How to Build Your Own Carbonation Rig

See more Ingredients / Techniques

Sometimes when I put up a new post on this site, it’s because I have what I think is a good idea and I want to say, “Hey world, here’s an idea I came up with and I’d like to share it with you.” Other times I put up a new post because I want to say, “Hey, quit emailing me and asking me how to do this.

So, like a million years ago I put up a couple of blog posts on this site, one about making your own ginger beer, and one about bottled carbonated cocktails, both which require some pretty tricky methods for making bubbles: one that called for using ever-unpredictable yeast, and one using a device that was recalled shortly after my post for exploding. Oops.

So about once a week I get an email from someone asking me how to do one of several things:

  1. Carbonate cocktails in a way that won’t result in exploding equipment.
  2. Carbonate ginger beer or other mixers without resorting to yeast.
  3. Carbonate cocktails for draft delivery.

So here are the two systems that can do all of those things. Here we go.

Thanks to the fine folks at my local homebrew shop, I was able to put together a kit that takes less than five minutes to assemble, cost me around a hundred and fifty bucks to build, and costs next to nothing to operate. A bit cheaper than a top-of-the-line SodaStream, but with a lot more versatility (you can carbonate more than just water with mine) and a hell of a lot cheaper to operate long-term. Here’s what you need:

A Regulator

You need a regulator in order to do this. What a regulator does is maintain an exact pressure coming from your CO2 tank. If you’re not using a regulator, you’re dumping the contents of your CO2 tank into your container, and your container can explode. Don’t ever think of hooking a CO2 tank up to anything without a regulator, okay? They cost about $60 bucks and you can buy one here.

A Carbonator Cap

This is about the coolest thing ever. It’s a device that screws on to any two-liter bottle and allows you to carbonate whatever’s inside that bottle. I have this system at home and use it primarily for soda water (I’m a nut for bubbles) and sometimes sparkling lemonade, but you can also use this to carbonate cocktails. It’s especially handy for making bigger batches of bottled cocktails, and sometimes in the summer I’ll make a case of Americanos for backyard parties. Anyway, it’s part of the system I’m describing, so you need to pick one up here.

Carbon Dioxide

There’s one good way to get carbon dioxide (CO2) into a beverage, and that’s by using a tank of the stuff. It’s cheap, it’s plentiful, and it’s real easy to find. I’m not going to tell you to buy it online, though if you want an empty tank that you can have refilled cheaply at a homebrew shop any commercial gas place, pick it up here for around $50 bucks. Otherwise, hit up your gas dealer or homebrew shop.

Putting It All Together

Getting the tank connected to the Carbonator Cap is easy, you just need a few small things. First off, get yourself a Quick Disconnect to attach to the Carbonator Cap. This allows you to take the hose on and off the bottle with ease. They’re like ten bucks and you can get one here.

Next, you’ll need some hose and a couple of hose clamps to secure either end to your equipment. I use about five feet of hose for flexibility, and I found one online that actually comes with two hose clamps, which will save you a trip to the hardware store.

Now all you need to do is connect one end of that hose to the quick disconnect, and the other to the hose barb. Use those hose clamps to get it good and secure on either end, and then screw the regulator to the CO2 tank. Open up the tank, flip that valve on the regulator so that it’s parallel to the hose, and crank your PSI up to 35.

Time for Bubbles!

Get your empty two-liter bottle and fill it with the beverage you want to carbonate. The most important thing here is that your liquid is as cold as possible, because carbon dioxide is much more soluble in cold water than in warm. So chill your drink overnight in the fridge if you need to.

Once that puppy is cold, screw on the Carbonator Cap, connect the quick disconnect to the cap, and make sure everything is on there good and tight. Now, while the tank is connected, you’ve got to shake the shit out of your bottle. Shaking will increase the surface area between the gas and the liquid, which is where the transfer of CO2 happens. Shake it hard until you can’t feel or hear any more gas being delivered to the bottle. This usually takes between thirty seconds and a minute.

Disconnect the Quick Disconnect valve and you’re done. If you’re only carbonating water, then you can unscrew the Carbonator Cap and you’re ready to go. If you have anything with sugar in there (and yes, booze and fruit juice all have sugar in them) then you’ll want to unscrew that cap really slowly so that it doesn’t fizz up all over your counter.

And that’s it! Now you can pour it out into glasses, or fill some bottles and cap them if that’s the route you want to take. For reference, here’s your shopping list.

  1. CO2 tank: $68.40, $15 to refill.
  2. Tap-Rite Regulator: $58.99
  3. 5 feet of hose and two hose clamps: $5.24
  4. Ball Valve Quick Disconnect: $9.99
  5. Carbonator Cap: $12.65
  6. Empty two liter bottle: $0.05

Total cost: $155.32


Draft Cocktails

Now, if you really need to serve cocktails on tap, then this system isn’t going to work. For that you’ll need what’s referred to as a “Cornelius Keg”, which is a five-gallon keg typically used for soda. They’re great for this because they have a nice wide opening that makes them a cinch to clean.

I had a whole thing written where I went through the individual parts for you, and then I realized you can just buy a complete system online. It’s around $200 and includes everything you would need to serve cocktails or soda on tap (I do own this system as well). Now, if you’re hoping to connect this to your draft faucets in a professional bar you’ll need some additional connections, but if you’re at that level I’m going to assume you know how to navigate the back-end of your system and get the right connections from the homebrew shop.

Once you’ve got that all assembled, then the method is the same: mix up your drink, get it very well chilled, shake the hell out of it until there’s no more gas running into the container, and you’re almost ready. The one difference with the keg system is that once you’ve reached your full 25 or so PSI of carbonation, you’ve got to turn down the pressure coming from the regulator to about 8 PSI, otherwise you’ll be firing foam all over the place (that’s what she said). You can do this by pulling the ring on the top of the keg to release pressure while turning the regulator knob counter-clockwise until you’ve landed somewhere around 8 PSI.

That’s it! I hope this helps those of you looking to add some bubble to your beverages. I’m starting my 2014 (and my eleventh year of writing this blog!) by helping myself to a nice, cold glass of sparkling water. Cheers, you guys.

75 Replies to “How to Build Your Own Carbonation Rig”

  • Marky says:

    Have you used your whipped cream bottle for carbonation? I use mine to make “fizzy” fruit (grapes in container, charge with a Co2 cartridge instead of NoX) but for small amounts it should work fine.

  • Chie Matutina says:

    Hi! I saw some brand new co2 tanks from aquarium online shops. It says co2 industrial tank for aquarium. Can I use that for carbonation? Thanks!!!

  • Eilene says:

    Is there any way to use this system with glass carafes rather than plastic bottles? Did it with Sodastream so figured it’s possible, maybe turning the regulator down low?

  • Stremove.com says:

    If you re at all keyed into the modern drinks scene, then you already know who Jeffrey Morgenthaler is. He s a legendary bartender based in Portland, and he s widely acknowledged as one of the fathers of the craft cocktail movement. Today, he s going to show you how to build a rig that can carbonate anything you want, and do it on the cheap. Jeffrey, take it away.

  • John Rock says:

    Hi Jeffery Morgenthaler, I was wondering if you would suggest your favorite cocktails to carbonate with this method?

  • RP says:

    Hey everyone,

    I need some help here please. And Jeff my congrats on this amazing site.

    I`m helping a friend opening a bar, and he is targeting to a hi volume cocktail bar, and I suggested draft cocktails.

    He has a very limited space, so there is no space for a kegerator, but a home brew in my home town suggested to use the same machine that is used to cool the beer like the one next. http://www.lindr.cz/products/as-160-green-line%5B1%5D

    So the idea was to make a daily batch and then pass it trought this machine.

    Does it make sense? Would it work?

    Thanks a lot.

  • John Paulasky says:

    Yes Andy,

    that was one of the article I read. I remember one more somewhere but can’t find it again.

    Anyway, it seems still everyone has extremely different settings and approaches to the carbonation procedures of cocktails on keg.

    That article for example state that the carbonation is done over a 48 hours period of time at 60 PSI!

    if I even try to carbonate at 60 PSI a cornelius kegged cocktail for , lets say , 14 hours, the tap is going to shoot foam no matter what, no matter if i bring the service pressure of the keg back down to 8 PSI.

    So far it seemed that the a lower PSI setting ( 20 – 25 PSI ) for about 20 – 30 minutes with 2 – 3 shakes in the middle, yeld a good result. My service line works at slightly less PSI ( 10 – 15 ).

    But i might be wrong as i have not tried 60 PSI for 48 hours -_-

  • Andy Knight says:

    http://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/2014-04-01/358/cocktails/draught-cocktails-draft-cocktails

    This is one of a few I’ve read that suggest using a pre-carbonated mixer.

  • John Paulasky says:

    I was wondering in the Aperol Spritz choice, would you carbonate the whole mixture with Prosecco, or would you use dry white wine instead?

    “Same” thing applies to cocktail that requires club soda.

    Would you use sparkling water as pre-carbonated ingredient in the canister , or you would use simply flat filtered water?

    I’ve kegged ( cornelius kegs ) Aperol Spritz with dry white wine, Aperol , and water for dilution until today, then carbonate with CO2 tank;

    Recently tho, I read in a couple of articles around the web stating that carbonating cocktails that require bubbles with already pre-carbonate ingredients ( Prosecco instead of white wine, or sparkling soda instead of flat ) might facilitate the whole process in keeping and achieving maximum carbonation in the final product.

    Thoughts?

  • Sam C says:

    Atlanta – San Pellegrino comes in plastic bottles as well – that’s probably the one you can use with the Carbonator Cap.

  • Atalanta says:

    Tim – Boston Apothecary has a cap for Champagne bottles: http://bostonapothecary.com/tag/champagne-bottle-manifold/

    Runs $100. I’m saving up for one.

    I also read somewhere that someone used a San Peligrino bottle with the carbonator cap. Tried googling it today and couldn’t find it.

    If you’re feeling lucky, you could give it a go and let us know if you survive 😉

  • Tim Weigel says:

    Will the CARBONATOR CAP work for glass bottles? If not, is there another solution?

  • Atalanta says:

    Randy – the short answer is no. I keep checking to see if the answer has changed over the years and it hasn’t. I’m experimenting with carbonating and then filling the soda siphon. I haven’t hit the sweet spot of water temperature, CO2 pressure, and letting it sit to get friendly. I’m now at the point where it’s good for two drinks before going flat.

  • Randy says:

    I finally got around to assembling my own carbonation rig. Thanks, Jeffrey, for the info on how to do it and links to where to buy the parts. Since I’ve owned an iSi soda syphon for years, I’m curious if anyone has come across a connector/adapter for one. I’ve googled with no success.

  • Sam C says:

    Hi Luke,

    In short: yes you can do it that way. You will get carbonated water; depending on your preferred level of fizz it may or may not be to your taste.

    Longer: you don’t have to fill to 4 gallons, just anywhere below the gas inlet/dip tube should be ok. More headspace is sometimes helpful for the ‘shaking’ method, but not strictly necessary for the ‘set it and forget it’ method. Keeping the liquid level below the gas dip tube is advisable though (mostly to prevent any liquid going back up the gas hose, etc).

    If you are just letting it sit (‘set it and forget it’ method) then timing is usually a couple days to a week to carbonate (depending on temp/pressure/etc).

    The amount of CO2 that can be dissolved in water goes up as the water is chilled, but you can find a cool place to put the keg and/or ice it down if you need to – the fridge is not strictly necessary (easier, but not required).

    You could also try using much higher pressure in the non-chilled keg and run a much longer serving line (possibly through ice like a jockey box?) to get higher carbonation without a chilled keg. The longer hose adds restriction to the line, making the fluid flow slower -hopefully with less off-gassing and definitely with less jet-like pressure. Icing the line would chill the beverage and keep more co2 in solution. This may be more of a ‘party’ solution than for every day, but i thought I would mention it.

  • Luke says:

    Very nice blog and useful comments.
    I endup here because I was researching a solution for sparkly water on tap.
    I am not interested in adding syrup and I am looking for normal “sparkliness” not the watering-eyes crazy.
    I think all I need is a keg/tank kit listed above but I am still a little confused about the steps. This is what I think I should do:

    – fill the keg with 4 gallons of water (to leave some space for the CO2)
    – Seal it
    – Pressurize the tank to 30 psi (letting some air out at the beginning) and leave it sitting there
    – After a while (how long?)all the water should be carbonated and I should lower the pressure to 8 psi

    Is that it? is the shaking part really necessary? Also I would not have a fridge to put the keg in so will that be ok? I know the colder the water the more carbonation but I don’t really like super cold water.

    I know it is not easy to get proper carbonation and sometimes is more of an art than science but do you think the way I described above would get me something close to carbonated water or not at all?

  • Brian says:

    Very interesting! Thanks for posting! On those bubbly Americano’s, did you add sugar? Also, how long would they keep their bubbly goodness?

    Thanks again!

    -b

  • Atalanta says:

    Alli – have you tried your setup with water to make sure everything is set properly? What pressure do you have it set for? I have mine set for 65 PSI, but will be cranking it back a little with the new rig. It sounds like your beverage may be “heavier” and need a higher pressure.

    All – I just changed my rig to the carbonator cap setup mentioned in the above blog post. However, homebrewstuff.com sells a stainless steel carbonator which is pretty close in price to the plastic one. Need to play with it some more, but I think I’ll be giving some of my old rig to my brother in law.

  • Alli says:

    Jeffrey-long time reader, first time query-er. I am trying to ‘spritz’ aperol and pinot grigio. Using your method, I tightly capped 24 187mL champagne bottles filled with above mix and found mere hours later that they had no carbonation! We had back -up prepped in liter plastic bottles that were deflated by 11pm that evening. Like, sunken in. WHAT THE FUCK?! In fairness, I have not once seen a recipe for a spritzed aperol bottled cocktail,nor an aperol cocktail, period, so I wonder if the combined sugar content of Aperol/pinot grigio or simply aperol won’t hold the carbonation??? Am I stupid?

    I would appreciate your interest in my first world bottle cocktail problem…
    Thanksabunch <3 alli

  • chris boateng says:

    Mr Jeff thanks for your post. do you build the entire system without the tank to sell? I will like to by a couple to take to africa.

  • atalanta says:

    Just saw this. Came here from the 2011 posting on carbonation. I have a lovely mesh encased glass soda siphon but only water goes into that. For everything else, it’s time to hook up the tank!
    I got myself a 20lb tank and regulator on craigslist for about $75. Got the high pressure air line at Lowes (yes, food safe) for less than $5. The method I went with was basically an inflation nipple (like what you find in a football) inserted into the top of a soda bottle cap. The Fizz Giz guy used to sell them and I bought a bunch. Don’t know if he still sells them. Went to Harbor Freight and got an inflation needle and pistol grip and stuff to hook it to the air line (less than $10). I’ve been using this setup for about a year now and I think it will be a while before I have to refill the tank.

    Regarding the concern with ruining a beer setup. Cheat. Our kegerator died last year and I got the guys at our beer distributor to help out. What we did was get a length of beer line (for this you can use beer line), attach the nut you need to connect it to the sankey/tap. The other end gets a party faucet. No running through the beer faucets to dispense. You can also get the ready-made line from micromatic: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/hoses-pid-BL-2.html

  • Sam says:

    In addition to spraying foam, if you do not lower the pressure on your keg it can travel up the gas line. One of the bars that carried my ginger beer complained of beers on their draft system tasting like ginger! Due to the drastically higher pressure in the keg than the line, the ginger beer was traveling up the gas line from the keg and down the gas lines into near by kegs.

  • Great Post, As Per notes, for about $60 you can use your SodaStream with standard paintball canisters. It will pay for itself in about eight or so refills. I have two of these, one for home and one for work. {I’m not the seller, just a satisfied customer.}
    http://www.criticalpaintball.com/SodaMod-SodaStream-Soda-Club-CO2-Adapter-Save-Mo-p/sodastream-sodamod.htm

  • Ginty says:

    Congratulations on 11 years!!! I’ve only been following for 5 but I’m still with you. Here’s to another 11!

  • TK says:

    @Tim

    The brewer was correct in that the acid will dissolve most traditional tap equipment. You need stainless steel tower, spout, tap, shank as well as “wine line” which was designed to withstand the high acid content of tap wine. As for the sugar content, if you are regularly servicing your lines then it should not be a big issue. We got around the issue of converting our tap lines by not including any high acid ingredients to the kegged cocktail and instead adding it in the shaker or glass and just pouring direct from the tap. Haven’t had any issues yet. If your lines are not that long I would recommend converting to wine line and stainless if you have the money. Another thing to remember in a full bar setup is that you should be using nitrogen or a mix to push out your non carbonated kegged cocktails to prevent getting unwanted bubbles. Good luck!

  • Tim says:

    For those in the industry, can anyone comment on the medium to long term effect of doing draft cocktails on equipment that was built for draft beer? When I was considering this for a restaurant my group recently opened I had a very respected craft brewer tell me I was making a “huge mistake” if I went in that direction as the high acid of any citrusy cocktail or the high sugar content and intense flavors of a traditional spiritious one would wreck all sorts of havoc on my precious lines.

  • Argh! As a computer guy, I should know that most problems turn out to be “user error.”

    This was one of those problems.

    I thought the regulator was cranked wide open, but it wasn’t — I gave up after feeling some resistance in the knob.

    The regulator goes much higher, and I am now getting GREAT carbonation.

    Thank you all for your kind patience. I love my new setup!

    (Even if the quick release is hissy leaky…)

  • Sam C says:

    Andrew – head space is important for faster transfer via shaking, but you will not be able to get a higher pressure in your beverage than the max the regulator can push. If your regulator maxes out at 25 that will be the highest *pressure* you can achieve. Whether that is enough depends on temperature of the liquid involved as well as time (higher pressure = shorter time).

    here’s a chart:
    http://beerismypassion.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/co2-chart.jpg

    ‘very fizzy’ is usually around 3+ or even 4 volumes, like most commercial sodas (though some champagne has as much as 7 volumes). As the chart shows, you should be able to get 4 volumes with a 25psi regulator, but the water needs to be cold (35f or lower for 4 volumes), and you need to keep it cold or the gas will vent as soon as you open the container. This may include keeping your serving glass cold to help prevent off-gassing.

    Getting to that level of carbonation may also take a little while (shake, walk away for a bit, shake again, repeat) – you may need to leave the bottle in the freezer between gas charges. Or you can get a regulator with a higher max (60psi is pretty common).

    I carb in a keg, and i usually just crank it to higher pressure and let it sit at temperature in the kegerator for as long as it needs (if i get impatient i will shake it). If you have the space to fit your co2 tank upright* in the fridge you could just let it equalize in there, but that’s usually not an option for a primary fridge as it means taking the shelves out for most models of fridge.

    *do NOT try to dispense with your tank horizontal – liquid co2 (instead of gas) may exit your tank under that scenario – best case, broken regulator due to rapid gas expansion from liquid. Worse case, possible damage or injury.

  • Whoops:

    Still, the whole “crank it up to 35″ doesn’t work when the regulator won’t go above 25. 🙁

  • Okay, so I have partially resolved my issue:

    I needed to leave more air (okay, CO2) space at the top of the liquid, so that the shaking resulted in bubbles throughout the whole bottle.

    Still, the whole “crank it up to 25” doesn’t work when the regulator won’t go above 25. 🙁

  • beejay says:

    Sam C.

    I realize the Nitrogen was a “tangential” issue to this discussion, however, if it’s your finger that falls off because of improper use of liquid Nitrogen through ignorance, that’s not so tangential. 😉

    So, you answered my question — NOT liquid Nitrogen — so, not an issue. Good on you!

  • stephen says:

    @andrew

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf-DJy-2Lao

    start here and there are other great youtube videos to help trouble shoot

  • Sam C says:

    franco – there are different ways to do this. if the bottles are cold and you have enough line you can fill a bottle off a plastic picnic/cobra tap. There will be air in the bottle – how much that matters depends on what is in there. fill a bit past the top of the bottle and you won’t get much oxygen actually in the bottle (use oxy absorbing caps if you feel the need).

    A step up from this would be to do a purge of the bottle before filling. Basically this means filling with co2 before you fill with liquid – use a regular shop ‘blower’ like on the end of an air compressor or just use an open line and the check valve on your regulator. co2 is heavier than air, so if you shoot some in there first it’ll mostly stay put while you are filling.

    a little more fancy is to get a racking cane and cut it down to the size you want (length to hit bottom of the bottle). make sure the racking cane fits snug inside the plastic tap. fill the bottle with co2, then fill from the bottom with liquid into a *cold* bottle and cap. See illustration:
    http://www.krach.org/Homebrew/CheapBottleFiller.jpg
    [Full thread and description: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/ ]
    (this one has a valve for injecting co2, you can do without that if you like). you ‘burp’ the rubber stopper to let some pressure out as you fill, but leave enough counter-pressure to keep the bubbles in solution.

    Lastly you can drop $80+ on a fancy blichmann beer gun which is engineered for this specific task:
    http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/beergun-stainless-bottle-filler.html

  • So I’m all set up, with a 10 lb tank. The problem is, though I have REALLY cold water, and shake like crazy, I’m only getting weak carbonation. With the regulator wide open, I’m only getting about 25 psi during carbonation. What am I doing wrong?

    I’ve checked that the tank is full: it weights about 10 lbs more than its empty tare weight.

    There is a little hiss around the quick release on the carbonator cap, which is annoying.

  • franco says:

    if i decide to carbonate in 2 l bottles and then bottling the soda in smaller bottles will the carbonation last or the gas will disappear ?
    or there is a better method to do this because i would like to make sodas in different flavors and bottle in 12oz bottles…
    also if i use glass bottles instead of plastic how do i purge the air out?

    thank you very much for all the info

  • Sam C says:

    beejay – mostly the discussion is on co2, but there is some tangential info on nitrogen for other purposes (mostly this is gaseous nitrogen for serving liquids, they do this in your local bar for things like guiness beer) and some references to a video where Dave Arnold is using liquid nitrogen as a very quick way to cool items before utilizing normal carbonation techniques.

    The build(s) for carbonation described above do not involve liquid nitrogen. Comment #28 talks about many safety factors pertaining to co2 and *gaseous* (not liquid) nitrogen.

  • beejay says:

    One question on the Nitrogen: is this the same as liquid Nitrogen that’s used for freezing? Because, if so, that stuff is nothing to take lightly. When I worked in a medical school, they used it in the labs to flash freeze tissue samples. “Spray” some of that on a finger, and you could lose that digit.

    If it’s not the same, forget I said anything. 😉

    And thanks for all this great info, Jeffrey and the rest of you, too. I’m bookmarking this, comments and all. I’ve been using Oz-tops for my carbonation, but they require yeast and sugar, also creating a small amount of alcohol along the way. It means some math on the yeast and sugar to avoid creating alchoholic fizzy lemon for your kids. It’s a fun thing for the kids to do, but for more constant usage, this seems to be the way to go.

  • Sam C says:

    Typically line sized for corny keg disconnects (the ‘ball lock disconnect’) that i use will be sized at 3/16 inch or 1/4 inch (inner diameter, not outer). If you purchased larger it may work, just tighten it on there, turn the gas on, check for leaks (soapy water, etc). if you don’t think it is a tight enough seal, get some more hose, that stuff is cheap (check a homebrew store in your area if you don’t want to wait for online shipping times to get started). If your disconnect has threads on it instead of just a ‘hose barb’ then get a proper swivel nut/flare adapter for the end of your hose. This makes the connection to the disconnect easily removed also, if that appeals to you (probably not necessary for a single gas line setup though).

    Usually when i’m making lines a properly sized hose will not go easily onto a barb without soaking the end in some hot (not boiling, like 150f) water to soften it up some. This makes a nice, snug connection, then I add a clamp on top of that.

    Relying only on clamping pressure with a too-large hose may lead to a ‘slow leak’ where your entire co2 tank bleeds out over the course of a night or weekend. If you only turn the tank on (via the top valve or the check valve coming off the regulator) when you are using it, this issue doesn’t really crop up as much. For my kegerator lines i leave the gas on all the time, so they all have to be *really* gas-tight with no leaks.

  • As a soon-to-be-former SodaStream user, I was very excited to get this setup.

    I ordered a set of parts, and it seems like the hose fits very loosely over the “Ball Style Quick Disconnect.”

    Will the clamp really hold everything together?

  • Sam C says:

    [Source: a guy i know who works in the gas industry]

    Basically he told me that almost all the co2 out there is ‘beverage grade’ and anything that doesn’t meet that is generally condensed into ‘dry ice’. Which is why people say you shouldn’t plop that stuff in drinks to make them ‘smoky/misty’ unless you go to the trouble of tracking down lab quality dry ice. People do it all the time for halloween parties & such and they only get a few ppm/ppb of oil or benzene or whatever into their drinks, not enough to harm anyone. Spend a few days in LA smog, I’m sure you will get about the same or worse.

    From what I have read:
    Beverage grade = 99.9% pure co2
    Industrial grade = 99.0% pure co2
    –these are just what they have been officially tested at. any particular supplier may meet the higher standard and they just didn’t want to pay to test it. This may vary if you are not in the USA.

    If you are really concerned about this, you can ask for the data sheet on your gas from your supplier and see what the measured levels are. I never bother, never had an issue.

    Basically if they are selling co2 in a tank it should be fine. Even most welding co2 is ‘beverage grade’. If you somehow manage to find a place selling lower than beverage grade then it might make your drinks taste ‘off’ (might being the key word, depending on concentration, etc) but shouldn’t pose a danger to your health.

    If you have gas you aren’t sure about, just carbonate a small amount of neutral/distilled water and taste it for any ‘off’ flavors.

    If you are willing to drop $120 or so on (probably unnecessary) insurance, you can get a filter like this:
    http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/gas-equipment-pid-770SG-L1300.html

  • franco says:

    is co2 from a sports store safe to use or i need beverage grade co2?

  • Andy says:

    I followed your instructions and built this. Thanks to your detailed instructions, it was simple. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge… Now to see all the things I can carbonate.

  • Sam C says:

    Cory Klatik – with proper safety the tanks are nothing to worry too much about. If you think about it, they have co2 tanks anywhere they serve soda or beer, sometimes just feet from paying customers. Nitrogen tanks for paintball are like 3x the pressure of a warm co2 tank, and they are lugged and banged around on the field all the time. Not saying don’t treat it with respect like your oven or the gas pump, but I’d worry more about heart disease or car accidents if you want to improve your longevity. A lot of smart engineers have put a lot of thought into keeping these safe, and they have been in use something like half a century. Heck, I’ve seen cylinders with test stamps going back longer than I’ve been alive.

    Considerations if you can’t see the tank and/or regulator:
    The main valve on the tank should be opened all the way when in use (these are back seated valves, yes it is safer to open all the way rather than partial) – so you can do that by feel. Generally these are left open all the time unless you are removing the regulator or moving the cylinder or leaving the system unused for a long period of time.
    The tank gauge (aka high-pressure gauge, ie: what’s inside the tank) is nearly useless on a co2 tank since it doesn’t tell you much more than whether the gas is warm (expanded) or colder (see my first post above) so no worries there – you never really need to see it, just go get a fill when it is empty. You don’t even need this gauge, and some regulators don’t come with one for that reason (different with some other gas tanks like nitrogen – they stay gas and pressure goes down as you use it up, and though it still fluctuates with temperature it is useful for ‘how much do i have left in there?’, unlike with co2).
    The pressure relief valve is there for any overpressure danger, but it is a rarity for one to need to blow. There are no settings or things to fiddle with on these – they are automatic and you don’t generally have to think about them, just know they are there for safety.
    The outlet pressure off the regulator is the one you might want to know the reading on. Most of those are pretty consistent, so you could have someone watch how many PSI a full turn is on your particular regulator and remember it (if one turn was 4 psi say, then turn it 4 times for 20, etc). Get a regulator with a knob in this case, some only have a flat-head screw to turn. You could also leave it set at a known value, which some people do anyway (a regulator with a check valve that has a manual ball lock to turn on/off is useful here, you just leave the regulator knob alone permanently).

    Most standard co2 regulators only go up to about 60psi max (or lower) on the outlet side, and soda bottles are rated much higher than that (warm soda as they ship and store it on the grocery shelf is often higher at something like 100psi depending on brand). Unless you have a bottle that is damaged or fatigued too much, it isn’t likely to burst – i’ve never had this happen to me. If it did burst, it would make a mess but probably wouldn’t be too dangerous at that volume and pressure.

    Note for kegs: the cornelius kegs we use for this purpose are rated 120-135 psi safe working pressure. This means they blow the safety valve only at that point and the metal keg itself would fail at a much higher value (never seen a specific number for those kegs, but usually failure rate is at least 25-30% above where the PRV would blow for stuff like this. Some hoses and stuff have failure at 5x working pressure). In beer and cocktail kegging we generally don’t even get to half working pressure (60+), but keep the numbers in mind if you are ever doing anything non-standard. Again, one would need a regulator that went high enough (most of us don’t have one), or do something stupid (crap loads of dry ice in a sealed keg maybe?) to have an issue. And even then the prv would blow before the keg ‘catastrophically’ failed (exploded). A lot of things have to go wrong at once for an ‘boom’ scenario, by design.

    So, be aware of this stuff and stay safe, but for the most part as we homebrewers say: relax and have a homebrew (cocktail)!

  • Asa says:

    Thanks!

  • Trip Bissell says:

    Asa-I have been well taken care of at all of the brew shops around SE Portland. FH Steinbarts on SE 12th. Portland U-Brew and Pub in Sellwood. Above the Rest Homebrewing at about SE 80th and Foster.

  • Hunter says:

    Thanks for posting this for everyone, I tackled a similar project last summer, but was too busy/lazy to share my results. I’ll try to make up for that a little…

    We purchased similar keg equipment from a homebrew site and co2 from my regular guys.

    We carbonated a spirit forward cocktail we called the brigantine in a 5 gallon cornelius keg and pumped it through a tap right into bottles and capped them with a bottle capper.

    The drink was served in a small clear glass champagne split next to a rocks glass with big chunk of ice, two thin slices of cucumber and a dash of grapefruit bitters.

    The Brigantine (1 Serving):
    2oz Rye Whiskey
    1/2 Cocchi Americano
    1/2 Amaro Nonino
    – Cucumber Slice
    – Grapefruit Bitters

    * note if planning on batching and serving up water dilution should be accounted for. Generally about 20% of your 3oz stirred cocktail will be cold water. Since we planned to serve ours on an ice chunk we settled on (1/2)oz of water; slightly less dilution than we were getting from stirring (3/4)oz

    The Brigantine (164 Servings)
    328oz Rye Whiskey
    82 Ounces Of Cocchi Americano
    82 Ounces of Amaro Nonino
    82 Ounces of Purified H2O

    Carbonate in cornelius keg
    Bottle and refrigerate

  • Asa says:

    I live in the Portland area and would prefer shopping at a local home brew shop to ordering things online. What shop did you go to for your supplies?

  • Cory Klatik says:

    Hi Jeff – great write up. But, one question: How much would one need to pay attention to the dials? I’m blind, and this is one part of the project that would scare me away… What’s worse than having a 2 ltr bottle explode? How about a CO2 canister…

    • Hey Cory – You’d just need someone to lend a hand setting the PSI to the proper setting, and then you wouldn’t need to worry about it. The other dial tells you how full your tank is, but that’s less important. Once the tank is empty, you’ll definitely know it.

  • stephen says:

    Dave Arnold’s video unfortunately has a few problems and all the equipment he uses is a bit over kill.

    First, to have nice bubbles, you do not need to over filter/clarify. I have the same centrifuge and it never touches anything I carbonate.

    If you over clarify you will also strip significant amounts of flavor. A sieve works fine or a separatory funnel if you want to take it a step further.

    You also do not need the liquid to be so cold it involves liquid nitrogen. You can simply put the liquid in salted ice baths and be fine. I carbonate well beyond 8 g/L using only ice baths.

    You do not have to squeeze the air out of the bottles. The air will come out later on when you have opportunities to release the pressure. Oxygen removal is governed by Dalton’s law. All the creases probably also weaken the plastic.

    I personally, only work in glass champagne bottles because I like the elegence when I serve them and I can cork or crown cap the bottles and store them in the cellar.

    When he releases the pressure three times he is only providing opportunity for oxygen to escape 3 times. One time might even be enough and this can be proven by experimenting with apple juice which visibly browns due to oxygen. Again Dalton’s law governs this form of de-aeration.

    So he isn’t triple carbonating, he is triple de-aerating. Dissolving CO2 is another story all together. A kitchen scale can help us understand how much CO2 was dissolved because we can think of CO2 in terms of g/L.
    Carbonation worthy of a flute is had at 7 g/L.

    The gas laws can also be used to find the dissolved gas using volume, pressure, and temperature and that is the principle of the carbodosier. Brewers often also use it on kegs.

    When you hit really high levels of dissolved gas you cannot release the pressure too quickly. The bottles need to “bond” and come to equilibrium. This takes time proportional to how much pressure they are under. If you go too fast it will foam no matter how clarified a liquid is.

    Something strange on a sensory level happens when you start to hit high levels of carbonation. Your beverages do not need less acidity like some claim, they need more or they taste disjointed. At high levels, CO2 does not replace acidity it runs parallel. This is a lesson wine makers know well and governs how sparkling a wine deserves to be. Champagne is worthy of the most carbonation (12 g/L) because it has the most acidity.

    cheers! -Stephen

  • Sam C says:

    Jesse/non-carbonated cocktail serving – Jeffrey is right-on with the nitrogen. the solubility of nitrogen in water-based liquids is pretty low, so a little will get forced in, but it will almost immediately gas off as soon as it hits the glass – no real perception for the drinker, and certainly no bubbles like co2. no additional acid component or flavor change either.

    equipment-wise, just be aware that nitrogen tanks work differently than co2 tanks – the nitrogen is stored at higher pressure (to fit more in) and the gas never goes liquid in the tank like co2/propane does (you need special cooling or *impractical* pressure to keep nitrogen liquid). Because of this the tanks are measured in cubic feet instead of lbs. ~40 cubic feet is a decent size (about the same overall height as a 5lb co2 cylinder, but holds less total gas volume since it does not compact down to a liquid).

    It should still last you a good while between fills, just maybe not as long as a similar volume co2 tank would, but also you are using it just for dispensing and not carbonating so you use less gas per keg than you would with co2. actual mileage will vary based on your individual setup.

    nitrogen regulators use a different connector. It will have a differently threaded connection with the male on the regulator side (opposite of co2 regs). generally only the right kind of regulator will fit.

    an alternate option for nitrogen and co2 is a paintball tank. with a proper regulator (either a simple one designed for paintball or a standard regulator via an adapter). These are much smaller, so probably better for an occasional user or if you are going mobile (camping, party, etc). For a highly carbonated soda or cocktail you really need to keep it cold to retain the bubbles. a bucket and ice is a viable option. I’ve seen large wheeled trash cans converted to hold ice and kegs and even regular taps/faucets as well.

  • Sam C says:

    Thanks for the link Ian!

    After watching, I can confirm he’s basically doing a triple carb/vent – the same standard procedure that I do in my soda bottles. Same procedure overall, actually (except i don’t have liquid nitrogen so i have to use ice or wait for things to chill like a mere mortal, and i have to strain carefully instead of centrifuge).

    For a keg, one can of course pressurize a bit extra after full carbonation and then vent at that point, which should be about the same.

    Usually I’ll just purge the empty keg first (filling it with co2 and forcing almost all of any o2/air out) before i put any liquid in. As long as whatever I add doesn’t have a ton of dissolved oxygen already, this should really accomplish the same goal.

    I’ve never had any issue with oxidation/discoloration/etc in my kegged cocktails – i have to protect my other brews more from O2 (beer and especially the longer-aging meads, which are not stored at the same temp as the cocktails but rather more cellar temps, with the decreased reaction time higher temps bring).

    -Sam

  • Jesse says:

    Great article — caught the basics on Gizmodo, followed for the draft cocktails how-to.

    Sorry for the super-basic question, but could a system like this be used for simple pressurization of a small home keg system for non-carbonated, pre-mixed cocktails (Manhattans, Negronis, etc.) by the keg?

    • Jesse – Yes, you could do that, although you’d probably want to use nitrogen in place of carbon dioxide to avoid any unwanted bubbles. In such a system, the nitrogen is being used to simply force the keg’s contents out of the container.

  • Ian Tuck says:

    Hey Sam, here’s a video where David explains that they carbonate three times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V7ykGolWjg

    I’ve seen interviews where he also says they do the same thing for Negronis.

  • Trip Bissell says:

    I have the same set up at home. I was going to build a cap but found one of the “Carbonater Valve Coupling” caps at the homebrew supply shop for $15. I already had the tank and regulator with all of the hoses and fittings, so it was perfect!

    I have been making my own fresh fruit syrups and shrubs to add to the carbonated water. Absolutely amazing!

    -Trip

  • stephen says:

    Hi Jeffrey,

    People can order my manifold online here with paypal:

    http://bostonapothecary.com/?p=460

    I’ve shipped them around the world and they are at work in some really amazing bar programs. They are pretty advanced and do unfortunately demand users have a good grasp on carbonation concepts to use them safely.

    I made an index of all the stuff I’ve done on carbonation here:

    http://bostonapothecary.com/?page_id=1430

    measuring carbonation
    reflux de-aeration
    my various bottling equipment
    etc.

    cheers! -Stephen

  • Sam C says:

    SeanMike – the sodastream is a good unit, but it does cost a ton more for gas over the longterm as JM said. What you can do is convert it to run off of a larger CO2 tank – they have some instructions online if you google it.

    Ian Tuck – you are right on – when co2 dissolves in water it generates Carbonic Acid, so your drinks are literally getting more acidic because of that (so are our oceans with more co2 around). Sometimes adjusting a recipe sweeter or less acidic (as you noted) is necessary because of this. A small batch in a 20oz soda bottle as a test before scaling up a recipe can be helpful.

    Dave Arnold video – not sure about ‘triple carbonating’ – do you have a link to the video? In beer kegging, you definitely do *not* want to over-carb or carb too many times as this is detrimental to head retention (the protiens that cause a nice head on beer get ‘used up’ once they create the foam). For a soda or cocktail where you don’t want a head, this may actually be beneficial, but I’d have to do some experiments or see some data.

    stephen – i triple vent my kegs (fill headspace with co2, purge, repeat 2 more times) to get out the oxygen. same concept, as long as there isn’t a ton of o2 in solution (if you spash all over when filling the keg, etc) this is quick and easy to keep oxidation down.
    *Most* decent regulators you buy these days will have a check valve on the outflow nipple already, or you can add one if you need. I built a spunding valve (adjustable pressure release valve) with a dial pressure indicator on it, so i can check pressure on my keg before i hook up the gas (this is handy, but not essential). You do *not* want liquid going up into your regulator, it can ruin it (well, you might at least have to do a re-build, especially for anything soda-like or sticky).

    -Article: I’ve been doing beer kegging and kegged cocktails for parties for years now. A couple bits of info that may help those new to this equipment:

    on co2 bottles, aka catalina cylinders: These come in different sizes (5lb, 10lb, 20lb are the most common and portable, 50lb and larger are more industrial size – ie, you might need a truck).
    The larger the size, the cheaper the fill per lb (i have seen 5lb tanks refill for $35 while the 20lb tank is going at $25 – for 4x the gas!). larger also means less trips to fill it up (or swap it, see below).
    Craigslist is a great source for these – buy an old tank, then trade it in. people selling aquarium tanks or ‘grow’ tanks often sell these off fairly cheap, sometimes with a regulator included. Ebay is also good for regulators (and sometimes tanks, but they will ship empty as that is the DOT regulation, so you will have to get it filled if you order online).
    Hydrostatic Testing: by law (this may vary by state, i’m in CA) you must get each tank tested every 5 years (sometimes 10 if they passed well enough) just like SCUBA tanks. This costs about $35. if you are doing swaps often you don’t have to worry about this at all (see below).
    Fill or Swap: these are the usual options for getting a tank filled. With a fill, you go (or leave your tank overnight or over the weekend) and they fill it from a larger tank with a siphon tube (co2 is mostly liquid inside these tanks like your BBQ propane bottle). For a Swap, you take your tank in, they give you a filled tank of the same size. i think that is easier, and they do the hydro testing for me around here so i don’t have to bother. Either way you need to remove the regulator when you take it to be filled (there is another nylon washer between the regulator and the tank, don’t lose this. you can also get a permanent ‘screw-in’ one as well, but you need to remember to remove that if you do swaps).
    Because co2 is liquid in the tank (and expands to gas in the headspace before it exits the cylinder), the ‘tank pressure’ dial on the regulator is not too useful. it will stay at tank pressure until the tank is practially empty, then will start going down really quickly. If you need to know how much gas you have left, find the ‘tare weight’ on the tank (stamped into the metal near the top) and put it on a scale and subtract. take the regulator off (or weight it separately so you can add that to the tare weight).
    safety:
    keep the tank someplace out of the way.
    don’t store or transport the tanks on their side.
    do not open the valve without a regulator *tightly* attached.
    get a tank with a collar if you can.
    get a regulator gauge cage/protector (as pictured in the post above) to shield the regulator from bumps, etc.
    do not vent a lot of co2 in a small enclosed space (co2 will displace air and can suffocate you – personally i have been light-headed after cleaning the bottom of my kegerator/chest freezer before – didn’t realize there was a good foot of co2 instead of air down there – invisible stuff is hard to track!).

    Carbonator Cap: these are great, and i use mine a lot for small batches, experiments, previews of beer (to see what it will be like after carbonation and if i should adjust anything now), etc. Only Ball Lock disconnects (see keg info below) can be used with these (far as I know they don’t make a pin lock version), so keep that in mind.
    on some bottles they can shred up the threads a little, but they still work (and i think those bottles are maybe using a slightly different threading).

    Bits & bobs: i get 12-packs of those nylon flare washers (the ones that go on the line between the swivel nut and the threaded flare fitting). I also have a 6-way manifold and many, many lines in my 8-keg setup. you may not need that many, but get a couple extra as they are easy to lose. technically you *can* get an airtight seal metal-to-metal without one, but it isn’t exactly easy and probably puts more wear on your parts.
    swivel nut (5th picture in the article above). how Jeffrey is using this certainly works, but these are really designed to connect to the *hose* not the regulator. the nut is then free-spinning and you have a *removable* threaded connection. if the check valve/threaded connector on the regulator in that picture was replaced with one that had a hose nipple instead, you could put the hose on with a clamp and no swivel nut assembly would be needed. i have all swivel assemblies on my lines, but i have many and i have to change them frequently, if you just use one gas line that is not necessary at all.

    Kegs: corny/cornelius/soda/homebrew keg (all descriptions for the same thing). These were used to deliver soda (already with water in it, called pre-mix) to businesses that sold it. A very small percentage of businesses stil use this system, but the majority have switched over to a post-mix (syrup in a bag inside a cardboard box; water and co2 are mixed on-site).
    Be aware there are *Three* types of kegs that can look like this, and they are *not* interchangeable as they all use different connectors for gas/liquid:
    1) Ball Lock – these are pictured above in the post. The posts (connectors for gas/liquid) are on opposite sides (180 degrees) from each other.
    2) Pin Lock – these are the same except for 2 things: the posts are about 45-60 degrees apart instead of on opposite sides (think 12 and 3 or 4 o’clock instead of 12 and 6 like a ball lock keg), and they are differnt connector. They have 2 or 3 ‘pins’ sticking out of them that lock the disconnect on. you can’t use a ball lock disconnect on them or a pin lock disconnect on a ball lock keg. The other difference is that they usually don’t have a ‘manual’ pressure relief valve (you have to push the poppet spring to relieve excess pressure rather than pulling a convenient ring/lever. or buy the silly special tool for $6).
    3) 1/6 barrel Sankey kegs. usually you won’t see these with the rubber on them (they are all stainless typically) but infrequently you may. They have a single tap connector in the center like a regular beer keg (the 15.5 gallon ones for a ‘kegger’). you can convert a sankey tap for use at home with a gas system, but that’s a more advanced topic. These also don’t have the larger opening for cleaning, etc and can be tricky to remove the sprue until you get the hang of it. not recommended to start with.

    So, you want a ball lock keg probably. depending on where you are in the country (and whether coke or pepsi was more popular when they were using these – coke=pin, pepsi=ball lock), one may be easier to find than another. there are plenty of online sources, start with beer supply places (or if you know anyone in the soda distribution game they may be able to get one cheap/free still).
    You can get one ‘used’ or ‘reconditioned’. the latter option comes with new o-rings, less ‘carry-over soda smell’ and less hassle (but typically costs more). the former comes with soda still in the bottom and a little time with cleaning and disassembly in your future (pretty easy though, don’t let this discourage you from a deal – you will need to do it occasionally for cleaning anyway). If you get one from a homebrewer they are usually already clean (we are fanatical about that – they say brewing is 80% cleaning after all 😉

    Taps: the tap pictured on the link above for the $200 kegging ‘set’ (labeled ‘faucet’ in their picture) is commonly known as a cobra tap, picnic tap, or ‘cheap plastic tap’. They work fine and are really the only choice unless you move up to a real faucet (either on a jockey box or a kegerator or right off the keg).

    Lines: usually the taps above come with about 6 feet of line. This is calibrated for average american beer serving pressure. line length, inner diameter (ID) and vertical drop all have a lot to do with serving pressure. There’s maybe too much to get into here, but generally longer line or smaller diameter line will get you a slower pour (line resistance to liquid flow) but with less foaming. I keep my soda water highly carbed and i need about 15 feet of line to make sure it doesn’t come out like a jetstream. I could move to smaller diameter, but i have a bunch of the 3/16 beer line already, so that’s what i use. plumbed in the kegerator it isn’t so bad, but just out with the keg i guess you might want to wrap it around and secure it or something. or use less pressure.

    cheaper options:
    if you forego the co2 bottle and regulator you can cut a lot of time off the initial setup. you can then carbonate naturally (using yeast or similar microorganisms) like they did forever until we got an industrial gas infrastructure. you may still need some extra co2 to serve a full keg, but they make some cheaper options ($20 keg charger which uses 16 gram co2 cartridges. can’t use to carb a full keg unless you want to use dozens of cartridges at once, which is silly). This comes with its own hurdles though, like stopping fermentation with some sugar still in the mix, etc. It is an option though. you could use the carbonator cap and the co2 charger with soda bottles for small batches only though, if you want to just do this occasionally. you can naturally carb in a soda bottle as well.

    fun stuff to do with your new setup:
    *I like to keep a full keg of soda water on tap at all times. I have a bunch of syrups for soda (torani, hommeade, etc). put however much syrup you like in a glass, fill with soda water, instant soda! With as many flavor options as you have syrups and only one keg needed. I do a tonic water syrup too(based off the recipe on this blog with my own tweaks).

    *Pressurized flavor extraction: I’m just starting to play with this after reading an article about using a nitrogen whipper to extract flavors via pressure. little different with co2, but so far i think it does work for some uses.

    *Cocktails (of course). I can do a small batch in a soda bottle then a large batch in a keg (you don’t have to do a full 5-gallons, just purge the oxygen out and you can do a gallon, or 2 or 3 or whatever). I’ve done many boozy lemonades for summer parties (and i can add mint or other herbs in as well – bagging is suggested so they don’t clog the liquid-out diptube, or use a flavor extraction/tea/syrup instead). Fill half a keg with beer and top with lemonade for a shandy. You can also oak in these utilizing chips or cubes (get these from any homebrew or wine shop) right in the keg. no need to bag, but i suggest you do so you can pull them out easier when it is ‘oakey’ enough. or make a tea by soaking the oak in liquor and add until you like the result in your cocktail.

    Anyway, that’s my written novel for the day. Happy to answer questions if anything needs clarification – i’ve been kegging for years and years now. Jeffrey already did a really good job on all the basics above [and i love the blog man, one of my favorites – keep up the great work!]

    -sam

  • Ian Tuck says:

    I just clicked through to your site, Stephen. That is some unbelievable stuff you’re doing. Can’t wait to read through it all!

  • Bill Burch says:

    Couple of comments for thought:

    (1) 2L PET bottles are actually rated to 200 psi working pressure (believe it or not.) Fatigue is what causes rupture not over pressuring at 40-60 psi or max regulator pressure. Throw out periodically to sure minimal risk of bursting.

    (2) 3x carbonation is due to reaching saturation – for most mere mortals such as us, 1x carbonization is amazing. But technically you can carbonize dozens of times just with exponentially diminishing returns on effect.

    (3) The colder the water phase the better CO2 will dissolve into solution; it takes 40 psi just to force carbonization at room temperature.

  • stephen says:

    Jeffrey, didn’t I give you one of my manifolds?

  • stephen says:

    nice job. I use both carbonator caps for plastic bottles and my champagne bottle manifold to work in glass and I typically use about 65 PSI. keep in mind you can also measure the gas you add with a kitchen scale. I strive for 7 g/L for typical sparkling drinks worthy of a flute.

    one of the greatest things you can do is pressure de-aerate. pressure from CO2 can force oxygen out of solution. gas it up. give a shake. release the pressure and oxygen will be forced out of solution. this is great for citrus juices and a requisite concept for putting citrus cocktails on draft. if you do it with apple juice you can even prevent the juice from visibly browning.

    when you use a carbonator cap I recommend getting a more expensive ($15) quick disconnect with a check valve to keep liquid from going up the gas line when you shake.

    keep in mind when you shake, you also need a nice amount of head space to dramatically increase surface area so never overfill your bottles or it will take forever to absorb the gas.

    cheers! -Stephen

  • Ian Tuck says:

    Thanks for this, Jeff – I’ve been running one of these rigs in my home bar for about a year now, and can’t imagine living without it.

    If you’re carbonating spirits, you can throw it in the freezer for a while too, it’s unlikely to freeze unless it’s a very low-alcohol cocktail.

    I find that carbonation makes my drinks slightly more acidic, so if I’m carbonating I dial back the citrus a little.

    Finally, Dave Arnold swears by carbonating his cocktail 3 times for maximum carbonation. Any thoughts on that?

    • Ian – Yeah, I’ve seen the Dave Arnold video and I will defer to his expertise in all things scientific. However, I have no complaints with carbonating the drink only once, the results are fantastic.

  • SeanMike says:

    Now I wish I’d read this before asking for (and getting) a SodaStream for Christmas. Ah, well, I’ll still use it.

    But I’ll definitely have to give this a shot, if only to support your usage of a “that’s what she said” joke. Of course, you won’t see any money for it, probably, unless I get very confused.

  • I’m doing something similar in my country, I send you some pictures soon.

    thanks for the magic buddy

  • Vidiot says:

    Nice roundup! I did one a little while ago too:
    http://www.cocktailians.com/2013/07/bubblicious.html but hadn’t seen the information about the Corny kegs before.

    I want to note that the carbonater [sic] caps work on 1L and 20oz bottles as well: the threading is the same, and the smaller bottles are great when I’m making smaller amounts or when fridge space is at a premium.

    Also, I squeeze as much air as possible out of the bottle’s headspace before I put on the carbonater cap, and then squeeze it a bit more while holding down the spring-loaded poppet valve with a fingernail until there’s no more air in the bottle. It definitely helps get things fizzier.

    And you get good results with 25psi? I should try it that low — I tend to carbonate at around 45psi.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *