Our latest product has hit the site – our brand new Tasting
Mats! These things are made from 16″ x 11″ durable vinyl
sheets that have been laminated to provide resistance to
liquids. They are fully customizable, the same way our
labels and coasters are – you can load your own images or use our
templates to create your own tasting sheet. And, like our
labels and coasters, you can write on them (we prefer the Crayola
Wet Erase Crayons) and wipe them clean for your next tasting
session.
A couple tips that have made my homebrewing just a bit better and
are very simple. Struggling to find the best way to get
labels off of bottles I’ve tried chemicals, boiling the bottles
and knife peeling, all of which are inconvenient and
ineffective. Turns out, just a sink full of hot water with
cheap baking soda was the ticket. Some labels will still
require being partially stripped and then soaked again, but
overall it’s made the process far more expedient and
friendly. Then there’s the even simpler tip that I learned
while helping the bartender at the restaurant
This past summer @bhsalzer and @akalsey and I (@dkworldwide) were
brewing a double batch. We got a few growlers for a change and
they were a huge hit. We liked the idea of going to a party with
a larger single bottle, like bringing a bottle of wine. The
addition of the GrogTag Labels had people asking, “Where did you
buy this?” Of course we told them, “We made it.” They were
blown away.
One tip – like a bottle of wine, let the beer get some air before
serving. The science is slightly different for the growler
apparently. We’ll just have to make more and keep experimenting.
A simple soak of bottles in hot water and a scoop of oxy-clean
for 12-24 hours will rid your bottles of any original labels and
prepare them for your grog tag masterpiece!!!!
If you’re a perfectionist, placing your new labels on your
bottles can be an exercise in frustration: you paid for those
beautiful labels and neckers, but just can’t get the things on
straight. Here’s a method I’ve developed that makes it easy.
Nearly every bottle I’ve handled has somewhere on it a very fine
vertical seam, probably left over from the bottle mould. This
makes a pretty good guide for perfectly aligning your label.
I think one of the most valuable tricks I was taught was that
items do not need to be immersed in
StarSan to be sanitized, but only coated. So, I put about
1/4tsp of
StarSan in 24oz of distilled water in a garden sprayer and
I’m good for quite a while conveniently sanitizing items as
needed from a garden sprayer. Saves a TON of money on sanitizer.
One thing that can add up is shipping costs. To save money,
I keep a running list of items that I plan to purchase.
These are items that I have decided to buy but are not pressing
needs. That way, when something comes up at I really do
need to order, let’s say ingredients for my next batch, I have a
list of items to pull from to qualify for free shipping or take
maximum advantage of flat rate shipping offers.
Another great way to save money is to follow along at
www.homebrewfinds.com!
