Kegging Red Bull at $0.14 per 12 oz can

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
so are you guys adding powder caffiene to get it to redbulls level? i always thought that the was the point of redbull, the taste isnt that great.

As far as I can tell it is already at Red Bull levels
 
Get a coke syrup, dilute as specified, add whiskey to taste and viola!! You've got Jack and coke on tap!!! My SWMBO will hate you for all eternity for establishing this thread!!!:rockin:

How about RUM and Coke, I like to spice it up ISLAND style... YEH MON !! :mug:
 
FYI they do have a diet version as well with no sugar ( I think the label listed Splenda - gave it to Pickles tonight). I bought mine at Best Buy for 6.99/bottle.

Tonight I kegged up a 3 gallon batch with filtered (same filter use for brewing) tap water of the regular version syrup. I am am not a huge Red Bull drinker and only had a can of the diet name brand to compare it to.

The Soda Stream smelled very close to the Red Bull. The it was lacking some of the tartness found in the Red Bull as well as the bububblegum'ish flavor at the end. I added some citric acid in very small doses to a glass of the SodaStream, and after three doses, it brought them quite a bit closer together. Maybe some bubblegum flavoring (in VERY small quantity) would help more, not sure. Keep in mind i was comparing regular SodaStream to diet Red Bull.

The doses were too small to accurately measure, but tomorrow, I'll get a can of regular Red Bull to compare and start making citric acid additions to the keg in levels that can be accurately tracked.

Overall, a good start that I'm sure we HBT'ers can get dialed in the rest of the way. I think next batch I will used distilled water to see if it turns out any different, although my Columbus water is light at almost all mineral levels. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/columbus-ohio-water-profile-134558/index2.html
 
I recently made the diet version. I used filtered water, but it tastes a bit weird. Its drinkable but not very good, it almost has a chemical flavor. I'm wondering if its my water, although my water tastes just fine.
 
I recently made the diet version. I used filtered water, but it tastes a bit weird. Its drinkable but not very good, it almost has a chemical flavor. I'm wondering if its my water, although my water tastes just fine.

Honestly, all sugar free energy drinks have a medicinal taste to me...especially Monster Lo Carb. I still like them, but I wouldn't point the finger at your water just yet.
 
I bought the diet version and think that it tastes pretty good! But then again, I'm used to drinking Monster which is pretty harsh to begin with. I just filled up a 2 liter bottle and used a carbonator cap to carbonate it.
 
Thank you for posting this! I go through about a case and a half of the 8.5oz redbull cans a month and even at Sam's Club pricing that's ~$45/month, this makes the payback time on a dual tap fridge conversion only about 7-8 months and I get to keg beer with the other tap for "free". I had been on the fence between going with tap-a-draft or kegging as I've only been drinking about 15-20 gallons of homebrew a year but this makes it a no-brainer.
 
So what would be the best way to add more caffeine to a homebrewed version of Red Bull?

You've heard about americans ordering prescriptions from mexican and canadian pharmacies, right?

Caffeine is a controlled substance in America and cannot be purchased by consumers.

It is a supplement in both canada and mexico.

The internet is an amazing thing.

Heads Up: caffeine powder is EXTREMELY concentrated and downright deadly if mishandled. 50 miligrams is a normal dose. Do calculations carefully and use a high quality scale!

If you can put together all of these statements into a way for getting your hands on caffeine, you're all set.

BTW, I'm betting that IF I made something called "Evil 'Tang Soda"; it would theoretically become one of my most popular "brews". It would be a mix of Tang mix, lemon and lime juices, water, little bit of brandy and spiced rum, LOTS of Tequila, vodka, and caffeine. But of course I can't make it since caffeine is not available in the US...... :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is a joke, right? First search for caffeine powder hit SciFit Caffeine Powder at Amazon, bodybuilding.com, etc. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VOB0DO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

That stuff is heavily cut with crap that will NOT taste good in any drink. It's probably only 5% or less caffeine. Ever had a tylenol stuck in the back of your mouth? Only 99.9% pure is suitable for beverage making IMO... Anyways, yes, playing like it's illegal was only a joke. The part about it being potentially very dangerous, however, is not. I have only found pure caffeine available from a store in Canada. Search harder and you'll find it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow, now that I look around, it's way more prevalent than it used to be. I got a couple pounds years ago and have more than I'll ever use in a lifetime!
 
So tonight's project involves a couple bottles of soda stream red bull mix, a couple of liters of vodka, some h2o and a keg in prep for a friend's wedding this weekend.

I used 1.5 ounces of vodka (1 shot) per 8.4oz can of red bull as my ratio and figured i will need 96.97 ounces of vodka, 28.17oz of sodastream (approx 1.66 bottles) to get a fv of 5g. This is gonna be a fun project!! :rockin:
 
My buddy has a soda stream and uses it every day. He also used to work at a soda company so he can get actually ingredients to make soda instead of the syrups. I have tried a few of the soda stream flavors and they were pretty good. The Dr Pepper is a good one.

I was talking to him about making a keg of diet tonic water and adding gin to make gin and tonics on tap lol We might try this or rum and coke using his soda stream first. I have also thought about sangria on tap. The options are endless lol
 
The bar I used to frequent when I was in my mid-20's had Red Bull (or a knockoff) on their tap-gun. I wonder if thats why they could get away with selling $3 Jager Bombs so often
 
Any tips on force carbing the energy drink mix? I'm going to make a 3 gallon batch in my 5 gallon corny and hook up to CO2. I was thinking of setting at 30 psi, shaking for a few minutes and leaving overnight. Then dial down to serving pressure the next day. Will this method over-carb it? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks! :mug:
 
Any tips on force carbing the energy drink mix? I'm going to make a 3 gallon batch in my 5 gallon corny and hook up to CO2. I was thinking of setting at 30 psi, shaking for a few minutes and leaving overnight. Then dial down to serving pressure the next day. Will this method over-carb it? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks! :mug:

This is what I am doing right now. Have a 2-liter sitting in the kegerator at 30 psi. I doubt it will overcarb it, since most sodas are served at around 20-30 psi to begin with. Real Red Bull is awfully carbonated, I would like it with a little less carbonic bite to it.
 
Any tips on force carbing the energy drink mix? I'm going to make a 3 gallon batch in my 5 gallon corny and hook up to CO2. I was thinking of setting at 30 psi, shaking for a few minutes and leaving overnight. Then dial down to serving pressure the next day. Will this method over-carb it? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks! :mug:

When I made mine, the water was already cold, but a just put it on 35lbs and shook the **** out of it for a couple minutes and then set it at like 10 psi and called it done.
 
The Coke Zero is pretty much dead-on.
Diet Mountain Dew, not so much.
I really want to find the tonic water syrup.

As another option, I keep a keg of sparkling water at all times. I pour the water, then add the mix in the glass. Much easier to clean and you don't have to worry about foam and stickiness issues issues that can come up with dispensing soda. You can also pre-mix in 2L bottles and store in the fridge.

I treat my tap water with 1/8tsp potassium metabisulfite and let it stand overnight. Otherwise, it is like drinking a carbonated swimming pool.
 
I plan on making this tonight in the extra keg. Have any of you used a keg for beer after having this product in it? Did you have to replace your seals, beer lines, etc.?
 
I plan on making this tonight in the extra keg. Have any of you used a keg for beer after having this product in it? Did you have to replace your seals, beer lines, etc.?

Havent actually tried it with a full keg yet, but my 2 liter bottle reeked of redbull after rinsing it a couple times. As with other soda products, I think dedicated lines and kegs (or replacing orings) is a must for this stuff.

I plan to get a secondary reg, and having a seperate soda/seltzer water tap line in the bar set at 25-30 psi. At those pressures you need alot more beverage line anyhow, I figure its a good idea to keep it all seperate. This will all be sent to a picnic tap that will be snaked through a hole in the top of the bar/underbar kegerator for now.
 
Thanks for the original post! SWMBO is nuts about red bull, we buy cases from Costco. Even then, it's too dang expensive. A couple things:

One of these doesn't make make 5 gallons, it's a little over 3 gallons. So I bought 2, and plan on combining them to put in a 5 gallon keg. The small amount of leftovers can go toward the next batch or something.

Also, how are the sugar free and the regular energy drinks different? It looks like the regular one doesn't have sugar, and uses Splenda. Anybody have an idea?

Here's a link to BBB for the regular energy mix that explains the Splenda thing:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=17345605&

UPDATE: Turns out BBB is a liar. Looking at the soda stream website, the regular has sucrose (standard sugar) and the diet energy has sucralose (Splenda).
 
Fyi - a full corny keg of soda stream red bull premixed with vodka at a wedding is a BIG hit. :mug: Mine turned out really well - many comments that is was no difference between it and real red bull and vodka.
 
Turns out BBB is a liar. Looking at the soda stream website, the regular has sucrose (standard sugar) and the diet energy has sucralose (Splenda).

On the soda stream site it shows Splenda (sucralose) on the regular. All the ones I found at BBB had Splenda on the label, that is the only reason we don't buy them.

Spamdog
 
Hadn't realized. I just checked the cabinet here at the house, and indeed, each there says Sucralose, Splenda brand at the end of ingredients list. They all also list 'sugar' as the 2nd ingredient...

And none of those are diet or sugar-free.
 
anyone know of a true redbull syrup? ... I was trying to look around but it seems that there are only knock-offs (from what ive seen)
 
I've devoted one tap to this now, and drink it when I need some extra focus. I was buying cases from Costco, but that was definitely getting expensive.

I wanted to keep the keg low maintenance, so I only made one bottle of it, 3 gallons, and enough pressure so that I shouldn't have to repressurize it before it empties.
 
anyone know of a true redbull syrup? ... I was trying to look around but it seems that there are only knock-offs (from what ive seen)
Red Bull only sells it in cans. The energy drinks you order at a bar on the "gun" are cheap knock-offs. The product being dispensed comes in 3 gal bibs (bag in boxes) which the gun mixes with carbonated water.
 
...I wanted to keep the keg low maintenance, so I only made one bottle of it, 3 gallons, and enough pressure so that I shouldn't have to repressurize it before it empties.

Now thats a good idea!
 
The only thing more dangerous to me than a keg of beer in the basement is a keg of redbull... sure, her projects would get done, but what of my bat**** paranoia?!
 
anyone know of a true redbull syrup? ... I was trying to look around but it seems that there are only knock-offs (from what ive seen)

Roariing Lion was created by people who actually worked at Red Bull, and split off to form their own company that catered specifically to the Bag-In-Box market. They've had moderate success so far, but they're still relatively unknown. Coming from someone who's drank at least one Red Bull a day for the past 5+ years, this is the one Red Bull knockoff that actually tastes like the real deal. Echoing the poster from page 4 - if you can set up a keg with Roaring Lion syrup (at the right carbonation levels), you won't be disappointed.
 
I thought this was a great idea so I bought a carbonator and some of the energy drink mix from bbb. Wow this stuff stinks, literally. Have any of you guys noticed this?????????
 
Fyi - a full corny keg of soda stream red bull premixed with vodka at a wedding is a BIG hit. :mug: Mine turned out really well - many comments that is was no difference between it and real red bull and vodka.


:rockin: WIN!!! i thought that same thought when i seen the little jug of energy drink mix at the store. i was gonna research if it would be possible. glad to hear it is. time to start a new kegerator with two taps and enough room for a full size comventional keg and a corny. cant wait lol.
so about how much vodka do you use per 3gal corny?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top