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homebirch · 01-13-2011, 11:18 PM

also, how do you carbonate with a corny keg? im not really sure.

homebirch · 01-14-2011, 12:57 AM

also, how do you carbonate with a corny keg? im not exactly sure.

KevinM · 01-14-2011, 05:20 AM

If we look at the fact that both beer and soda can be considered an uncarbonated liquid that can/will be force carbonated, I think that http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-force-carbing-methods-illustrated-73328/ and http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/ (both stickys in the beer bottling/kegging forum) may be pretty similar.
They say to carbonate a corny keg you can pressurize and shake, and leave for a while, overpressurize and shake, or let sit at a normal pressure for a long time. (condensed).
I think bottling beer will be slightly different than bottling from a soda keg, but I don't think much if you do the purge&cap they mention. Anyone give that a try with soda yet?

I still only need at most 2 liters at a time (and I shake so it's done within a minute or two). Heck, I use a small 12 ounce sparkling water bottle and force carbonate some water and then add syrup in the morning and bring that to work sometimes. (Trying out the Rainbow Inc cola extract made into a syrup, but not liking it that much compared to sonoma brand syrup's taste.)
I do plan, eventually, to do the keg thing for soda water and I'm sure some people have talked about that in the other threads too. Somehow I remember something about not washing as much.

LakewoodBrew · 01-14-2011, 05:38 AM

Properly capped bottled soda should last for months. Just keep things clean and sanitary and get a good seal on the caps. As mentioned elsewhere, soda is typically carb'd to higher presures up to 25psi depending on the drink, so regular beer bottles may not handle your carb pressure.

The entertaining part about the beer bottle problem will be that they won't blow right away... it'll take time for pressure to build as the CO2 leaves solution, then boom - homemade pepsi all over the counter...

Better off using plastic... that's practically indestructible and easy to come by.

KevinM · 01-14-2011, 04:35 PM

Agreed on not using beer bottles, I don't know if it can take the 30 or so psi. (Even for my plastic 2 liter or 12oz bottles I use in a day I'm charging up to 40 to get an equivalency of 30). Or if you can find a source for proper glass soda bottles. I did a quick search but didn't find any sources for new bottles. Maybe I'll just start collecting a few glass soda bottles. I know they still produce them at least. Coke puts some out once a year. The procedure for filling from a keg should be approximate I would think though. I should give it a try, even if I have to stick the keg outside to chill first.

homebirch · 01-14-2011, 04:44 PM

im confused...are you carbonating the soda in the corney keg, then bottling it?

KevinM · 01-14-2011, 08:55 PM

1) force carbonate in a plastic 2 liter bottle
2) just force carbonate a Corney keg
2.5) Fill glass bottles from Corney Keg & cap.

I think it'd be just for experimentation on my end, eventually, or perhaps we'll get info from others who have tried this. This was the way they did it back before they had the rotary automatic filling/capping machines they have today. (Ok, well, according to files.asme.org/asmeorg/communities/history/landmarks/5524.pdf they added syrup, then carbonated water, then capped.) I really don't have that much use for bottling my soda in glass other than for the novelty of it.

homebirch · 01-15-2011, 02:55 AM

thank you kevinm. another question...will the bottles hold the soda after filling them with the already carbonated soda?

KevinM · 01-15-2011, 06:12 AM

Actually, I've been hoping someone who has done this will chime in because I haven't done any analytical trials on this situation.

According to the beer thread, it would seem that it does.
Also, when I charged two 2-liter bottles using the connector and then opened and closed it with a regular bottle cap (plastic twist on), it seemed to keep enough carbonation for a day or two. I charged a plastic 2 liter bottle, opened it which released some pressure (but didn't pour anything out) then twisted on it's original cap.
Ideally, the liquid is charged high enough that when opening and releasing the pressure to do the real seal (or filling), then the liquid will release some co2 and then stabilize at the wanted pressure/carbonation.
The problem is, I don't know what pressure this would be, or what temperature would be desired. (From what I gather, the keg would be around 32 degrees F, about freezing, to maintain as much carbonation in the liquid so it won't relese the gas till later.)
After filling the sealed bottle should hold the soda and carbonation without exploding. There is of course the issue about the pressure rating of the bottle and wether soda bottle glass is structurally more stable than a beer bottle, or if they're the same, or not. (plastic already seems to be able to hold a higher rating, or perhaps it's just less of a catistrophic failure than a glass bottle would be if there is a rupture. I don't really know. My packaging degree fails me at this time, not that I ever studied.)

LakewoodBrew · 01-15-2011, 06:36 AM

Glass soda bottles are a lot thicker than beer bottles usually. Pick up some glass bottled Coca-Cola and you will see the difference. Those things are tanks.

As long as you get a good fill and leave only a small head room you don't have to worry about getting the perfect temp-pressure combo. Fill it and cap it relatively quickly and it will be plenty carb'd. I just fill bottles at serving pressure and temperature from my keggerator regularly. Try it on a dozen bottles and let them sit for a week or two to see the results.