Whether you’ve been brewing beer for a long time or just discovering how fun making craft beer is at home, at some point serious brewers will seek quality labels for their beer bottles. For all the hard work that goes into home brew you’ll want to make great looking custom beer labels. Home brewed beer is perfect for sharing with friends, trading with other home brewers, giving as gifts, or serving at celebrations. There’s not one label size that fits all craft beer bottles, so we’ll look at different popular beer bottles to help you decide what size we offer on our site to best fit your particular bottle.
Common Beer Bottle Names, Capacity, & Size Description
Here are the various beer bottle sizes and their commonly accepted U. S. names:
- Stubby 11 oz. – This bottle is a favorite for craft breweries. The bottle runs about 6.25 inches tall.
- Heritage 12 oz. – This beer bottle is shorter and wider than typical standard 12 oz. long neck bottles and is approximate 7. 6.25 inches tall.
- Long Neck 12 oz. – This bottle usually stands at 9 inches tall and is more narrow than its smaller peers.
- Bomber 22 oz. – This bottle runs about 11 inches tall and looks like the granddaddy to the long neck.
- Mini Growler 32 oz. – AKA as a Grumbler, Grenade, Howler, Squealer, Bullet, or Growlette depending on where you are in the U.S. Most of these bottles run a little under 9 inches tall.
- Growler 64 oz. – The standard growler is approximately 11 inches tall.
Bottle Sizes for Homemade Beer
For the most part each of these beer bottles styles, feature smooth sides, rounded shoulders, and are easily recognized by their distinctive shapes. It’s recommend to choose amber glass whenever possible for optimum UV protection, because beer ingredients are light-sensitive and light affects the taste of your brew. These bottles are also a great choice for homemade soda, iced tea, cold brew coffee, cold pressed juice, or even kombucha. There are many good sources to purchase beer bottles on the internet. Search for ‘home brew beer bottles’ or ‘home brew supplies.’
How to Measure a Beer Bottle for a Custom Label
Every bottle has an area that’s called the ‘label panel’. Sometimes it’s called the ‘print area’. This is usually a flat depression on the bottle bordered by a top and bottom ridge in the glass.
Measure the Height:
The area between the ridges is where you’ll want to measure to determine the height of the label panel. If there are no ridges then measure the area where the curve stops above the bottom of the bottle to where it starts at the top. Take about 1/4 inch off that measurement to make sure you have room for fudging and to prevent wrinkles in the finished label application.
Measure the Width:
To find the area available for the width of the label simply wrap a cloth measuring tape around the bottle and note the measurement where the ends meet. If you don’t have a fabric measuring tape then find a piece of string, yarn, ribbon, shoelace, or something flexible and mark where the ends meet when you wrap it around the bottle. Lay that against a rigid ruler to determine the maximum width of the label panel. Most beer bottles have a gap in the back between the label edges so this measurement is just to determine the max your label width could be.
TIP: Measuring your label panel is the best guarantee that you order the correct size for your bottle. Don’t neglect this step before you create your custom labels.
Bottle Types and Suggested Label Sizes
Now that you have the maximum height and width for your label. You will want your label size to fall inside these measurements. Here are suggested label sizes from our website, by name and label dimensions, that are most likely to fit the different bottles.
- Stubby – CIDER OR SODA LABEL: 4 inches wide by 3.5 inches high, 4 inches wide by 3 inches high.
- Heritage & Long Neck – BEER LABEL: 4 inches wide by 3.5 inches high.
- Long Neck (some styles) & Bombers – WINE LABEL: 3.5 inches wide by 4 inches high. Long Neck: OVAL BEER LABELS: 2.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches high.
- Bomber, Mini-Growler, Standard Growler – GROWLER LABEL: 4 by 4 inch square, 5 inch by 5 inch square, 6 inches wide by 4 inches high.
- Bomber & Standard Growler – GROWLER LABEL or LARGE WINE LABEL: 6 inches wide by 4 inches high, 4 inches wide by 6 inches high
saxzAdditional Information About Our Beer Labels
- How do the labels stick on the bottles? The labels are self adhesive with a semi-permanent glue, which means you can take the label off if you want to re-use the bottle, but the label stays on as long as you need them too. The entire back is covered with a seamed paper that protects the adhesive. You find the crack(s) in the seam and peel it off.
- Are the labels waterproof? The labels are waterproof. You can put your beer bottles in the refrigerator or on ice and the labels stay on. The color is electrostatically embedded into the material so the ink won’t run.
- Can I put my labeled bottles in the dishwasher? In some cases, you can run your labeled bottles through the dishwasher, but do a test run first. Some dishwashers are set at higher temps than others, so it depends on the settings. The dishwasher soap may leave a filmy residue on the label which you can wipe off with a soft, damp cloth.
- Can I use a homebrew cleaning kit/sanitizer on the labeled bottles? The label adhesive cannot endure beer bottle sanitizers like Star San. The chemicals often melt the adhesive. Wash your bottles by hand in hot soapy water taking care not to scrape the surface of the label.
- Can I use my own label artwork? Yes! Start at the Make Your Own tab and choose your label size/shape. Make sure your artwork is 300 pixels per inch resolution and JPG or PNG format. Please allow .125 bleed on all four edges. Files should be uploaded in RGB color format, because web pages are RGB. If you’re particular about color, place your order with no artwork and email us your CMYK file along with your order number to info at bottleyourbrand dot com. We’ll match your artwork and order together before we send your labels to press.
If you have additional questions about beer label sizes or need help with artwork questions please feel free to email us info at bottleyourbrand dot com or live chat with us weekdays M-F 9 to 3 Pacific time. Happy brewing!
