Want to share the story behind your custom cap or label? Email me.

10.31.2011

Backyard Bounty

Robby from Alexandria, VA created this beauty.
I can almost smell them!
In his second year of growing his own hops, Robby had a big enough yield to hop a recent batch. He brewed a wet hopped harvest ale, and while the wort was boiling, he literally dashed to his backyard and returned with the bounty you see here—with just enough time to snap the picture he used for the cap, of course. Don't believe me? Check out the photos on his awesomely-named blog Profiles in Pourage.

Robby completed the look with some rockin' custom labels.
All dressed up and heading for the fridge. (Nice book, too.)
About his backyard bounty Robby jokes, "Soooo holistic, right? From bine to beer to bottle cap." Bravo!

10.27.2011

Joe Nathan's Homebrew

Jonathan Dickerson may be new to homebrewing, but he's already got some fantastic bottle caps. After a little fiddling with a photo of his carboy, he created this design...
Rock that carboy!
...and ordered it in an assortment of colors!
I love this concept of color-coding homebrews: orange for pumpkin ale, yellow for pilsner, etc. It's a great plan for the experimental and spontaneous brewer, and a lot of microbreweries do it, too. Joe Nathan can make whatever he likes, whenever he likes, and he's already got caps handy.

Which is good because it sounds like he's a busy brewer. For Joe, it all started with the wonderful community at r/homebrewing. A special pumpkin ale for his wife followed, and he's already brewed five more beers! Way to go, Joe. Welcome to the best of hobbies.

10.13.2011

Roark's Honey Porter

If you've got a small farm in Bucks County, PA, and you've got extra-pollinated honey, what do you do with it?
Brew, of course! Chip and Shannon love their farm, complete with peppers by the ton, chicken friends, and three honeybee hives. When the couple first wound up with honey a bit too strong for normal consumption, instead of tossing it, they started brewing. Good call. It's apparently just the kind of honey you want for beer! So that's homebrewed porter with homemade honey. Awesome.

They named their porter Roark after this guy...
On three: 1, 2, 3....AWWW!
Yes, yes, I do think the internet needs another cat picture. Roark is a polydatyl highland lynx with curly ears. I'm in love. I just hope Roark doesn't bother the chickens too much.

Hot sauce and honey porter and an impossibly cute cat. Now that's the good life.
Check out Chip's farming blog: http://sherwoodtaylor.com/

10.10.2011

Blank caps, magnets, and more, oh my!

BottleMark recently added some new fun stuff to the shop.

We've got blank caps for those of you without any custom cap ambitions. Fully lined white and silver caps for $0.03 each.
Our bounty is as boundless as the sea
We're also offering these totally bizarre bullseye caps. We printed a whole heap of these to help calibrate our printer. They're raw caps, so the design may scratch a bit. But they're perfectly good for capping!
Won't you give one a home? Only a penny each.
Our favorite new product: practically-perfect-in-every-way bottle cap magnets. At 3/4" they nest exquisitely inside of a bottle cap. Ideal for crafting or displaying your custom cap. Order a magnet for each of your designs!
Made for each other.
Crafting with bottle caps? Check out our new services...
If you don't own a capper ($15-$60 bucks) but still want the "finished look" of a bottle cap, let us cap your caps for you!
Uncapped vs. capped (definitely a crafting-only service).
Making bottle cap jewelry and need a hole for a jump ring? We're punching small holes in caps for our customers, too.

Go explore the whole store! 

10.05.2011

Henry Sipos's Clever Caps

Homebrewer Henry Sipos recently designed these clever beauties.
Simple, streamlined hilarity
This cap is doubleplusgood
The awesomeness speaks for itself.

10.03.2011

Shizmo Brewing Co.

With a little bit of luck, you should be seeing this cap yourself in the future:
Lucas E. Szymanowski is living the American (homebrew) Dream. Inspired by Alton Brown's Good Eats (and who isn't?), Szymanowski started with a simple extract Belgian homebrew. Soon after, the wife joined the fun, and brewing equipment took up permanent residence in the house. Three years and many Belgian beer awards later, the Szymanowskis are now in hard-core planning mode to launch their very own commercial craft brewery. Their graphic is even professionally designed. A hobby no longer!
Totally legit.
Why call it Shizmo? Well, sometimes those nicknames from old school days just stick.
Shizmo Brewing Co's Hibiscus Saison
What's brewing now: Shizmo's Oktoberfest label
So if you're living West Coast style, keep an eye out in 2012 for these beauties. Best of luck with the launch, Shizmo! May we savor one of your Cinderella-story saison's soon!
Website: http://www.shizmobrewery.com/