Avoid Mystery Beer

June 7, 2010 11:24 AM

Beer Labelizer. If a few pints of homebrew have sapped your graphic design skills (or if you never had any to begin with), you can design and print your own labels using this handy template system. (via)

More templates are being added every day. Just the thing if you're running behind on a homebrew swap or two.

posted by robocop is bleeding (36 comments total)

Damn. I could have used this last week. I sent out my beer with some crap inkjet images on them.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 11:27 AM on June 7, 2010

This is awesome, thanks! Gives me a good reason to siphon a few bottles out of the corny.
posted by samsara at 11:36 AM on June 7, 2010

This will help me label my kegs.
No more trying to remember which sharpie label is the most current.
posted by Seamus at 11:36 AM on June 7, 2010

I don't brew, but I do occasionally make lemonade in a used 2 liter bottle. These would be funny to use for that.
posted by DU at 11:41 AM on June 7, 2010

Beer? Heck I'm going to use a couple of those designs as logos for websites...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:42 AM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Awesome.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:43 AM on June 7, 2010

Fantastic. A little classier than my plan for HELLO my name is IPA.
posted by kyleg at 11:53 AM on June 7, 2010 [6 favorites]

What will I do now with my Avery label templates and sweet, sweet WINWORD.EXE?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:55 AM on June 7, 2010

I recall one of my greatest discoveries of beermaking several years ago was that you can print on regular copier paper, brush whole milk onto the back, then affix to the bottle. Lactose is so much better than sticky paper.

One of these days when I get back into brewing, I'm going to make fun of all those gimmicks on BudMillOors cans... e.g. the "Pilsner Flavor Lock Lid", the "Coors Cold Activation Window", etc. Good grief, it's a gold mine of kitsch, like that little window at the bottom of the Parmesan cheese label that says "time to buy more Kraft™ Parmesan cheese". I'm sure I can get real creative there.
posted by crapmatic at 11:56 AM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

round one.
eh.
posted by boo_radley at 11:59 AM on June 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

crapmatic: ""time to buy more Kraft™ Parmesan cheese""

That could be the tagline for your beer, in fact.
posted by boo_radley at 12:13 PM on June 7, 2010

This is pretty and all, but my favorite method for labeling bottles is still glass etch + chalk.
posted by dirty lies at 12:18 PM on June 7, 2010 [5 favorites]

I sent out my beer with some obscure markings on the caps. Sorry, kuujjuarapik!
posted by mkb at 12:21 PM on June 7, 2010

Honestly, coming up with your own label design is part of the fun, even if you're a clip-art-and-stick-figures-in-Microsoft-Paint-level artist.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:31 PM on June 7, 2010

wow. Love the look of that glass etch + chalk approach. Anyone know if that 'armour etch' stuff is commonly available at craft stores or the like?

also, next time I'm at a convention, I'm totally printing one of these labels and wearing it as my 'hello my name is' tag!
posted by mannequito at 12:46 PM on June 7, 2010

mannequito, if you have the time and patience, you can cut lettering out of duct tape or similar, apply the etch and get nice effects that way.
posted by boo_radley at 12:50 PM on June 7, 2010

I just started kegging. No labels needed.
posted by jbelshaw at 12:51 PM on June 7, 2010

I just started kegging. No labels needed.

More effort than labels but clearly you need to get to work on a custom sculpted tap.
posted by Babblesort at 12:54 PM on June 7, 2010

Hey, PBR: I made a new label for you.
posted by signalnine at 1:07 PM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

signalnine - Where do you live that you can buy 750s of PBR?

I know, I know. . .
posted by Seamus at 1:11 PM on June 7, 2010

Wait-- People actually run out of Kraft™ Parmesan cheese?
posted by Sys Rq at 1:13 PM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Anyone know if that 'armour etch' stuff is commonly available at craft stores or the like?

Oh, hell yes it is.
My beer night crew has taken up etching our mugs and just about every whiskey bottle we empty. No one has attempted to etch flesh yet. I guess it is just a matter of time.
posted by Seamus at 1:13 PM on June 7, 2010

Needs a black-white GENERIC BEER style label. You know, like from when we were kids.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 2:37 PM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I did one. Now what?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:49 PM on June 7, 2010

Needs a black-white GENERIC BEER style label.

And boo radley, that Metafilter Lager should've used a blue label (and an AskMetaFilter label in green with the slogan "Can I drink this?" or "DTMFA and drink up!")

I'm overthinking a bushel of hops.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:06 PM on June 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Speaking of the beer swap, the UPS guy was a kill joy. He asked what was in the box, I hesitated and said "soda? yeast samples?" (I panicked, and I'm bad at lying), and then he shook the box, heard a clink, opened the box, saw that there was beer, and sternly told me that I can't ship beer without a liquor license. He told me to ask a liquor store or winery to ship it. I will try that.

Anyone in NJ had any success with that?
posted by mccarty.tim at 3:34 PM on June 7, 2010

When I shipped my beers, I had marked each sealed box with the initials of the recipient and made a big fuss about making sure the right Fedex label matched up with the right box (even though they all contained the same thing), "Need to make sure the first place person doesn't get the third place trophy!" I said.

He wrote down 'prizes' on his forms without being asked, so in a way, no lying occurred.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:27 PM on June 7, 2010

I can personally attest to robocop is bleeding did a bang-up job with his packaging. I'm still waiting for the right time to crack it open (tonight?); when I do I'll post pics and tasting notes to MeTa.

Also, put me in the "you couldn't have posted this last week" camp. I hope my beer makes up for my lack of stylish labeling.
posted by revgeorge at 4:50 PM on June 7, 2010

I did the clipart thing and the Dharma thing for my mead. I think it turned out pretty good.
posted by Stove at 5:40 PM on June 7, 2010

Rashomon ale
posted by Rashomon at 6:00 PM on June 7, 2010

You mean this generic beer?
posted by setanor at 7:57 PM on June 7, 2010

I could see using this as a tap handle for a quad.

More options wouldn't hurt, but it's a fun toy.

For those who don't know: Austin Homebrew includes all kinds of fairly generic and widely applicable labels with their kit beers, but they are all available for free online; something like this (pdf) gives you a decent place to start, or even might work for a similar brew you make without their kit.
posted by paisley henosis at 10:06 PM on June 7, 2010

I shipped my beer, guys! Crisis averted! Look forward to it, maurice and box!
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:18 AM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Re: beer shipping. I always label them "homemade food gifts," which is entirely true. No one's ever asked for more detail. Just make sure there's no chance of an accidental clink.
posted by rusty at 9:13 AM on June 8, 2010

Yeah, I went to a Mom 'n' Pop shipping place that lets you fill out your own forms, including the bit of what's in the box. That way, I didn't have to lie convincingly.
posted by mccarty.tim at 9:41 AM on June 8, 2010

I shipped out my apple-beer to burnmp3s for the beer-swap, and said I was shipping "apple juice". Which I was; I simply neglected to mention that hops and juniper berries and yeast and honey had also been added to the juice.
posted by Greg Nog at 11:37 AM on June 8, 2010