Does Soda Work Well in a Keg????

duganderson · 06-07-2011, 02:33 AM

I have a CO2 setup and I'm interested in buying a keg. I hear a lot of people in these posts saying they are having problems with making soda in a keg (problems with just getting foam, problems carbonating,etc.).

Does making soda in a keg work well or is it a lot of hassle.

Also, I've got a 5 lb tank, regulator and ball lock connector for my carbonator. I know I need soda line and a plastic dispensing device. Is this all I need???

Thanks, Doug

djsethall · 06-07-2011, 03:24 AM

If we are talking about a corny keg, ummmm, yeah, it should work for soda. That was the original intent of the cornies. Mine all say pepsi on them......

pauljmccain · 06-07-2011, 03:26 AM

You should have no problem as long as the CO2 is right. In fact, you can just call up a Pepsi/Coke distributor and buy kegs of soda just like you would beer from a liquor shop.

**jkarp** · 06-07-2011, 03:40 AM

Note soda is normally carbonated at 3-4 volumes. You'll want to balance the lines appropriately. That's probably why some get all foam.

beninan · 06-07-2011, 03:42 AM

Soda does require a little different setup than beer, but soda works perfectly fine in a corny (aka: soda) keg, or really any keg actually.

The different setup is---

Soda requires a higher pressure than beer, because soda has a higher carbonation than beer. So typically (made-up numbers here, don't go by them), beer is at 12 psi so it has 2.5 volumes of CO2 (2.5 liters of CO2 per liter of beer, dependent on temperature too.), Soda would be kept at around 30 psi, so it has around 5 volumes of CO2 (5 liters of CO2 per liter of soda). This increase in pressure will cause the soda to foam up like crazy when poured through a beer setup (5-10 feet of serving line). So instead, you need around 30 feet of serving line, to allow for the proper resistance to "slow" down the flow, and prevent foaming. Hope this helps.