Anyone using carbonater caps?

[Maylar]

I have a couple of Liquid Bread's plastic carbonater caps and in the experiments I've done I don't get the same results that they show in their video. In the video when they shake the bottle it collapses on itself as the CO2 is absorbed into the liquid. I didn't get that behavior, the bottle kept it's shape and I couldn't tell if the CO2 was being absorbed or not.

Also, they don't provide any recommendations for pressure, other than that the cap can take 40 psi maximum. For those of you who use these things (with cider specifically), what pressure did you use?

And, I intend to bottle the cider after carbonating. Are there any tips on how to minimize CO2 loss when filling beer bottles?

Lastly, is it better to chill the cider before carbing? Or carb at room temp then chill and do it again?

TIA for any insights.

 

[aellis]

i'm not sure why they do it that way - inject co2, remove injector, shake, repeat. maybe it helps keep the line clean. i generally use around 40-45lbs i think.

i leave the co2 attached while i shake. shake for about 20 seconds, disconnect, and you're good to go.

yes, the liquid should be cold before you try to carbonate - this might be your issue. co2 dissolves better into cold liquids, so this may be why yours isn't dissolving.

as far as bottling, not sure what to tell you. you're probably going to lose some fizz, that's just physics. you could always just carbonate in soda bottles and then use them for storage too.

 

[rekoob]

Just picked one up today, been wanting to try it out for some time now.
The directions say cold liquid and cold co2 for best results.
I don't know why you would remove the cap during shaking, maybe to keep it clean. I just carb'd up a bottle of water to try it. I hit it with 20psi until the bottle was hard, removed and shake, repeat. When shaking the bottle did get softer.
I did that three four or five times and it was good.
Next time I will do the shaking with co2 still applied and see how that works.

 

[andrewmaixner]

I shake with stainless cap attached. Occasionally get liquid in line if i forget to set pressure on first. You can get an mfl-mfl or mfl-ffl metal inline check valve if you want for about $14.

I have had poor luck with the metal caps sealing once disconnected. Do the plastic ones have issues too?

 

[AnOldUR]

Disconnect while shaking. It's not worth the chance of getting beer/cider in your gas line.

Here's how I bottle from PET. I use the BMBF method with a cane stuck in the picnic tap.

 

[javalin]

I shake the chilled cider in the PET bottle while attached to the gas line, and set my regulator to 35-40 PSI. Good carbonation is about 30 PSI in the bottle, upping the pressure increases the amount of CO2 in solution and helps compensate for the amount lost during pouring. However I think I'll try using anoldur's method of bottling from a PET bottle and see if I can reduce foaming that way. That's bloody brilliant by the way. I know what my next brewing project will be.