homemade carb cap

I am making a homemade carb cap and a homemade co2 generator
I have found lots of info on these but I haven't found much on the process when using them ie. what pressure to put in to my 2l of soda, do I shake it or not, how long it takes to be ready and tips and tricks for success.
I think I did see something about chilling the soda mixture before adding the co2 because it helps the mixture absorb the co2 but I could be wrong.
any help on this subject is appreciated
thanks

I made one two weeks ago. I'm not sure what the maximum pressure you can use or even the best pressure. I started at 12 psi because that's what my regulator was already set at. I recently bumped it up to 20 and it alright, but I'm sure I'll go higher.

I fill about 3/4th of the bottle, squeez out the air, put on the cap and then fill it with co2. Shaking speeds up the process, as does using a chilled mixture.

thanks
how long does it take to carbonate your soda
regulator? are you using a tank
I may switch to a tank depends on how well the co2 generator works
for me

For beer, I fill a 2 liter up to where the curve starts. Refrigerate to 40F. Hit it with 30 lbs CO2. Lay it on its side and roll back and forth rapidly and count to thirty. Repeat (add CO2 & roll) 2 more times. With soda I set the CO2 on 45 lbs and do 4 repetitions. My cap is the tire valve type so the CO2 is not on the bottle the whole time. Both the beer & the soda will have quite a carbonic bite but this usually mellows overnight in the fridge, maybe a little longer with the soda.

If I could I would do the soda even higher like 50-55 lbs but my regulator safety valve starts releasing around 45 lbs

I can't help but ask if you had to pay the ho who made your cap?

thanks shellybelly I will try 50 -55 lbs
I don't have a regulator on my set up so I can try that
I daisy chained several 2l bottles together with tubing and use sugar water and yeast to make my co2 then 1 tube comes out of the bottles right in to the inlet of a small air compressor
the compressor sucks the co2 out of the bottles (which it why I have one wet 2l bottle and 4 dry 2l bottles daisy chained so if it sucks the bottles right down I won't suck the water into my pump) and will pumpout what ever pressure I want up to about 180 psi

EDIT - allow me to rephrase.

The compressor is probably unnecessary. Fill all of the bottles with water. Arrange them so that the "active" bottle displaces the water in the other four with CO2. Once the system is "dry," put an adjustable relief valve (spunding valve) on the bottle rig, and let it come up to pressure over the course of a few days. Then use that built up pressure for small volume carbonation. It could work, but it seems like a lot of trouble for little gain.

I asked on another post how much pressure yeast would produce and someone replied that it would stop at 14 psi which is why I was putting the pump inline (plus I'm a millwright and I like tool time "more power" "ugh ugh ugh ugh")
but now that I think about it I hear about people using plastic instead of glass bottles because glass sometimes explodes common sense is telling me it would take a lot more than 14 psi to make a glass bottle explode so now I wondering how much pressure the yeast will produce in a sealed container.
may be I don't need the compressor

well I've blown the 14 psi away! my generator has so far has produced
49 psi in 12 hours. I will post later and let you know what the pressure goes up to over time


this is just for information purpose
to may be answer the pressure yeast can produce
for this test I used one 2l bottle

2 cups of warm water (tap)
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbl bread yeast
my homemade carb cap
1 Canadian tire tire pressure gauge

be back later with update

i usually use about 30 psi with my carb cap. Lots of shaking till it does not seem to take any more gas from the tank, then sit it over night in the fridge. Then it's usually good to go. More shaking won't hurt, say every hour or few, neither will more pressure, but i think the carb cap I have says 40psi as a max. You can play and let us know what pressure the plastic 2 liters rupture at

I've taken a 2L bottle to 60 psi with no issues at all. I'm hesitant to go any higher while standing in the same room.

at the 17 hour mark my bottle was at 72.5 psi more than enough for me
but I was not worried about it exploding. I watched the youtube video with the dry ice bombs and if you watch the ripples at the bottom balloon out before it explodes so at 72.5 the bottle still had its shape. it did however have an eerie sound when you tapped on the bottle kind of a low ringing sound.
so will it produce enough pressure to explode the bottle? I think I'll find out
but not at this time this one was done in my kitchen
I will load one and pot it on my sisters property (67 acres) I will put a long pilot line on it and hook a gauge to it (the kind that will hold it's highest pressure reading with out automatically resetting to zero in case the bottle is gone when I go out there) after a week in the sun if it's still intact I'll bring a rifle to defuse the situation (I'm certainly not going to walk up and open it)


on another note I noticed that the yeast flavor still gets in to the soda
has anyone ever used other sources for co2 like vinegar and baking soda
if so does it affect the taste?

While the idea is admirable, it's likely not cost efficient at all.

To make 1/2 lb of CO2, you'll need approximately 1 lb each of baking soda and vinegar, at a cost of about $3 ($6 per pound of CO2).

To make 1/2 lb of CO2 from table sugar and bread yeast, it will take about 1 lb of sugar and a packet of yeast, at a cost of $1 to $2 ($2 to $4 per pound of CO2).

It only costs about $10 to fill a 5 lb cylinder.

Breweries that reclaim CO2 use very expensive equipment in order to isolate CO2 gas from other fermentation by-products. You could experiment with a filtering scheme to "scrub" the gas you're getting, but that will add some cost and complexity.

Whether you're using a "generator" or a cylinder, you'll need a regulator.

It's pretty easy to justify the cost of a cylinder after examining the facts. Of course, if this is just an academic curiosity, it's certainly interesting.

right now it more or less fun for me I'm making the odd bottle of root beer with extract and ginger ale from the roots but I did carb up some kool aid to day it was different
if I start getting serious about it I'll look in to a tank
do you know if the baking soda and vinegar would affect the taste

My guess is that the vinegar/baking soda method will be a little cleaner, but you might still get an off flavor. I've never heard of anyone trying it.

I was worried about the vinegar affecting the taste but it just dawned on me I could use lemon juice that shouldn't hurt the taste I put lemon juice in my ginger ale
now I guess a little testing needs to be done like how much of each so I don't blow up the bottle it seem to create co2 a little faster than yeast


see this is fun
I getting closer and closer to just putting dry ice in to my pop cools as it carbonates :cross:

Yuri_Rage said:

While the idea is admirable, it's likely not cost efficient at all.

...

To make 1/2 lb of CO2 from table sugar and bread yeast, it will take about 1 lb of sugar and a packet of yeast, at a cost of $1 to $2 ($2 to $4 per pound of CO2).

It only costs about $10 to fill a 5 lb cylinder.

Click to expand...

ob111 said:

see this is fun

Click to expand...

Please keep us informed. This is very interesting. Realizing that 3/4 cup of sugar is enough to carbonate 5 G of beer, why not produce small amounts this way?

I agree with Yuri_Rage that this isn't practical for full-time keggers, but for people who just want a source of CO2 for occasional use (carb up a 2L bottle with a carb-cap), it might make perfect sense.

I just spent $36 for a 20 oz paintball tank and a remote so I could hook it up to my regulator (another ~ $35?). Then I'll spend ~ $4 for a fill. You would probably still want a secondary regulator (but you could get away w/o one, by opening a valve, monitoring pressure, then closing), but at least there is no super-high pressure or special fittings required. Regular hardware store stuff should do. Be good to have a ~60PSI safety valve to blow off excess pressure. And you might want a carbon filter inline?

Tire-stem carb caps are easy and cheap and you can clamp a hose over them (remove the valve for this application). I could see connecting up a few 2L bottles as the sources, put a cheap pinch clamp on each, and you could disconnect them one at a time to dump the contents (leaving some yeast behind) and just add more sugar & water. Wait till it displaces the O2, then reattach and open the clamp when pressure builds.

I guess my big question is, does that 3/4C of sugar in one 2L bottle really produce that big of a store of CO2? When I prime/carb my beer, the liquid is absorbing the CO2. I'm not sure that airspace in the bottles would hold so much.

Oh, and here is an interesting link:

http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/carbonation/

-kenc

well I've got an update I'm off the bottle (so to speak)
I went on beverage factory web site and bought a 5lb aluminum tank and a reg
with primary and secondary gauges
and life is great
I just need to find a great ginger ale recipe now
I tried using powdered citric acid instead of lemon juice and have learned
that 1 tsp is wayyyyyyyyy to much for 2L of pop (my tongue hates me right now)

Dry ice is nitrogen rigth? so, use it to presurize the beer or soda, didn't it look like guinness beer?
it will be cool

No dry ice is not nitrogen
Dry ice, sometimes referred to as "Cardice" or as "card ice" is the solid form of carbon dioxide.
dry ice sublimates at -78.5 C and is used mainly as a refrigerant
I was only joking about using it, way to many youtube videos of people getting hurt containing that stuff
The expansion ratio of dry ice is 1 to 554 so you would really have to do the math before trying that out ( I would recommend not trying it)

About the yeast flavor/aroma... Any opinions on whether a decent brewer's or
champagne yeast would improve the scenario?

I am really curious about the forced carbonation with the pressure caps. So, you make your own carb water with yeast, then force it into the bottles, if I understand things correctly? Thus you have yeast carbonation without the yeast flavor or time? And you have a guarantee of carbonated soda after you do the process instead of wondering whether the stuff will carb up over the next several days? If I am right, count me IN!!

Where can I learn more about this? Where can I get more detailed instructions on how to make the cap and how to do the process?

Oh wait, one more question, does the yeast water actually get into the soda or is it just the gas that gets in? I am wondering because it may reduce the already negligible volume of alcohol. It would be convenient for the sake of parents who worry about that sort of stuff. I am not one of them, but I think some friends might be.

Thanks!