Two kegs in and I'm sold using syrups for variety rocks!

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So I started out making kegs full of lemon lime soda since that is most of what I drink but quickly realized I wanted more variety.

My biggest put offs with soda are caffeine and calories so syrups were a perfect choice. No caffeine and using substitute instead of sugar no calories either, woho.

I figured concentrates were cheap enough to give a shot so bought a six pack (sarsaparilla, root beer, cola, lemon lime, vanilla, black cherry) of them from Prairie Moon along with syrup bottles and pumps for them.

Since then I've been through 3 kegs of soda water and am working on number four with a fifth carbing so it'll be ready. None of the first batch of syrups are even half gone and I can refill each one three more times from the remaining concentrate.

Seeing as they have like 60+ concentrates I think I'll be expanding my selection soon. It is great grabbing a glass, adding whatever syrup sounds good at the time and hitting it from the tap.
 
wait, what? this is the first i am reading about this. you just use carbonated water and you keep the syrup separate? that means, no odor in the keg, so replacing orings when i want to put beer or something different in the keg, and as many kinds of soda as i want? tell me more, please
 
Yup each bottle of concentrate is 4 ounces and will fill one of those bottles four times. I think they cost me like 3 bucks a bottle of concentrate. Cheap shipping too since the bottles were so small.

The sugar substitute is substantially more than sugar but it is a trade off I'm willing to make. Since it is concentrate you can make it either way... or combine the two to find a flavor compromise you like. My back of napkin math says 96 total gallons of soda from the six bottles of concentrate I bought... that is a ton of soda, lol.

SodaFountain.JPG


I've got water in #3 and #4 is full but carbing. The carbed water isn't half bad on its own either.

Oh and mmm vanilla....

VanillaYummie.JPG
 
I just leave it at 30 psi for carbing and serving. As I mentioned earlier I keep one carbing while I use the other. I guess about a week gets things all carbed up. You can use it after a couple days but the difference is noticeable as each day passes.
 
No but it does push out hard and fast, lol. Another thread mentions that decarbing is an issue and that they use a much longer liquid run (20'+ I think they said). The drink stays bubbly until I'm done with it but I'm guessing it does outgas a lot coming out at that pressure. Going to give a longer tube a shot when I have the time to rerun tap #4.
 
sounds good. let me know how the longer tube works for you. i also rad about something to use inside the dip tube that acts like you are using a longer hose. i cant remember what its called but i think i have a couple of them laying around here.
 
Yeah I saw that too. The concern though is to reduce pressure/speed on the pour. It doesn't foam up or anything but my understanding is a lot of the CO2 does outgas coming out that fast.

Really though I'm not a heavy carb person and they stay plenty bubbly to the end. I'm just curious as to the actual difference with the longer tubing and it is just water so I'd only be wasting a bit of my time swapping the tubing out.
 
Actually that gizmo is from McMaster and I was due to order some quick disconnects and tap inserts from them anyway. I got a couple of them to try out. It actually looks like exactly what I would need as it slows down the liquid coming out the tap. Be interesting to see what a difference it makes.

EDIT: I guess leaving it at "gizmo" was a bit lame of me, lol...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/
 
high pressure would help help with the mixing as it slams the bottom of the glass, no??

Yeah it mixes up great. I just drop in the syrup and fill then add a handful of ice. I'm thinking even at lower volume it should do the same. I'll know better when I experiment with the bayonets. McMaster is only like an hour from me so I typically get their stuff next day. I'll be experimenting with it tomorrow most likely.

What ratio of splenda/concentrate are you using?

I do a 100% swap for sugar substitute (generic Splenda) in the recipe so it is 2 3/4 cups per pump bottle. You would want to try reconstituting one bottle at a time or use your personal conversion rate though to taste. I know some people prefer more or less of the substitute to the real stuff.

It is expensive but not too bad since I always grab one or two of those bulk bags when I see them on sale and the generic is generally cheaper than the branded stuff already.
 
so the 4oz bottle makes a gallon of "ready to use concentrate"? where does your 96 gallons math come from? my math puts it at 6 gallons according to their website. how are all the flavors you have tried? what is your mix-ratio of concentrate:water?? you don't have storage issues assuming they stay out in the lighted room??
 
There are 4 oz of concentrate in a bottle.
1 oz concentrate = 32 oz (1 qt) syrup (one of those pump bottles)
1 oz syrup = 16 oz soda (large cup with a handful of ice)

so...
4 * 32 * 16 = 2048 oz or 16 gallons per bottle

I was accounting for 6 bottles so that would actually be 96 gallons.
Then again it is flavor to taste and I like mine a little on the weak side so I guess your mileage may vary.

I don't measure the syrup into the soda but I do 16 pumps and just did that into a shot glass out of curiosity. It is right about an ounce.

That does sound like an awful lot so I'm wondering if I didn't mess up somewhere, lol. Now I'm second guessing myself. On paper though it is right.

Oh and I actually store them in my fridge for now. Once I find a carrier (like a sports water bottle carrier) that fits them I will just put them in my keezer. There is room on the hump.
 
As for the flavors they are all pretty good. I really like the Sarsaparilla and Black Cherry though. The least favorite would be the Lemon Lime which, being a big Sprite/7Up fan, was disappointing. It is ok just not quite what I expected.
 
Do you think you could use the rainbow extracts available at most lhbs?

I have a 4oz bottle or rainbow root beer extract and I was thinking about making the syrup and trying it out using your style.
 
Do you think you could use the rainbow extracts available at most lhbs?

I have a 4oz bottle or rainbow root beer extract and I was thinking about making the syrup and trying it out using your style.

I'm willing to bet you could mix it up as a syrup. Just add all the sugar and concentrate and only a fraction of the water. From there you just add it to a glass of seltzer to get what you want. Not sure the ratios though I bet there is a recipe online somewhere.
 
i think i will try some of them... gnome hasn't really "knocked my socks off" so i have been on the prowl.


Haven't tried gnome but I like these and will be trying some of their other flavors soon. Many of them I have no interest in but with 60+ flavors there has to be something there for everyone, lol.

The flavor will be significantly different between sugar substitute and real sugar, of course, but I can only see it getting better. I'm used to the substitute though and am not a big fan of sugary drinks.
 
Thanks for all the info, I ordered six concentrates and the pump bottles to go with it. Getting my water ready today!
 
http://snow-balls.com/flavors.htm

When was 14-15 I worked at a place that had one of these style of snow machines and concentrate flavors. You could probably do something very similar with the concentrates and they have double the flavors the site you listed. I remember making the syrups for the ices. It was very little concentrate for a quart bottle of syrup with LOTS of sugar and warm water. Whenever I convince the wife to let me have a kegging setup I'd like to have some soda on tap as well. Plus we could save by not buying San Pellegrino. The other use would be using the carbonated water in place of purchasing club soda. I could build a specific water profile from distilled or RO water for great mixers!
 
Thanks for the link! More options are always better. As for the snow cone thing... I have a ice shredder that I use in summer to make the equivalent of snow cones or slurpies. I've already been eying the syrup to use with it. :)

Oh and yeah that is exactly how this concentrate is put together. Tons of sugar, an ounce of concentrate and warm water.
 
FYI Dill pickle is very very strange flavor. Reading that link the *** says to not use sugar so maybe that's why it tasted so strange where I worked. We added sugar. It was a small sample bottle they sent us. It did not sell...I'm surprised I remember from 11 years ago. Then again a pickle flavored snowball is something you might remember.
 
http://southernsnow.com/sugar-free-diet-snowball-syrup.htm

how do these prices compare to the way you were are making the "diet" syrup at home?


It looks like 8 gallons of the SB (snowball) syrup makes less than 8 gallons of the PM (prairie moon) syrup but is actually cheaper in the long run. I went with 8 gallons since that was full bottles and made the "what it costs" math easier.

For SB you would need a quart of the concentrate ($9 ea) and 8 gallons of the base syrup ($5 ea)... that's $49. Makes 3000 oz (23.44 gal) so is $2.09 per gallon at suggested serving ratio.

For PM you would need eight bottles of concentrate ($3.50 ea) and 88 cups of Splenda or generic, that would be about 7 and a half of the big bags I buy ($8.00 ea)... that's $84. Makes roughly 4434 oz (34.64 gal) so is $2.42 per gallon at suggested serving ratio.

Looks like they are pretty close to the same price. This assumes their "makes 250 12 oz snow cones" is equivalent to 12 oz sodas since that is how I based their mix ratio.

Doing the poking around for pricing and whatnot I realize I am mixing my drinks WAY weaker than the recipe calls for. PM calls for 3 oz syrup in 10 oz seltzer water... I use a 1 oz syrup in 15 oz seltzer. I just tried it at their suggested and it is way to syrupy for me. I guess it is about the equivalent of commercial soda but then I'm not a big commercial soda fan so I guess mixing to taste is a good thing for me.

Oh and at that ratio my six bottles of concentrate would only make like 26 gallon... not 96. With all that in mind the pump doesn't make much sense for someone that would mix at suggested levels. That is a crap load of pumping per glass, lol.
 
Oh and I got those bayonetts in from McMaster... makes a big difference in the pour pressure. I like using one or two of those over having to add another ten feet of tube then not being able to use anything else off that particular tap without changing tubing out.
 
Regarding the inserts, you can order them online, or if you have a Fastenal nearby, you can go pick them up from them:

Made by 3M
Fastenal Part No. (SKU) 0204176
Manufacturer Part No. 00051131049017

I use them in my soda keg with a direct draw (no hose) faucet. Works great!
 
Well two of those bayonetts in each keg make a HUGE difference in the pour and CO2 retention. I also like that they are in the keg and not the lines so I can swap out however i like from tap to tap without having to change lines.

So the ones that ended up ordering stuff... how do you like it?
 
well...i have a keg of water carbing up right now. i still havent found those bayonets that i have around(i know i have some somewhere). the concentrate just came today, so i hope to report back with a review of the flavors this weekend. i ordered lemon lime, cola and rootbeer
 
So I ordered 6 flavors from Prairie Moon (Cola, Vanilla, Sarsaparilla, Strawberry, Orange, and Grape). I'm not sure how I feel about everything yet. I picked up a few different artificial sweeteners to see which one I like best, and I made one bottle with sugar for reference.

Sweeteners I used:
Brand -- Ingredient -- 2 3/4 Cup Sugar Equivalent
SweetLeaf -- Stevia -- 5 tbsp
Truvia -- Stevia, Erythritol -- 1 Heaping Cup
Ideal -- Xylitol, Maltodextrine -- 2 2/4 Cup

So far, SweetLeaf has too much of its own flavor that's bleeding into the syrup. Truvia and Ideal seem to be ok. I think i'm going to try some splenda (sucralose) next, see if it is closer to the regular sugar flavor.

The one thing I'm struggling a bit with is masking the sour flavor of plain carbonated water with the syrup. I'm not sure if maybe I'm running a bit more carbonated than what regular pop (I live in Michigan, here, we have pop, not that soda crap!) runs, so the water is more acidic = more sour flavor, or what.

This is just my first batch though, and this is still a learning process for me yet.
 
I really like the results with Splenda... well the store brand but same difference.

I don't mind the taste of the plain carbonated water so I guess in that I'm lucky. I'm not a big fan of syrupy drinks so drink mine way on the lite side... more flavored seltzer than soda/pop. If I didn't like the bite of the carbed water I would be screwed.
 
I'm gonna be ordering up some of these concentrates and mixing them in the kegs rather than as syrups. My boy simply loves dispensing it from the keg. I'll let you know how it works out in a month or so. Thanks for the info, I've bookmarked the referenced sites.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
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