Carbonator Cap

Has anyone out there used these things with success or am I about to set myself up for disappointment?

Search Results

Also does anyone know where to get these things a little cheaper?

I was given one by a guy that I bought my cooler mash tun from. I suppose it depends on what you're expecting from it. I've only used it to take beer from my kegs to a homebrew club meeting. I'm not too sure about using it for any kind of long term storage though. I used it tonight to take some for some co-workers to try tomorrow. I'll see how that turns out after letting it sit overnight with it on.

Please let me know, I've run out of room in my fridge for kegs so I was thinking about getting a few of these and force carbing my beer in these.

I have several carbonator caps and use them all the time. You can force carbonate your beer or other beverages easily and quickly no problem. They are a little pricey, but they last indefinitely.

FIY, you can make your own carbonator caps if you don't want to pay the rather high price for the manufactured type. It's basically a tire valve through the bottle cap. Try a search on this board and you will find the DIY info for them.

I don't know where you can get them for less, but it might be worth checking all the online sources.

Have one, use it to carbonate almost anything- no complaints (just watch the poppet when you unhook it, tends to seat funny on occasion and needs wiggled to hold pressure).

FYI I will carb water with it at like 40 PSI and it holds up like any two liter of store bought soda. I haven't let beer go that long in one, but imagine it would hold up better then a growler, since you can recarb it and help against oxidation more (just watch the light factor).

I was looking into making my own, I have pretty much everything I need at home except for the tire stem so I think I'll give it a shot. I'll reply back with the results.

You only need one Carbonator. I chill the beer, put the Carbonator on and force carbonate, then put the regular cap back on.

Ewalk02 said:

Also does anyone know where to get these things a little
cheaper?

Click to expand...

I bought a co2 chuck that fits a gas disconnect off eBay. Came with a few caps, and it looks easy enough to make more now that I have the chuck.

Seems to work fine. I have only test used it so far to stuff co2 @ 30psi into opened soda bottles.

Mine leaks sometimes. I lost a whole CO2 tank because of it.

JVD_X said:

Mine leaks sometimes. I lost a whole CO2 tank because of it.

Click to expand...

I never leave the gas hooked up to my kegs or to the carbonator cap for just that reason. The exception would be for a party or something where I am serving more or less cotinuously. Even a very tiny leak in a keg or the carbonator cap would empty a CO2 tank in short order. Been there. The carbonator caps are not much different than a gas in post on a keg. There's a poppet and an external O-ring. I've replace the o-ring, but not the poppet. Not sure how to remove the poppet or if it is even possible.

When I keg a batch, I fill at least one 2 liter bottle and use the carbonator to force carb it. That way, I can get a taste right away.

It's also good when filling PET bottles of various sizes from the keg to carry around. I give each filled bottle a squirt of 30 psi CO2 for about 30 minutes. That tends to make up for CO2 loss during the filling process.

Well I went to the local Advance Auto Parts store yesterday and picked up two tire valve stems like so Short-Short Metal Tire Valve, Tires & Supplies - GEMPLER'S

I put these on a 2 liter bottle cap the rigged a air chuck to work with my CO2 tank. So far so good with no leaks! I got the idea off of this youtube video... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJD0bv9kLAQ]YouTube - How to Make A Carbonation Cap[/ame]

I am working on an adapter to use the tire valves easier.

The idea is to connect a cornie gas post to a tire filler ball connector. That way, I can just pop the cornie post part into my existing gas connector to carb bottles.

Have to figure out what fittings will work.

I love my carbonator cap.
I connect my line as instructed - then I disconnect and shake my bottle, then reconnect, disconnect, shake, reconnect, disconnect, shake etc - untill there is no more loss of pressure after the shake. If you shake while connected then you will get liquid into your gas line (from experience ).

Cpt_Kirks said:

I am working on an adapter to use the tire valves easier.

The idea is to connect a cornie gas post to a tire filler ball connector. That way, I can just pop the cornie post part into my existing gas connector to carb bottles.

Have to figure out what fittings will work.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good project, I was actually able to get a regulator with two air out hose barbs so I've dedicated one to carbing kegs (ball lock gas post) and the other to filling bottles (tire stem chuck).

giligson said:

I love my carbonator cap.
I connect my line as instructed - then I disconnect and shake my bottle, then reconnect, disconnect, shake, reconnect, disconnect, shake etc - untill there is no more loss of pressure after the shake. If you shake while connected then you will get liquid into your gas line (from experience ).

Click to expand...

If you get carried away with that, you will get your face washed.

Cpt_Kirks said:

If you get carried away with that, you will get your face washed.

Click to expand...

I never pressure over 30psi. The PET bottles are designed to hold a lot more than that - but I figure with fatigue and age you have to give them some margin.
I also have to desire to embed little plastic chunks in my face and hands.

giligson said:

I never pressure over 30psi. The PET bottles are designed to hold a lot more than that - but I figure with fatigue and age you have to give them some margin.
I also have to desire to embed little plastic chunks in my face and hands.

Click to expand...

What I meant was, sometimes, when you shake and go to re-attach the connector, you get a spray from the beer that is sticking to the cap.

RIGHT IN THE FACE!

Yum.

I've enjoyed my carbonator. I'm sure I'll eventually use it to bottle beer for easy transport in a 2 liter, but so far I've only used it for force carbing soda. Holy crap making soda is so easy. If you keep your water cold enough it takes about 5 minutes, although I've found it's better to mix up your ingredients and put the 2 liter in the freezer for a little while first. Colder is definitely better (as long as you don't forget it and let it freeze).

Oh, and giligson, I've had the same problem with getting liquid in the gas line. I've found that if I'm careful and either keep the soda bottle angled slightly downward, or if I put it on its side but be careful to keep the gas connector so that the line connection is pointed upwards, it usually doesn't happen.