Making Bottle Cap Labels On Your Inkjet Printer
If you own an inkjet printer and a copy of Microsoft Word (or the "freeware" Sun StarOffice suite), you can easily print self-adhesive labels with a 2 or 3 letter code, to identify each batch of beer. You will need a package of Avery 3/4" Round Self-Adhesive Labels, stock #05048. These labels come on sheets of 28 labels each; two sheets should be sufficient to label one standard size batch of homebrew.
Download a copy of the Word document caps1.doc (in your browser, right-click the file name, and select Save Target As... or Save Link As...). To make bottle cap labels, use the Edit/Replace command in Word to replace all occurrences of XXX with the code for your batch of beer; load a sheet of labels into your printer; and print.
New, improved version: caps2.doc includes a spot to fill in the bottling date. In addition to replacing all occurrences of XXX with your batch code, replace all occurrences of 00/00/00 with the bottling date.
For all you anti-Microsoft, Free Software fans out there, here's a Sun StarOffice version. After importing the Word version into StarOffice, I had to tweak the margins a little bit to get 'em to print right... so save yourself the trouble and get the pre-tweaked version. Without bottling date: caps1.sdw. With botting date: caps2.sdw.
Your mileage may vary, depending on the model of printer you own; I have had great results using an Epson Stylus 600. Some printers may not be able to feed the small sheets that the labels come on (check your printer's manual), or may be prone to jams. If any of the labels on the sheet are loose, or if the sheet is not completely flat, do not try to feed it through your printer! If your printer has a lever to adjust the height of the print head (e.g. for thicker paper, envelopes, and the like), raise the print head up as high as it will go for best results.
(last updated November 19, 2001)