Below is a collection of some recent labels that my friend up in San Francisco and I (along with my brewing partner, who happens to also be a designer) have made for our respective homebrews. I encourage all of you to bust out your finest version of Photoshop, have some fun, and give your homebrew what it deserves: a one of a kind, haute couture outfit in the form of a custom label.
White Rabbit (The Beerista)
Citra Gun Git Cha (Waves N. Particles)
Degradation Pale Ale (The Beerista)
Strong Dark Belgian (Waves N. Particles)
Mini Farm Saison
(The Beerista – Inspired by my brother’s mini farm he has at his house in the heart of Chicago. Mortimer the hedgehog is the “O”)
Uncle Larry’s IPA
(Waves N. Particles – This label won “Editor’s Choice” Award in Brew Your Own Magazine’s homebrew label contest. See all the winnders here: http://byo.com/photos/category/71)
As you can see, we have pretty different styles when it comes to labels, but that’s what’s it’s all about. You can get as silly or as serious with your label making as you want. No matter what your style, your homebrew will be the envy of refrigerators nationwide.
What we print on:
I print my labels on 4″ x 3 1/3” labels (6 per page). For my normal brew labels, I use craft paper labels. For special occasion labels (weddings, b-days, etc.), I use plain white labels. That size works perfect for almost any bottle. My buddy up north takes a different approach and uses a full page sheet of labels and cuts them himself. He tends to get about 8 labels per page with a little trim left over. An at home ink jet printer has done the job beautifully for me so far.