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

8.29.2013

The New BottleMark

Here at BottleMark, we pride ourselves at staying on the cutting edge of digital print technology. Today we're rolling out the red carpet on our biggest advancement yet. Brewers? Meet your new custom cap.


I dare say these new caps will make more than my lab happy!

Quality: Lookin' Good
Hello, handsome! Tinier dots and smoother color gradations result in more vivid graphics and photos. Colors stay consistent, whether printed on white, colored, or even metallic caps.

Durability: Lookin' Strong
Our new Hulk-like ink produces stronger, more durable images. We won't ship your caps in tightly wrapped stacks anymore because now any damage due to shipping is minor and rare. Go ahead: make key chains out of 'em! Crafters and microbrewers: these caps are for you.

Variety: Lookin' Unique
Hello, choices! You asked for it, and we've delivered. Now you can get high-quality custom printing on a wide range of bottle cap colors: silver, gold, black, red, yellow, green, blue, and our standard white. Brewing a special beer? We're offering custom printing on gold oxygen-barrier caps too!

Delivery: Lookin' Speedy
Hate the wait? Our old technology couldn't keep up with demand, but our new and improved system puts the Speedy in Speedy Gonzalez. Expect faster turn-around and delivery, because, well... we know you like to procrastinate. (As always, the front page will notify you of production times.)

But some things never change. You can still count on BottleMark's trademark features: easy online customization, seriously low prices, enthusiastic customer service, and high-quality, industry-standard bottle caps for brewing and crafting.

So get your bottles ready! We just launched a shiny new-website to match our shiny-new caps. Check out the new custom upload tool now, and get designing!

8.16.2013

New Magnets

I love magnets. I'm fascinated—attracted by them, if you will! Since we launched BottleMark, I've been indulging my magnet fetish by keeping a complete brew-history on my fridge with my past  caps. Now my collection just got better!

We've custom-ordered perfect bottle cap magnets. These are not available in stores! They are thicker than our old style; at a quarter-inch thick, that's just thick enough to hover a raw or used bottle cap right above the fridge surface. Best of all, you can order them in two different diameters: the classic 0.75" width...
Nesting nice and cozy

 Or the hefty, full-size 1" width...
This magnet means business
...for a truly substantial souvenir!

Now available in our crafting supplies shop for $0.24 (0.75") and $0.40 (1") each. Order one with your caps today and start your own custom collection!

7.01.2013

One-Day Sale and Homebrewing Freedom

As of midnight this morning, Mississippi's bill to allow homebrewing became law. With this final step, everyone in the United States of America can now brew beer at home without fear of the beer cops. WOOHOO!

"Excuse me sir, I'm gonna need you to drop the hops."
No joke. This was totally legally feasible in our country until today.

Wait...what? I bet most of you find this fact surprising. You thought your country was the land of the free. Well, not so much! Following Prohibition--our favorite WTF event in American history--the federal government had some new laws to write. In 1933, it technically allowed brewing at home IF AND ONLY IF the homebrewer paid alcohol's excise taxes as well as a penal bond like any other brewer. Yet wine making at home wasn't subject to any taxes. Which is ridiculous. It took 46 more years for us to realize this was ridiculous, when Jimmy Carter finally made brewing beer in small quantities for personal consumption free from taxes by 1979. Coincidence that the 1980s were the start of the Great American Beer Revolution? I think not.

But the federal homebrewing law still left room for the states to decide. Not everyone jumped on the bandwagon. But through lots of grass-roots efforts and awesome organizations like Alabama's Right to Brew, people nation-wide have slowly yet surely convinced their legislatures to legalize this great American tradition (yep: GW and TJ homebrewed, as did almost every colonial wife). Oklahoma took until 2010 to convince, and up until this year, Alabama and Mississippi remained the final bastions of the 1930s. NO MORE!

Mississippi passed its bill on March 18 to go into effect today, and Alabama's governor signed his state's bill on May 9, 2013. Today's the end of an era (a stupid era). And it's the birth of a new one! We're a new nation, conceived in responsible consumption and dedicated to the proposition that all beers are not created equal. Americans everywhere are standing up and demanding good-tasting, well-crafted beer.

Hatching a new generation
But the fight's not over, my friends, not by far. Some states make it illegal to consume your homebrew away from your home (I really have no idea what justifies this), thus making homebrew clubs and competitions criminal. And then there's South Carolina, which says you're illegal if you're brewing beer over 5%. And don't even get me started on alcohol laws in general! I fondly remember the 9 pm lock-down on beer at Wisconsin grocery stores. And why is it that I always need to go to the liquor store on Sunday? And then there was the time I was in Oklahoma, and all the grocery-store beer was "beer water" reduced to 4%: what the--?

Imprisoned.
The beer cops are still out there. 

Find out about your state's homebrewing laws here, and consider becoming an advocate for sane alcohol laws in your state. Seriously. Advocacy works! Texas recently had a major triumph for small brewers (who can now sell their beers on site, can you imagine?), thanks to craft beer drinkers like you coming together in groups like Open the Taps.

Tomorrow's another fight, but today, let's celebrate this moment. It's your moment, the homebrewer's moment, so we're giving you 10% off all orders of 50 custom caps or more ALL DAY TODAY until 12 am Pacific Time. Order one cap for each legal state, and celebrate!

Why? Because nothing's more American than a sale, of course! WAY TO GO, HOMEBREWERS OF AMERICA! (And our international friends? You can join the party, too.)

10% OFF 50+ CUSTOM CAPS TODAY ONLY
COUPON CODE: homeofthebrew

6.26.2013

Freedom! (And a Sale): Coming July 1st

Get excited. Monday, July 1, 2013 will be a truly historic day in the United States. After way too many years of prohibition-esque inanity, all fifty states (yes, even you, Mississippi!) will have explicit laws on the books permitting homebrewing. Brewer activists in Alabama and Mississippi have been hard at work for years to de-demonize a hobby many in their states were pursuing anyway despite the illegal status. This legislative session, they finally met with success in both states.

To celebrate this watershed moment for our favorite avocation, BottleMark will have a One-Day Celebration Sale: 10% off orders of 50 custom caps or more on July 1. That's one cap in honor of each state! For we are about to become the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brew.

Check back first thing on July 1 for the special coupon code.

I may disagree with your beer, but I will defend to the death your right to brew it.

6.22.2013

2 Years and Growing

BottleMark officially turns two today!
And we're (ahem) pretty excited about it.

We're very busy printing caps and destroying cakes today, but we wanted to take the time out to invite you to celebrate with us. So we'll let you in on a little secret...

Yellow Labs: Coming Soon
SHHH! It's a secret to everybody.

6.06.2013

Adam and Jodi's Save the Dates

While we hope not to get a lot of repeat business from them, brides and grooms love our custom bottle caps. For the wedding of Adam and Jodi at the Jester King Brewery (located in the nonpareil Texas Hill Country), nothing suited better than a bottle cap logo, and some bottle caps to go with it!

Here's their save-the-date magnet bottle caps alongside their invitation.

And here's the happy couple!
Nom.


Check out all of Adam and Jodi's gorgeous wedding porn in Jodi's "Tasty Touring" blog post here:
Tasty Touring: Our Texas Hill Country Wedding

You don't want to miss the sandwich collage. Trust me.

5.28.2013

Blemished White Caps

We don't custom print on ugly caps, so over the last two years we've collected quite a number of rejects. Now we're passing their unique look and top-notch bottling qualities on to you!


If you're looking for a good deal and a perfect seal, these caps are for you. Available here (while supplies last!) for $0.01 each.

5.21.2013

Sharon's 60th

You'd be surprised how many babies we print on bottle caps. It's becoming a thing. I'd bet lots of proud, new-crowned Dads are celebrating in the best way they know how: brewing!
But this baby here? She's not so new.

Like many saavy wives, Rhonda gifted her hubby Mike a beginner's homebrew set last Christmas. But unlike many wives, Rhonda loved homebrewing even more than her husband! After working together on a Winter Warmer Cherry Ale in January, they've now fallen into their respective positions of Brewer and Official Taster. She says, "I was hooked." And I'm sure Mike's not getting off with a bad deal either.

While discussing her new hobby with her long-time brewing brother-in-law, his wife Sharon piped up in enthusiastic ecstasy for the Seadog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter brewed in Maine, which (like all the good craft brews) isn't widely available. Sharon's 60th birthday was coming up, and as Rhonda reports, "Now I had my mission, and it would not be impossible!!!"

Cue music.

With some awesome help from Annapolis Home Brew Gurus, Rhonda customized a standard porter recipe for hazelnuts. Being no ordinary beer and no ordinary birthday, it needed to be dressed to the nines.

Cue labels, carriers, and caps, of course!


Rhonda did some research with her mother-in-law and decided to order cute 5 month-old Sharon on a bottle cap. What better tribute on a birthday? And here's surprised Sharon:
My, how you've grown!
Needless to say, this homebrew was a hit. Why not cellar some, Sharon, for your 70th? (Say that three times fast). Happy belated birthday from BottleMark!

5.03.2013

Bullard's Brew-gift

Every job comes with its perks: maybe it's a company car, cheap pitchers, or unsupervised reddit time. But here at BottleMark, the big company perk is our customers. Brewers are just the nicest people out there.

We recently made a homebrewer so happy, he insisted he share the love. So we got two of our custom caps back, but with the brews attached!
Our caps fulfill their destiny
Josh Bullard reports, "I get inspiration for my beers from experiences, crazy ideas, friends/people I meet, music, art...weather patterns." I lol'd. I'd like to see a whole brewery be weather patterned-themed.

For the first beer, Josh was dreaming of a heavy-hitting wheat when the song "Bombshell" by Operation Ivy played, and so this Imperial Wheat was born. He completed it with a punk-rock anarchy cap.

The second is a special brew made for Josh's friend Natalie. She's fond of honey beers but not so much of hoppy beers, and so with the help of some local honey, Josh created a nicely balanced Honey Pale Ale. Natalie got pride of place on the cap and christened it Bumble Brew.

And for the first time I can actually report back that "nicely balanced" isn't just Josh's claim: it's mine, too! We hoarded the gifts for a special occasion at the Cooper household...what better night than chicken fajita night! Here I am hamming it up with the Bumble Brew Honey Pale Ale.
Natalie's not the only one who can make quirky faces!
This beer had a forward honey-induced sweetness that the hops at the end kept from turning too sweet. And here's Cameron with some delicious fajitas and She's A Bombshell Imperial Wheat.
He grew those sideburns for a play, I swear!
The Imperial Wheat had a lovely nutty taste, wasn't super-wheaty, and was super-drinkable for 8% ABV.

And here's the brewer!
(on the right)
While BottleMark can't exactly accept payment in beer, we're certainly open to company donations. Thanks, Josh, for some great homebrew! What's next? A Cumulus Cloud Cream Ale, perhaps?

3.14.2013

Bottle caps and Bardolatry

For those of you who know me in the real world, you know I've got one of the quirkiest combinations of passions. It's time to confess to you all: I make custom bottle caps for a living, and I do Shakespeare. Wait, what?

Forsooth, I speak the truth! In fact, Shakespeare got me into bottle caps: I met Cameron through Rice University's Baker Shakespeare program, and he even proposed dressed as Prospero at the end of a Tempest rehearsal with a Shakespearean line he said on stage to me two years before ("Will you have me, lady?"). Thankfully Shakespeare left me free to give my own answer that time. When you have the Bard to thank for both your living and your love, you call it Bardolatry.

For the last ten weeks, I've been hard at work every evening directing The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare's most controversial play, for Baker Shakespeare at Rice University. At this Saturday night's cast party, we're popping the top on these bad boys.

An ESB brewed with a vengeance.
An English Brown Ale: as beer as beer gets!
So if you're in Houston, TX this weekend, consider catching our last three performances of The Merchant of Venice!

In this most problematic of Shakespeare's comedies, Shylock the Jew seeks a pound of flesh from Antonio the Christian while three couples fall in (and out of) love. All that glisters is not gold in this equal parts funny and frightening production, set in all the opulence and prejudice of Renaissance Venice.

Remaining Performances: This weekend only!
March 14, 15, 16 @ 8pm
Baker Residential College, Rice University
6320 Main Street


Tickets:
$5 Students
$7 Alums/Faculty/Staff
$10 Public

LINKS
Show info with maps and parking: http://www.bakershake.org
Rice Thresher Review
Meme

2.28.2013

Kickstarter: LA Ale Works

You know the dream: good homebrew grows up into a great brewery. One of our favorite customers, LA Ale Works, is enjoying those fabulous growing pains right now. Help turn them into a brewery!

Want better beer in LA? Go donate to their kickstarter NOW! Pledges start at only $1.
LA Ale Works Kickstarter

When you help fund LA Ale Works, they'll send you a certain amount of "vote" tokens, redeemable for awesome things later. These tokens are our very own flattened custom bottle caps with the LA Ale Works logo. Very cool!

There are lots of other great prizes at different levels, from getting your name engraved on their fermentor to hand-made bottle carriers to naming a special release beer after you. You know you want some of that action.

If you'd like to enjoy beer like the Buttress of Windsor Coffee Rye Porter or Das Kolsch (a real traditional kolsch) among many of their award-winning other brews, support LAAW today!

2.15.2013

Bells Brewing Company

Tom thought he might save some money brewing his own beer. After a year of avid homebrewing and making all the necessary equipment purchases, he's got the cost down to a mere $8 a bottle! But money hardly matters when you're sharing good beer brewed with care with friends and family.

When gifting beers, it's great to add a personal touch to the bottles--not to mention a label so they know what's inside! And thus Bells Brewing is addicted to custom bottle caps. Tom enjoys making connections between his beers and his rural home. Here are some of our favorite designs:

Named after the county
Named after the county's unfortunate laws
Tom added coffee to the secondary, hence the "Joe"
A 2-for-1 name: a "hoppy" ESB brewed in the land of cotton growing
Brewed with a touch of honey

Bells Brewing's latest offering is an Altbier, brewed with a top fermenting yeast and capped with this lovely Oktoberfest lass. (The wife however is not convinced "top-down" refers to just the yeast!)

And here's the design in action:

Unique names, crisp graphics, and a uniform design scheme that unites them all together. A great custom cap line-up from Bells Brewing!