I was bottling last night and i went to get the baking soda to take the labels off my bottles, and i was all out.
i needed to bottle the batch that night so i just skipped taking off the labels
Is it too late to take the labels off?
I usually soak the bottles in hot water with baking soda for about a half hour then peel the labels off. will this affect my beer at all?
If you’re asking if you could soak the bottles (that are now full of beer) in hot water to get rid of the labels, I would say its probably not a good idea.
If you are bottle conditioning, it could essentially pasteurize your beer and kill/deactivate the remaining yeast.
Further, I don’t think raising the temp of the beer in the bottles to 150-190* will do its flavor any favors.
Soak your bottles in a solution of Oxyclean or PBW. Make sure the solution is not over 75°F. Keep the bottles upright. Any of this solution under the rim of the cap will be difficult to rinse off. Could definitely flavor the beer in the glass and kill the head.
Maybe use a sharp scraper to get the tough stuff off before soaking. I use a utility knife the few times I did that. Then finish with a green scrubbie.
Last time I bottled, I waited until they were full to remove the labels. Put them in a sink full of warm water and let them soak for awhile. I was sitting in the living room and all of a sudden I heard exploding glass. :shock: don’t do it.
fair enough, thanks for the advice
I think I’ll just leave the labels on
What was the temperature of the water in the sink? If it was no warmer than bottle conditioning temperature you may have had a separate problem.
not sure on the temp, i told the wife to take care of the labels so it could have been pretty warm. i keg so it wasn’t anyting to do with bottle conditioning.
Put the new labels over the old ones.
Use room temperature water. A long soak in plain water will loosen up a lot of stuff.
[quote=“Old_Dawg”]Put the new labels over the old ones.[/quote]I’ve been known to do that before.
