Beer Journal #3: How I Take the Labels Off Beer Bottles

I'm sure you're dying to know how I remove the beer labels from the bottles. I found this product which works well most of the time. I order it online.

This is a label lift sheet straight from the box.

I peel the backing off of the adhesive sheet.

I place the pull tab end of the adhesive sheet close to the right edge of the beer label.

I slowly smooth the adhesive sheet over the label, making sure no bubbles form between the sheet and the label.  This process took a bit of practice, but now, it works 99% of the time.

Using the back of a spoon (I use the largest metal spoon I have), I press the adhesive sheet onto the beer label, going over the entire label, at least two times.  I wait a few minutes for the adhesive to fully set.  

Label Lift works by laminating and then removing the upper printed surface of the label from its backing.  I was anxious to remove this label and I didn't wait long enough for it to set up.  I peeled back the pull tab and only some of the label adhered to the sheet.

Although this label didn't cooperate, I persisted. I used scraps of Label Lift that I had saved, placed them over the remaining parts of the label which were still attached to the bottle, pressed the laminate to the label with my spoon and eventually removed all of the printed label from the bottle.

After a lot of patch work and after trimming away the excess laminate sheet, eventually, I have a label that is far from perfect, but complete.  It took about 5 patching jobs to get this all together.

Thankfully, most labels come off all in one piece.  If they didn't, I'm quite sure my label removing days would be over!