wicked. Got the ABV, and the date crafted.


This was a 10 pound mead, and really reached 8% ABV. The "bit above" was a play on content.


I had a laser BW printer at the time, so all my labels were BW. I fit the artwork for that particular label on a 8x11 sheet, and had like 12 labels per sheet once printed. But that's what it looked like.

I didn't use glue to affix the label. Nope. Much simpler. The labels just peel off once soaked in warm water, and your bottles are ready for re-use.

So how do you affix a paper printed label to your bottle?

Milk.

Honest.

The proteins in the milk affix the label to the bottle, and once dabbed dry, the labels stay in place, and dry.

The procedure?

You have a few cases of unlabeled bottles. You calculate, and print enough labels, cut them out, and pour out 3/4 cup of 2% milk into a cereal bowl. Dip the label through the milk enough to wet it, do not let it soak, just swipe it through till it's all wet. Affix it to your bottle. Take a dry paper towel to blot out the excess moisture, and position the label by hand to where it's leveled against the top of the bottle and the bottom. Make it pretty, then set it to the side, to dry. Replace in cases when dry.

The labels, no matter how long they are on the bottles, peel off easily in the presence of medium warm water. The warm water re-activates the dried milk proteins, and the labels just melt off the bottles.

Thanks Erik, it is very similar to ours. I wish I bought that pipe bender and made my own, but my friend grabbed it in store and called it a day.
Druid, I have heard about the milk trick years ago, but since forgot completely about it. When we used to bottle we bought the label paper and printed them off. I'll have to try the milk trick on my keg.

2013 AHA Big Brew Events

Event Name or Location: Part Time Brewers
Contact Name: xxxx xxxxxx
Street: xxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx
City, State: xxxxxx , OH
Country: USA
Website:
Event Description: Just a few of us, brewing and sampling.

10 Gallons Brewed
2 Batches
24 Participants

I took 2 cases of a recent cyser, all nicely labeled:

Of course, to make labels, I fit 6 of them onto a 8.5 by 11 piece of paper,

which requires printing 8 pages to fit 48 bottles.

I had my yeast cultured early:


Doing the boil:


And we played lots of Cornhole!


My recipe turned out as follows:

HonigWeizen
(Weizen Bock)

6 lbs Wheat
1 lb 120l Caramel
5 lbs Honey

2 ozs. Hallertaur

1 pkg. Dry Wheat Yeast

I mashed the 7 pounds of crushed grain with 8.75 qts of strike water at 179 F for 1 hour (temp rest at 155 F, with heat loss calculated in for my plastic tun). Sparged with 2 gallons at 180 F, the added the honey to the wort before the hops, then boiled for 1 hour. I played a bunch of cornhole, imbibing since 10am, and forgot to chill. My ride got there around 6pm, and once home, I took a nap. I woke back up 10pm, realizing I hadn't chilled or pitched my yeast. Of course, I got a gravity reading then, which worked out to 1.070. I pitched the yeast, and went back to bed.

This morning found my fermentation lock on top of my fermenter (blew off), and myself feeling very lazy. I put my lock back in place, and it started instantly bubbling. That tells me my yeast was fine, and my conversion was successful.

Today I had just enough energy to post this. Time to recuperate.

I was just looking for this thread the other day. My Citra IPA is done. After initial worries that it was going to be unbalanced due to some last minute substitutions in my malts it actually turned out really well. Without attempting to make a clone it turned out very similar to Sierra Nevada's Harpoon.

I am trying an experimental summer citrus brew. I have high hopes for this brew simply because I have made other summer ales in the past with great success, and I am hoping this recipe is going to be the home run that I was looking for in a crisp citrus summer ale. The recipe is simple enough for even the beginner brewer.

6lbs LME
1oz Citra hops 60min,10min
1/2oz Cascade hops 30min
1 can orange juice concentrate
1/2 can lemonade concentrate
1 tsp irish moss 10min
Nottingham Ale yeast

Bring 6lbs of LME to a boil in 2 gallons of water, making sure all LME is stirred until mixed thoroughly. Once LME is completely dissolved add 1/2oz Citra hops and boil for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes add 1/2oz Cascade hops and boil 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add the remaining 1/2oz of Citra hops and the irish moss and boil an additional 10 minutes. When boiling is completed crash cool with the addition of 2 gallons of cold water stirred in. Check the temp and if it is still to high add the last 1 gallon of water ice cold. Once the wort is cool enough add 1 can orange juice concentrate (not cocktail), and 1/2 can lemonade concentrate. Stir in thoroughly and pitch yeast.

I plan to rack this off into a secondary when I notice fermentation starting to slow down. I also plan on leaving it in the secondary for at least 2 weeks after fermentation has completely finished to allow it to clear slightly, because this will be an unfiltered beer.

Now I know you are thinking this is going to be a lot of orange and lemon flavor, but my hope is that a majority of it ferments out leaving a nice subtle, but not too weak citrus flavor remaining.

Originally posted by Druid42

2013 AHA Big Brew Events

Event Name or Location: Part Time Brewers
Contact Name: xxxx xxxxxx
Street: xxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx
City, State: xxxxxx , OH
Country: USA
Website:
Event Description: Just a few of us, brewing and sampling.

10 Gallons Brewed
2 Batches
24 Participants

Our local homebrewers MOB (Members of Barliament(Ottawa)) is planning our Big Strange Brew for June 1st.
If last year' s event is any indication, this all weekend affair will be a blast.

Our Big Strange Brew (BSB) event is this weekend. About 50 homebrewers will be there with about 30 brew stations.

Gilbertson & Page (Canada) (aka G&P) has offered to sponsor our BSB with 16 sacks of malt
and 2 boxes of Yeast packets (US05). Gotta love these guys.

It starts tomorrow night ends Sunday. Yee Haa! Lets brew..!

I'll post some pics on Monday or Tuesday, depending on when the hangover subsides.

Not sure this counts ....

I brew kombucha tea . Contrary to popular belief ,and FDA nonsense ,it does not have alcohol in it .
I think there's a negligable amount similar to the amt in a fruit juice . So the FDA makes kombucha makers label their products as alcohol ,and no one under 21 can buy it now.
Farcical .

The fermentation is similar to that of vinegar .

I make my own Honey Mead, as well as various wines. Choke Cherry, Wild Plum, Blackberry, Rhubarb as well as make my own Hard Apple Cider. I also have a small still that I use for making Moonshine, as well as various brandy's from time to time.

IMHO it's all much better tasting than anything you can buy in the stores, is much cheaper and you can tweek the ingredients to attain your own favorite flavor.

reply to post by PtolemyII


An OG (Original Gravity) reading with a Hydrometer would dispel that theory when matched against the FG (Final Gravity) reading. Numbers don't lie.

I agree, fermentation doesn't produce alcohol unless there's an abundance of yeast and sugars. Vinegar is the prime example.

reply to post by Nucleardiver

I make my own Honey Mead

Mead makers are rare. It's just not cost effective, unless you have a viable honey supply. Kudos.

Never made wine, not interested, yet. Too technical. Perhaps, in the future.

Naw, love my homebrew. It's much more forgiving. Mead's the balance between, and simple.

reply to post by Druid42


Mmmm,I am actually very sensitive to alcohol.
Bad experience with sake ,on an empty stomach,made it so I cannot drink anything on an empty stomach .
I feel alcohol immediately as well,even with food in my stomach .
I drink kombucha first thing upon waking up so ...if it had alcohol in it ,I would know it .
It does get a "head" ,and can be mega carbonated . Explosive carbonation sometimes .
I play with flavors too. I make a cherry blossom ,and pina colada ,or berry .
Nom ....

It's addictive .

I like mead too . I know a few mead makers. Renaissance Faire kind of peeps.
Cherry and honey are my fave mead flavors .

Not much for beer or wine I'm afraid . I like some Asian beers . Tsing Tao ,99 , Asahi .
An occ white wine ,otherwise I'm a champagne kind of girl . Heh

reply to post by Nucleardiver

Rhubarb wine?!?!?
Wow, that kinda hit a spot. I wish I could grab a sample.
I want a small still someday. I know a guy who distills old bottles of booze that friends no longer want.
He makes a moonshine of sorts out of it.

I need to buckle down and finish my keg so I can make a new batch of beer up.
Wonders if there are any frozen mugs around..........

I have a kick arse recipe for homemade Italian Limoncello .
Anyone interested ?

Post it up, you needn't ask.
If it's easy enough, I'll make some for the summer.

My old neighbor used to make it, and it was really good.

reply to post by PtolemyII


Like shadow says, Post 'er up!

When I first had the idea for this thread, I asked a Mod where the best place to post this thread, if perhaps the staff may have a problem with members talking about alcohol. I was told the Food and Cooking forum would be fine.

So a food and cooking forum needs recipes! Please feel free to post several, as we all like to create our own beverages. (And you can make any drink alcoholic, to any varying degree. It's all in the recipe!)

That does sound refreshing. Now I'm interested in reading it.

And 14 pages later, it's still chuggin' along.

I guess this thread is in the best place.

Limoncello

Ingredients :


1 Bottle Grain Alcohol

10 fresh Lemons (Organic)

2 1/2 cups Sugar

6 Cups of water (filtered or spring)

Directions :

Pour half of the grain alcohol in a mason jar and the other half in another. Using a vegetable peeler, peel all of the lemon rind off of 5 lemons. Flip the peels over and remove all white pith using a paring knife. Add to one of the jars, and repeat with the other 5 lemons adding to the other jar (splitting evenly). Set jars aside in a cool dark place for at least 7 days. When ready the lemon peel will look pale, as all the oils have been extracted.

Strain both jars of the lemon infused alcohol into a large bowl. Make a simple syrup from the sugar and water by heating together into a saucepan until all the sugar has been dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside and let it cool to room temperature. After cooled, poor the simple syrup into the bowl to combine with the alcohol/Lemon rind mixture. Strain the combined mixture through a coffee filter, then bottle using a funnel.

The Limoncello is now ready to drink, as soon as it is cold. Keep in the refrigerator.

NOM NOM ! ENJOY !

And make lemonade with the rest of the lemons !

Rum spiked Horchata

Horchata recipe
I drink horchata without alcohol. It's very refreshing on a hot day .

Ingredient :

1 1/3rd cups of uncooked white rice .Pref long grain of some kind .
I use Japanese rice. It makes a lovely milky liquid .

5 cups water

1/3rd cup sweetened condensed milk

3/4th cup milk

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 Mexican cinnamon stick

1/2 cup sugar
I use demera or raw cane sugar,but you can use white . You can tweak the sugar to you liking .More or less .


Directions :
First ,I put the rice into a grinder ,and do some rough pulsing ,to break it up a bit. It makes for a much milkier horchata .
I put the rice into a container with a lid. I take the cinnamon stick and break it into about 3 pieces,and add it to the rice.
I then pour two cups of boiling water over it. I cover it ,and let it cool . Once it cools ,I put it in the fridge over night .
Next day ,strain all the liquid out .

I save the rice for rice pudding ,or you can compost it

To the liquid ,I add the vanilla extract ,then the condensed milk .
Then I add the remaining cups of water ,and the milk.
You can play with this. Add less water,more milk. Its better if it has less fat .Makes it lighter,so i leave this part alone.

Now add the sugar,a bit at a time ,and keep testing.
You can just add it all,but like I said ,its better lighter. Not cloyingly sweet.

I chill it then .

Once all of this is done. Pour into glasses with ice ,top with a splash of rum if you see fit.
A shot glass full does the trick .
Many people add the rum. I might try it at some point ,with coconut rum .

Also,some horchata recipes also use blanched,skinless almond slivers. I don't like almond in my drinks ,but you can add a half a cup of almonds the recipe ,with a bit more water ,to add the almond to it.
I leave it out .

You can also be really fancy ,and use half a vanilla bean instead of extract . To do this,I add it to the rice soaking boiling water stage.
Up to you .