I have read almost every topic on pretty much ever Homebrew site and need some advice. I really want to bottle my next batch in some old school Stubby Bottles and from what I have found you cannot buy them anywhere that are label free and ready to go. The only option I have is to use Red Stripe bottles, but the issue that lies with that is the labels are Silk Screened on.
One person stated that all you needed to do was soak the empty bottles in a 3:1 ration of water to Muriatic Acid for 15 minutes and the paint will just wipe off. Last night I did exactly that and used two gallons of Muriatic Acid to six gallons of water and after 15 minutes of soaking it didn't even make a dent in the paint. I scrubbed away at it with a wire brush and barely scratched the surface. I decided to let them soak for an hour and when I went back I had the same end result. For poops and gigs I again let them soak this time overnight and still after 12+ hours of soaking there has been no difference.
Another person suggested soaking them in straight CLR (no dilution) and that will do the trick. Well as of right now they have been soaking for almost three hours in the CLR and it isn't making much of a difference. I scrubbed them and this time at least the bubbles from scrubbing started to turn red and white from the paint, but the thing is no paint was coming off.
I am getting very frustrated with this whole process. I really don't want to be out the $30 I spent for the case of Red Stripe even though I drank them (not a big fan of the beer) nor do I want to be out the $25 I spent thus far on chemicals to remove the labels. Did Red Stripe change the way they label their bottles in the past year that made it harder to remove them? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone knows where I can buy empty label free Stubbies that would be awesome or of a different beer that bottles in Stubbies, but doesn't Silk Screen on their labels that would be another option too I guess. Thanks in advance for the help.
One person stated that all you needed to do was soak the empty bottles in a 3:1 ration of water to Muriatic Acid for 15 minutes and the paint will just wipe off. Last night I did exactly that and used two gallons of Muriatic Acid to six gallons of water and after 15 minutes of soaking it didn't even make a dent in the paint. I scrubbed away at it with a wire brush and barely scratched the surface. I decided to let them soak for an hour and when I went back I had the same end result. For poops and gigs I again let them soak this time overnight and still after 12+ hours of soaking there has been no difference.
Another person suggested soaking them in straight CLR (no dilution) and that will do the trick. Well as of right now they have been soaking for almost three hours in the CLR and it isn't making much of a difference. I scrubbed them and this time at least the bubbles from scrubbing started to turn red and white from the paint, but the thing is no paint was coming off.
I am getting very frustrated with this whole process. I really don't want to be out the $30 I spent for the case of Red Stripe even though I drank them (not a big fan of the beer) nor do I want to be out the $25 I spent thus far on chemicals to remove the labels. Did Red Stripe change the way they label their bottles in the past year that made it harder to remove them? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone knows where I can buy empty label free Stubbies that would be awesome or of a different beer that bottles in Stubbies, but doesn't Silk Screen on their labels that would be another option too I guess. Thanks in advance for the help.