# Soft Drink On Tap? Will It Work?



## SJW (2/2/09)

The only reason I ask is, I have tried putting Ginger Beer on tap and all I got was foam. Soda water works fine but what about soft drink, ie, carbonated cordial? would this work or a better question is why wont ginger beer work?

Steve


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## brettprevans (2/2/09)

because its already carbonated. ytour double carbonating?


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## quantocks (2/2/09)

to not screw the keg seals and stuff wouldn't it be better to use soda water in the keg and just mix in a glass like cordial?


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## Effect (2/2/09)

stuff with keg seals?

Weren't these kegs designed for soft drinks?


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## MarkBastard (2/2/09)

I've heard it works because I've ready people making cordial up for the kids on this forum.

I'm keen on experimenting making a premix scotch and coke. I imagine you'd have to carbonate higher than beer though.


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## SJW (2/2/09)

> because its already carbonated. ytour double carbonating?


No its not. Once the Ginger Beer has fermented there may be some carbonation but its still a long way off being fully carbed up.



> to not screw the keg seals and stuff wouldn't it be better to use soda water in the keg and just mix in a glass like cordial?



Yep, thats what I have done in the past. Now that I think about it, even at the pub when they pour a glass of soft drink it comes out very foamy, must just be the way it is with soft drink.


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## Adamt (2/2/09)

From what I've read on other threads on this topic - there's been quite a few of them - you really need to amp up the carbonation and you need a lot of serving line (obviously). Lots of sugar in solution makes dissolution of CO2 a lot more difficult.


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## hewy (2/2/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> I've heard it works because I've ready people making cordial up for the kids on this forum.
> 
> I'm keen on experimenting making a premix scotch and coke. I imagine you'd have to carbonate higher than beer though.



I bought some kegs off a guy who did rum and coke on tap.

Cheers 
Hewy


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## T.D. (2/2/09)

I've done that very thing - bought some ginger beer cordial and just filled the keg up with water from the tap. Then carbonated in the usual way. 18L of ginger beer on tap that tasted every bit as good as the stuff you buy for $2 a 1.5L bottle at the shops. Great thing to have in summer, also helps cut down on the alcohol consumption!  

By the way, I had no issues with foaming. Poured like a soft drink would from the bottle.


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## drsmurto (2/2/09)

i have a GB on tap that has no issues. 

I suspect it more of a case that you overcarbed the keg or have a leak somewhere allowing air in,

GB should be no different to beer, i treat it the same.

A mate has cola on tap - water mixed with soda stream concentrate then force carbed.

he also has a non alco ginger beer that was made by boiling up some ginger and sugar and then mixing it with water in the keg.


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## peas_and_corn (2/2/09)

If someone just poured coke into a keg and forced some CO2 to make up for the loss in pouring, would that be fine on tap?


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## SJW (2/2/09)

> I've done that very thing - bought some ginger beer cordial and just filled the keg up with water from the tap. Then carbonated in the usual way. 18L of ginger beer on tap that tasted every bit as good as the stuff you buy for $2 a 1.5L bottle at the shops. Great thing to have in summer, also helps cut down on the alcohol consumption!
> 
> By the way, I had no issues with foaming. Poured like a soft drink would from the bottle.



OK, I fermented it first and at the last minute decidied to keg instead of bottling. Might try again with the Budrim GB mixer or I thinh Bunderburg do a mixer too.




> i have a GB on tap that has no issues.
> 
> I suspect it more of a case that you overcarbed the keg or have a leak somewhere allowing air in,
> 
> ...



Good points there. It was when I first started kegging so I may have had an air lead or just over carbed. I will give it another go. I would still like to use the Morgans GB kit and just do it with 1kg of sugar for a little hit. Got to keep SWMBO loose somehow


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## crundle (2/2/09)

peas_and_corn said:


> If someone just poured coke into a keg and forced some CO2 to make up for the loss in pouring, would that be fine on tap?



Can't see why not, was thinking of something similar with bourbon and coke premixed to around 5%. I have tried to find information on the carbonation level of coke, but didn't find out much of use, but it seems to be highly carbed, but mixing bourbon or such with it reduces the carbonation somewhat.

Crundle


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## Thirsty Boy (2/2/09)

There is serious consideration in our house that the 4th tap on the keggerator should be a G&T tap over the summer months - to keep it homebrew I was going to try and make the tonic myself.

Anyone know where I can get the quinine bark??


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## SpillsMostOfIt (2/2/09)

We have SodaStream as the house (low or no sugar) lemonade and have just started a trial of the cola.

We emptied a 19litre keg of lemonade a couple of weeks ago and I am now making it in bottles again. I gotta tell you that kegging soft drinks is even better than kegging beer, because all the effort that goes into making and carbonating lemonade - when at the end all you get is lemonade - is just too much.

The second greatest thing about kegging soft drinks is the reduction in PET in your life.


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## SJW (2/2/09)

Done, I will do it. I will let the water (soda) carb up first then I will add a few bottle of soda stream mixer or similar. 4 taps of beer for me and nother for the other 3 members of the family is just not fair. At least thats what they say

Steve


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## crundle (2/2/09)

For soft drinks made from cordial, is there any particular mixture that should be used, or just however sweet the cordial would normally be used if it were not being carbed up?

I seem to have an idea that it perhaps needs to be a tad on the stronger side to counteract what I perceive to be a 'bite' that carbed water on its own has. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Crundle


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## MarkBastard (2/2/09)

crundle said:


> For soft drinks made from cordial, is there any particular mixture that should be used, or just however sweet the cordial would normally be used if it were not being carbed up?
> 
> I seem to have an idea that it perhaps needs to be a tad on the stronger side to counteract what I perceive to be a 'bite' that carbed water on its own has. Any thoughts?
> 
> ...



It's probably the other way around. Carbing seems to enhance flavour.


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## shellnaf (2/2/09)

forgive my ignorance maybe, but doesn't the pub guns mix the soft drink at the gun (carbed water & syrup). And isn't the reason you add the syrup to soda stream bottles after you've carbed the water, instead of mixing then carbing. I think this makes sense, I just woke up.

Nathan


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## SJW (2/2/09)

Now there is a point. And a good one. A soda stream greats real messy if u carb up the mix as well. Maybe this is why my pre mixed ginger beer was too foamy?


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## Darren (2/2/09)

Im drinking carbed water with lemon cordial at the moment (believe it or not). I just gas the keg of water, fill glass then add cordial. Works a treat and you can change flavours when ever you like (kids like red cordial)

cheers

Darren

PS: Adding the flavour to the kegs is likely to "taint" the poppets. Not something you want in beer down the track.


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## clean brewer (2/2/09)

crundle said:


> For soft drinks made from cordial, is there any particular mixture that should be used, or just however sweet the cordial would normally be used if it were not being carbed up?
> 
> I seem to have an idea that it perhaps needs to be a tad on the stronger side to counteract what I perceive to be a 'bite' that carbed water on its own has. Any thoughts?
> 
> ...



I did a keg(19ltr) of Cordial(apple and raspberry) for the kids(their special drink) and used a whole bottle of Cottees Cordial and filled the rest with water, force carbed and just set to 70kpa and it come out really nice, I found I was drinking it a fair bit aswell. The other good thing is that it has half the sugar of softdrink, which is much better for them. I just served from a Bronco Tap and all was good.

I also did a 9ltr keg of Vodka, Lime and Soda. For that I just used a 1125ml Smirnoff Vodka and 6 bottles Schweppes Lime and Soda. Just Chilled it all down first and put in the keg and topped up with co2. I worked it out that to get a good mix, you need 1400ml of spirit but hey it still went down nice and is much cheaper and nicer than pre-mix cans..

CB


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## crundle (2/2/09)

Good idea about carbing the water only and then adding the flavour after, as the kids like their red cordial while I would rather have ginger beer or lemon flavour, and I can only fit four kegs in the kegerator at one time.

Mmm, I have a keg about to become empty, might be time to try it.....

Crundle


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## pb unleaded (2/2/09)

I have a dedicated keg for this purpose and make soft drink in it all the time. I use 2 x 2lt cordial or 750ml soda stream (1 1/2 bottles) for 19 lt keg. This gives normal strength. I mix cordial and water, then chill/carbonate, no problems serving with pluto gun.

arthr


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## anc001 (3/2/09)

As I wait to get a new kettle I've been low on beer, and have made up a keg of lemonade.
Sodastream concentrate, some bickfords lemon tea cordial and the juice squeezed from some strange sour yellow fruits I found at the supermarket.

Next time I'll use a dozen or more lemons, 6 was good in a half batch but not enough in the full batch.
Also next time I'll sieve better so I don't have to dismantle my SS Celi to remove pulp.
 

I've taken to a G&T or two at dusk, I mix 1/3 gin, 2/3 tonic, slice of lime, squeezed, couple of ice cubes.
That's a lot of Bombay Saphire to make up a full keg of G&Ts.
I did just get a copy of How to make Gin and Vodka, but obviously since distilling is illegal in Aus I'm only interested in how they get the flavours form the botanicals. Hmmmm botanicals! :icon_drool2:


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## jeremy (3/2/09)

I have also made soft drink (via soda stream mix) and poured from the keg without problems.

HOWEVER, I tend to carb it MUCH higher than my beer, and it is worth noting that I pour at a much higher pressure also (cant remember how high). One possible problem with pouring all foam might be carbing up big, then trying to pour it at a much lower pressure.


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## brettprevans (3/2/09)

SJW - sorry i misread your post and thought you were putting in bought ginger beer (ie already carbed). You should have any issues with it. Ive got mineral water and it needs a lot more carbonation than my beers, but the celli taps take care of the extra carbing.

TB- no idea where you can get Quinnine bark from. Ive been looking but with no luck. Theres a Tonic water thread on AHB that a few of us discussed it but didnt get anywhere. IT you find something let me know.


Darren is right about softdrink cordial etc 'tainting' Orings, seals poppets etc. Thats why whewn you buy 2nd hand kegs that have been used for softdrink its recomended that you reaplce the seals cause you can ever get rid of the tainting. So good idea to make sure you reuse the same keg for softdrink.


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## Thirsty Boy (3/2/09)

CM2 - I was just looking at the soda stream website...you can get Tonic flavoured syrup. That might be the best we can do


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## adraine (3/3/09)

I have just been reading this thread because i am keen to do a Bourbon and coke on tap for a bucks show  im putting on.
I can see alott about soft drinks and g&t's but nothing on Bourbon and coke.
Has anyone tried this yet? ( Stupid question i imagine) & can someone please post a recipe & directions if poss.

Cheers Adam :beer:


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## Adamt (3/3/09)

I've read plenty about bourbon/whisky/scotch and coke mixes on these forums... a search for "bourbon" would probably find it.

Having said that it's pretty straight forward: Figure out how much bourbon you want per volume of coke and scale up to 19L. 

3 bottles would give you approximately 3 shots per litre of mix.


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## adraine (3/3/09)

the original search gave me this and another soft drink link. I was more after carbing and pouring pressures and if it changes between soft drinks and spirits with soft drinks.


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## buttersd70 (3/3/09)

Shouldn't be too hard to work it out....given that a standard spirit mix is (and correct me if I'm wrong) 30mL to a 200mL glass....which makes 30mL + 170mL.....
19L/200mL = 95 standard drinks to a keg.....= 95x 30mL bourbon, + 95x170mL coke
= 2850mL bourbon + 16.15L coke.

so you work out how much soda stream syrup is needed for 16.15L of coke.....
500mL of syrup = 12L (according to soda stream)

so, 673mL (round up to 675) of syrup is required for 16.15L of coke....
16.15-0.675 = 15.475L (round up to 15.5) of water + 675mL of syrup + 2.85L of bourbon = 19L of bourbon and coke, at a dilution of 30mL per 200mL.......

Bingo.

Having said that, haven't done it.....but thats how the numbers work out. 

Edit...can't help with the charging amounts....but I would _suspect _ that you would need slightly higher than for regular soft drink. The serving pressure can be whatever the carb rate is, as long as the line is long enough for the pressure.


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## adraine (3/3/09)

All that just off the top of your head ay butters?
Respect. B) 

might just mix a batch and play it by ear. the boys will drink anything on the night if believe.

Cheers Adam :beer:


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## RetsamHsam (3/3/09)

Has anyone ever given any thought to making a lolly water?? 

I have my wifes 21st coming up and was toying with the idea of making up a batch of dextrose and water, fermenting it at a lowish temp (say 16-17deg) with a neutral yeast like US-05 and then adding red cordial to it.. 

Has anyone got any experience with this sort of thing? Am I flogging a dead horse? Should I just get a bottle of Vodka and mix it up with cordial and water/lemonade in the keg?


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## adraine (3/3/09)

leave the horse alone and go buy some vodka and cordial


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## buttersd70 (3/3/09)

adraine said:


> All that just off the top of your head ay butters?



Aye, worked through it as I was typing.....which is why my post doesn't flow very well from a grammatical perspective. :lol: 
Thats also why the numbers are a bit 'precise', cos it was straight from the calculations....I think that over the course of a 19L batch, if you were to 'rough up' the numbers, noone would know....  

And lollywater? god, that brings back memories....haven't even heard of it for 20 odd years....other than the incorrect (but rather humourous) usage attributed to weak beers....

Main problem I see is the lack of nutrients in a dex/water mix....what about one of those yeasts that are used for the unmentionable essential oil process  ?
Do they have their own nutrient source? Lie the TurboYeast, or whatever its called?


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## komodo (3/3/09)

I've considered this extensively as I have a few friends who aren't big drinkers and my brother who is "straight edge".
I've actually found that in some areas of the states its fairly common to have postmix guns in ones kitchen! (and they wonder why they become obese!) 

my reading suggest that a few people buy 99c discount store cola and pour that into kegs with their bourbon making a cheap easily made up mix. I would assume that it should be served colder than beer also.

I understand the whole soda water then add flavouring - but thats more like soda stream and I never liked soda stream as a kid and don't imagine I'd like it much now.
I think if you are going to do it you need to seriously consider having a dedicated keg (or kegs)


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## BOG (3/3/09)

Easier still.

Buy a couple of boxes of coke cans from a service station. Cheapest place for Coke.

1 can of coke, in a pint glass and top up with burbon. Easy !


Brian


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## seravitae (3/3/09)

When i get my kegs i was planning on dedicating one to ginger beer and one to cola, for drinking with spirits. i am glad to see other AHB'ers using their kegs for other cool things.



I am going to attempt to make (and improve) the opencola recepie. For those who want cheap cola, OpenCola is an open-source recepie that has been tweaked by many people. It is insanely cheap as it uses essential oils, a few small bottles of the oils goes a very very long way. Look it up if you're interested.



Personally i find coca-cola to be way too carbonated and acidic. Thats why i want to make my own, because when i buy store-bought coca-cola i flatten it before drinking.



There's a brand that i think comes from new zealand in glass bottles, Phoenix cola i think ? They also make real ginger beer with floaties at the bottom. It's fantastic stuff. if you ever see it try some (and then find me a recepie!)

cheers


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## Thunderlips (4/3/09)

sera said:


> There's a brand that i think comes from new zealand in glass bottles, Phoenix cola i think ? They also make real ginger beer with floaties at the bottom. It's fantastic stuff. if you ever see it try some (and then find me a recepie!)


This stuff?
http://www.phoenixorganics.co.nz/WhatWeDo/...cts/Browse/ID/2

A few good ones there. Would love to try the Creaming Soda.

Edit: It seems they even tell you how to make the Ginger Beer.
http://www.phoenixorganics.co.nz/files/Con...eer_project.pdf


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## Sully (4/3/09)

Few years ago I was using Crows Nest Cordials cola and it was nice and the kiddies loved it. 
First time I have checked out the site in a while too and found out they have a webstore. $20.00 for 5L - same price as 5 years ago.
IIRC in a 19L keg add 4L (dont quote me - whatever the ratio was on the label) of cordial and top up to 18L, Gas 240kpa for 48hrs.


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## jdonly1 (15/6/09)

So has any one done a bourbon and coke yet???
Im about to set it up and give it a go


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## seravitae (15/6/09)

yes i was talking to someone who gassed a keg with burbon and coke, works fine.


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## LLoyd (15/6/09)

As a new kegger the novelty hasn't worn off. Last week we had to buy beer (horrors). We tipped a carton into our keg, left it at serving pressure.. No problems at all..


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## Katherine (15/6/09)

LloydieP said:


> As a new kegger the novelty hasn't worn off. Last week we had to buy beer (horrors). We tipped a carton into our keg, left it at serving pressure.. No problems at all..




You told me you brewed that Fat Yak.... LOL!


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## LLoyd (15/6/09)

nah that was the creatures


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## donburke (15/6/09)

after trying 20 different ratios on a small scale, i ended up settling on this as a lemon ruski clone, 

10 litres water
3 bottles vodka
2 litres cottees lemon crush cordial
1 litre berri pure lemon juice

carbed to 3.5 volumes, i.e. approx 160kpa in my fridge for a week

everyone loved it, works out around 5%, easy drinking and gets you pissed without realising it !


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## LLoyd (15/6/09)

very nice donburke!! need to try that one


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## PHARSYDE (15/6/09)

donburke said:


> after trying 20 different ratios on a small scale, i ended up settling on this as a lemon ruski clone,
> 
> 10 litres water
> 3 bottles vodka
> ...



Have to try that one, cheers DB


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## PHARSYDE (15/6/09)

LloydieP said:


> As a new kegger the novelty hasn't worn off. Last week we had to buy beer (horrors). We tipped a carton into our keg, left it at serving pressure.. No problems at all..




HAHAHA awesome...........

May have to be weary when i drink next at your place..... 

Catch ya's soon

PHARSYDE


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