How to Date Craft Beer

Put a date your beer so drinkers know it's fresh.

Enthusiasts wanting control over the types and quantity of hops and malt in their beverages can produce their own homemade craft beers. Quality, hand-selected ingredients give personally produced ales and porters a unique and fresh taste. Once you've mastered making your beer at home, you need to let its drinkers know how fresh the ale is and mark it for storage. In case you're not around when the bottles come out of the fridge, you can convey the beer production date with a professional-looking label. Does this Spark an idea?

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Word-processing or graphic-design software
Printer
Cardstock or glossy paper
Glue
Utility knife

Instructions

- 1
  
  Create a label for your home-brewed beer. In a word-processing or graphic-design program, start with a document that is 4 1/2-inches square. Design a logo, or just type the name or style of your brew. In one column down one side of the label, type the names of each month in 7-point type. On the opposite side in the same layout and style, type "Week 1," "Week 2," "Week 3" and "Week 4." At the bottom of the label, centered underneath the logo or name, type, "This beer was brewed on the dates notched at the side of the label." Print the labels on cardstock or glossy paper.
- 2
  
  Affix the label to your bottle with glue after you have poured in the beer and sealed the cap.
- 3
  
  Cut 1/8-inch notches into the label with the sharp blade of a utility knife. Date your beer by marking the month and the week you finished the process.