Building a Home Bottle Carbonation System

[Ciderhead]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new here and from the Halifax area. I don't brew much beer, but I do make my own sparkling cider from scratch (It's pretty decent). I am looking to build this: http://foo.net/~jmgray/carbonation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is a simple home bottle carbonation system, but I don't know where to get the supplies. I'd love it if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks!

[Jimmy]

All of that can be purchased at noble grape. It looks like all you're using is a co2 tank, regulator, and a carbonator cap. The hoses/connections can also be purchased at noble grape, they are just "ball lock" type connections. You can normally find a co2 tank and regulator on kijiji for cheaper if you're willing to wait a little bit.

And welcome!

[mr x]

Cider makers are most welcome here!

[RubberToe]

Hey Ciderhead, you can get those carbonation caps at Noble Grape I think for about $20. Or you can do what I did and take the top from a 2 litre pop bottle and fit it with a tire valve stem. If you have a CO2 tank and regulator fit the line with one of those tire filling valves to carbonate your bottle. I used to make pop this way.

[Ciderhead]

Great, thanks everyone for the info! I'll head over there tomorrow.

[Jimmy]

You can also check out http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . They have everything you need except for the caps. I don't know the price difference between them and noble grape, but they are on here, and I believe they have a discount for the brewnosers. Here is the member profile memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=235" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jimmy]

Oh, and look into kegging it as well if you don't mind going that route. The only other thing you would need is a keg, which run from $20-60..then you don't have to worry about cleaning a bunch of bottles

[Ciderhead]

Ya, I was about to get a Keg system going, but I don't have a proper fridge for it at the moment. I'll probably get one in the next year or so. Thanks for the help

[Ciderhead]

Question about regulators: If the regulator is set at 50 PSI, does that mean that once the bottle hits 50PSI the regulator will stop? Or is 50PSI the constant pressure from the CO2 tank?

[mr x]

Both. Once the bottle hits 50 psi, CO2 stops flowing. It would take time as the CO2 gets absorbed by the liquid and drops the system pressure and more gas flows to get back up to 50psi. Repeat until the liquid is saturated.

[know1]

Hey Ciderhead, you can get those carbonation caps at Noble Grape I think for about $20. Or you can do what I did and take the top from a 2 litre pop bottle and fit it with a tire valve stem. If you have a CO2 tank and regulator fit the line with one of those tire filling valves to carbonate your bottle. I used to make pop this way.

I did similar. I fit a plastic cap with a compressed air male quick connect and put the female quick connect on the end of a valved line off my manifold. The carb caps at noble would certainly be easier and likely cheaper for a ground up setup, I'm just saying there are options depending on what you have.