So I bought all the parts necessary for a home carbonation rig (regulator, caps, tank, etc). I know that a few ppl here are fizzing things, tell me about your concoctions. Any notable failures?

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Posted by AggieHank86

Texas

Member since Sep 2013

42941 posts

Posted on 3/26/20 at 9:16 am to hungryone

Are you kegging something, trying to bottle, or just a carbonated glass of something?

I keg 90% of the beer I make. I let the fermentation finish and carbonate from a tank. Never had a failure.

Trying to bottle from a tank, you need a beer gun or similar device. Otherwise, tons of overflow and lots of mess.

I keep one keg of force-carbonated water, and I make tons of drinks from one syrup or another. I mostly use Prairie Moon concentrates. Some are better than others. The amaretto concentrate ROCKS.

This post was edited on 3/26/20 at 9:20 am

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Posted by hungryone

river parishes

Member since Sep 2010

11987 posts

Posted on 3/26/20 at 9:27 am to AggieHank86

I am planning to carbonate in 1l ot 2L bottles. No kegs. So when you do sodas, you don’t add the syrups to water and then carbonate?

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Posted by AggieHank86

Texas

Member since Sep 2013

42941 posts

Posted on 3/26/20 at 10:08 am to hungryone

quote:
I am planning to carbonate in 1l ot 2L bottles. No kegs. So when you do sodas, you don’t add the syrups to water and then carbonate?

For most, I do not ... because I like to keep a dozen syrups in the fridge and just mix carbonated water with whatever the kids or I might be in the mood to drink.

You certainly CAN mix a liter or two at a time with syrup and flat water. Just buy a couple of carbonation caps (and of course the fitting for your regulator).

Carbonation Caps from Amazon

I also make an entire carbonated keg of a favorite flavor, usually something mixable like vanilla.

Prairie Moon concentrates. They vary from REALLY, REALLY good down to very mediocre. The best of them are truly outstanding.

I have tried most of the dozens of flavors. Look thru the site and list the dozen or so that you may want to try. I would be glad to share my review of each from your list. I make them with sucralose (more expensive than sugar), and the cost per ounce of final beverage is still less than half that of a store-bought soda at the best sale price you usually see.

This post was edited on 3/26/20 at 11:07 am

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Posted by Stadium Rat

Metairie

Member since Jul 2004

9534 posts

Posted on 3/26/20 at 3:12 pm to AggieHank86

I like to make carbonated water. I usually put a tiny pinch of baking soda in each bottle. It helps to smooth out the bite from carbonic acid.

I have successfully made root beer using Zataran's flavoring. (Fun fact: root beer flavoring was Zataran's first product)

I would steer clear of SodaStream flavors. The ones I tried were horrible.

Here are some recipes I found in a cookbook I have on my computer..

BLUEBERRY SODA
1 oz Torani Blueberry syrup
8 oz sparkling water

COCONUT CHILL
1 oz Torani Coconut syrup
8 oz sparkling water

GUAVA KIWI ITALIAN SODA
0.5 oz Torani Guava syrup
0.5 oz Torani Kiwi syrup
8 oz sparkling water

HURRICANE SODA
1 oz Torani Pineapple syrup
0.25 oz Torani Passion Fruit syrup
8 oz sparkling water
wedge of lime

ITALIAN SODA BASIC RECIPE
8 oz sparkling water
1.25 oz Torani syrup of your choice
Cup of ice

LEMON LIME SODA
0.5 oz Torani Lemon syrup
0.5 oz Torani Lime syrup
8 oz sparkling water

ROOTBEER SODA
1 oz Torani Root beer syrup
8 oz sparkling water

SHIRLEY TEMPLE
1 oz Torani Pomegranate syrup
8 oz lemon lime soda
1 cherry on top

STRAWBERRY ITALIAN SODA
1 oz Torani Strawberry syrup
8 oz sparkling water

TANGY PEACH SUNRISE SODA
1 oz Torani Peach syrup
0.5 oz Torani Lemon syrup
8 oz sparkling water

WATERMELON-KIWI SLPASH
0.75 oz Torani Watermelon syrup
0.5 oz Torani Kiwi syrup
8 oz sparkling water

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Posted by Langland

Trumplandia

Member since Apr 2014

15382 posts

Posted on 3/26/20 at 3:54 pm to hungryone

Notable failure was carbonating orange flavored (Mio) heavy whipping cream. I poured the whipping cream into a 16 oz size plastic coke bottle. I attached the CO2 hose and it sucked some of the whipping cream up the hose. It didn't reach the regulator, thankfully. I was too curious to stop, so I turned on the CO2 and carbonated the whipping cream. Once done I opened the bottle and it foamed up pretty good. I think it more than quadrupled the volume. I let it flow out into a bowl, then stuck it in the freezer to harden. I was pretty good, aside from the CO2 flavor, which is why they say to use Nitrogen gas for whipping cream I guess. It was a fun experiment, but I still need to change the hose.

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Posted by hungryone

river parishes

Member since Sep 2010

11987 posts

Posted on 4/9/20 at 4:47 pm to hungryone

Finally got all of the bits and bobs plus got the tank filled. Am carbonating good ol MS River tap water at the moment. Made some bay leaf syrup and mint syrup from my backyard plants. Bay syrup is surprisingly good.

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