Sodastream usage.

[Bombers hoppy ending]

In the interest of information sharing I thought I would pass on my findings to anyone that may be interested.

Wishing to limit the risk of oxidation to as low as possible, and still bottle, I purchased a snub nose and beer gun. In the interest of keeping initial outlay as low as possible, and the fact that we have a sodastream, I elected to go that route for my CO2 supply. The plan was to see how long the small cylinder lasted and evaluate the cost effectiveness.

CO2 was used to aid in cleaning lines prior to brewing, purging the head space after dry hopping and then creating the pressure to transfer to bottles and puff purge the bottles prior to filling. Also a little was used in post fermentation clean up.

I would say I used a little more on the first batch while I played a little with setting up. Including pressure testing the snub nose and setting up the spunding valve.

The second batch definitely used a little less, unfortunately though the gas ran out with 3 bottles left to fill. Luckily I had the ability to pinch the cylinder in the soda stream to finish the bottle day.

Conclusion is this.
1 full new cylinder would probably last 2 batches, just.
Each refill costs £14.99. So that’s £7.50/ 40pint batch. That’s not cost effective. If you add into that the cost of diesel and time to go and get refills it’s a non starter.
Before anyone chimes in that I told you so, yep I would agree I read plenty of posts saying it’s not a viable way to go, but I would also say there are plenty of people that have access to a sodastream cylinder as I did, want to keep the start up costs down and want to know how far one will stretch.
So in the interest of fact base science, I’ve taken one for the team and now anyone that may be thinking of going the same way, will have the knowledge to make an informed decision.

Today I bit the bullet and sorted a contract agreement and collected a 6kg cylinder which should last me around 28 batches. £29.99 compared to £210 is a no brainer.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

 

[wol.]

Very helpful, I have bought my first keg setup and I am using a SodaStream for a 19 litre corney and i am chewing through it. I don’t think i’ll even risk a second batch with it and move onto a bigger tank, thanks

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Once you get bigger cylinder you can get adapter to refill your soda stream which reduces sodastream drink cost. ie non beer.

 

[Brew_Stu]

I've just ordered 2x 9.5ltr kegs with sodastream adapter. After reading your post I may find I upgrade to a larger CO2 canister sooner than anticipated.

Lack of space sent me down the Sodastream route. Eventually I want to build or buy a kegerator but in the meantime this setup will have to do and suits my needs.

 

[Yellow Car]

Once you get bigger cylinder you can get adapter to refill your soda stream which reduces sodastream drink cost. ie non beer.

This is true for older Sodastream cylinders, or some 3rd party ones (e.g. CO2YOU), but for the last few years Sodastream have fitted an anti-refill valve. This shuts the valve if the refill rate is too high, and makes refills a real faff to do at home.

You can modify the valve, or replace it, but need to know what you're doing.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Yellow Car
Yes the modified valve is more tricky, you have to go slowly to prevent the valve shutting.
Freezing sodastream cylinder before refill will boost the amount you can refill, also fuller donor cylinder will increase fill.

 

[White Rose Al]

Very interesting, I think Sodastream is a great way to start carbonation in a homebrewers journey.

You quickly realise the benefit of a Co2 bottle contract once you become homebrew hooked

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Please can I chime in on this with some positives and negatives?

We have gone the other way; what I mean by this is we started with a 6kg rent free bottle which we still have but is empty. We prefer the smaller bottles now even though it's way more expensive.

We don't have a kegerator, so for us lugging the big bottle about is a massive hassle, and quite dangerous if you don't balance it properly. It also means that when we put our beer in the fridge, it can't have a constant supply of gas to it, which worries me, especially with NEIPA's. We wanted to get one but there just seems to be other priorities in the household.

We thought we would try the CO2 you programme. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a subscription service where you pay about £40 every three months, and they deliver you 4 soda stream sized bottles of gas and pick them up for free when you run out. There is no deposit so we thought it was a good deal if you prefer the smaller bottles, for putting in the fridge. Having done this for over a year now, the huge disadvantage is that you can't send them back until they are all empty, which leaves you without gas until they deliver you some more (unless you can time it perfectly, very difficult).

I have now discovered that Sodastream themselves do a yearly plan which is £120 as a yearly subscription payment or you can pay £40 over three consecutive months. There is no deposit on this either and it's pretty much the same price as CO2 you. They send you 4 bottles a time and you can order more before you've run out, which is great, and solves our 'gap without any gas' problem. The small disadvantage with this is you have to take them to a collect+ store to be sent back, which is why we initially chose CO2 you, for the convenience.

Going forward, we're going with Sodastream to see if this option works for us.