Carbonation rigs

[Fin420]

Does anyone here have any experience with carbonation machines?

Im currently building my own, I've got it working fine but currently needs to be used with plastic bottles, (because the adapter I put on the end of the hose has a screw fitting for a standard bottle) so I can squeeze the air out before I cap it and blast co2 into it, refilling the bottle.

I'm hoping to use the same idea but to fill glass bottles, with the obvious problem of not being able to squeeze the same excess air out before carbonating. Do you think it is necessary to squeeze the air out before carbonating? Or could I make an adapter to fit a beer bottle and just carbonate without first removing the air gap?

I'm hoping someone has had this problem before and can point me in the right direction, before I start looking at champagne bottle manifolds... Which don't seem cheap!

 

[Spoon]

I don't think what you're after exists, because to carbonate beer takes some time, it usualy sits in the keg with the regulator set at 20-30psig or so and the CO2 slowly dissolves into the liquid, it can be speeded up by agitation or by using an aeration stone on the CO2 but it's still not instant. At least a few days just sat there, or an hour or two of agitation .

The only (practical) way to carb bottles is to prime with sugar and let the yeast do its thing. You can carbonate in a corny keg then rack it to bottles, but it's not perfect, because the beer should be perfectly clear by then it becomes even more susceptible to infections and oxidation, when beer is bottled with the yeast the yeast scavenges the oxygen and is competitive with any wild yeasts or bacteria that get in. Which is why a bottle of homebrew lasts months/years, but a growler fill from a bar lasts only days or weeks.

Champagne is different because during the process the bottle has to be opened upside down to let the yeast out, before being re-corked, so in a modern automated version of that they re pressurise the bottles too but the actual carbonation is done by the yeast.

 

[Fin420]

They do exist, I'm holding one right now! It's basically a co2 tank with a regulator valve and a special attachment to fit the bottle tops...think soda stream on steroids.

It's a small version of bigger industrial bottling machines but works on the same principal, you're right though the only way the co2 dissolves in the liquid in a speedy fashion is by chilling the liquid and the bottle, I can carbonate my ginger beer in 30 seconds, with the plus of having no sediment in the bottles, and control over the exact fizziness.

I was looking for a way to get it to work without first squeezing the air out of the top of the bottle, which I can't do with glass bottles! I dug around online and found a solution, basically a new adapter for the end of the hose with a corona fitting for beer/champagne bottles, which you lock on then pressurise but release the pressure a couple of times, forcing the air out of the neck and replacing it with co2 before letting the co2 dissolve properly. A company called Boston apothecary sell what I'm looking for but its 100 dollars and I'd have to ship it from the US, looks like I might have to bite the bullet and just go for it!

 

[GermLish]

Did you mean carbonation caps?
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCrfp8ha9Dw[/ame]

 

[Spoon]

I didn't say it didn't exist, I said it wasn't particulalry practical, compared to just bottleing and just letting it carbonate naturally.

Ginger beer is different because bottleing requres the yeast to be killed before it becomes too alcoholic.

40x repeating the method in the video (plus shaking), too much time on your hands!

 

[Fin420]

Yes gremlish it's basically one of Those but instead of fitting a screw cap bottle it fits a beer bottle.

It might be less practical than letting it carbonate naturally, but it does mean a completely clear bottle with zero sediment at the end, which is pretty much exactly what I need for carbonating alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. If i get everything chilled properly beforehand I can carbonate each bottle with about 30 seconds of agitating while under pressure.

http:/m.youtube.com/watch?v=BLFvw4CVKgY

 

[Fin420]

Here's the rig I have at the moment, minus the co2 tank itself, I've used it for carbonating some ciders and it works pretty well! Still missing the attachment to get it to work on a champagne bottle though

 

[simon12]

Are you counter pressure filling or force carbing in the bottle?

 

[Fin420]

Force carbing in the bottle, by chilling everything beforehand to decrease the time the co2 takes to dissolve so it can be done relatively quickly.

 

[simon12]

Not sure what I can add here, the only way I can think to make the fitting you want would be a rubber bung with a tube through it that you can connect a fitting to connect to CO2 and if you want you could add a valve between so you can give it a short burst of CO2 then open the valve to let any air out before carbonating. I found this which is interesting but only single use http://www.orionhomebrewing.com/2013/01/how-to-make-homemade-carbonator-cap.html . Are you planning to leave the cap on until you drink it, carbonate immediately prior to drinking or will you remove the cap and fit a standard one immediately after carbonating? Have you considered counter pressure filling could be a better option?