Why Octopus Brewery relies on Selfix labels.

Octopus Brewery

Octopus Brewery is a small brewery with a current capacity of 100 to 200 hectoliters of beer per year. Quality and taste are far more central than quantity. It is important to rediscover old, traditional beers, such as Wiener Lager, and to try out new beer varieties. The Bavarian Purity Law is not the top priority. There are too many possibilities to give the beer complementary flavors with fruits, berries, herbs and spices to be taboo for the imaginative production of our beers.

Fifteen to twenty different beers are usually always available. Seasonally, Octopus brews one or two special beers to match the season.

"At Octopus brewery the connoisseur will find the largest selection of the most diverse beers from one brewery" - This is the statement of many of our customers.

With a little luck, the beer connoisseur can even enjoy an experimental beer from a special brew.

The initial situation

The Octopus Bräu brewery used to label its beer bottles with A4 laser labels. The process of printing and affixing printer paper or sheet labels to beer bottles is time-consuming because, despite manual work, the labels have to be cut straight, angled and centered on the bottles - a rather tedious job. Although laser printers today achieve good printing results, the labels show the printing process. Among other things, the opacity of the printing inks, which makes for a good impression, is weaker compared to a label printed on suitable material. Another shortcoming is the water resistance of the paper and adhesive. Cold beer bottles sweat very quickly and the labels then tend to tear, wrinkle and fall off.

Requirements for the labels

Due to the initial situation, the requirements were clear quite quickly: An impressive label had to be found that could be applied quickly and easily and that could be provided with a sell-by date and lot number.

From the idea to the realization

In a personal dialog with the owner, Mr. Rudolf, the requirements were first defined and then the proposed solutions were worked out. In view of the different types and the requirement for high and convincing print quality, we decided on a Primera LX 2000e color printer. This enables us to produce the approx. 45 types of beer ourselves very flexibly, quickly, individually, in high quality and in small to medium quantities. The handling and especially the print quality convinced Mr. Rudolf and after a short consideration the decision was made. The Primera printer is quite simple to handle and easy to operate. It offers both a LAN port for easy connection to the existing network and a USB port for direct connection to the laptop. The included Windows label printing software Bartender UltraLight allows designing and printing labels. The LX2000e model convinced us due to these factors and the fact that large rolls with a core of 76mmØ and an outer diameter of 150mm can be used here. A compact and powerful label rewinder with automatic speed control is used to rewind the labels. To apply the belly labels, we decided to use a PRIMERA AP 362e label dispenser. This semi-automatic label dispenser allows individual labels to be applied to bottles and cylindrical containers as well as front and back labels to be applied in a single operation, which saves an enormous amount of time for labeling, according to Mr. Rudolf. Likewise, here we can apply front and back labels accurately and continuously in a single operation and without any feats of strength, which saves us a great deal of time.

The result is impressive

Mr. Rudolf is thrilled: "The Selfix beer labels meet our high requirements in terms of quality, functionality, deadline and advice. We save an enormous amount of time when applying the front and back labels. Without the relevant know-how of Selfix, we would not have been able to realize this project," continues Mr. Rudolf. "Especially the close and good cooperation with Selfix enabled us to realize this demanding beer labeling task in a very short time."

Octopus Bräu brewery - more than just a beer idea

The beer is a pleasure to drink. The start was a success. The guests, who also come to us from the surrounding communities, feel comfortable with us and love our beers because we brew good beer with heart and enthusiasm and serve our guests well.

Mr. Rudolf is involved in many events around the art of brewing and offers some brewing seminars.

www.octopus-braeu.ch