CO2 Back up

[Paddy Melon]

Hi Guys, I have a 2.7kg CO2 cylinder and gauge which I have attached to an air gun for purging my bottles. I began to worry about getting caught halfway through bottling and running out of CO2. (I'm not sure how to tell how much is left in the cylinder). I have recently acquired a full soda stream cylinder and wanted to have it as a back up just in case. What I'm wanting to find out is, whether there is a way of connecting the soda stream bottle to the normal CO2 connections or just to an air hose which I can then fit to the gun. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hangover68]

There are adapters available to use the sodastream bottles with a gauge and then you could use a hose with fitting of your choice, maybe one of the mini regs would best suit you.

 

[Paddy Melon]

Thanks Hangover68, any idea where to find them?

 

[S.E]

Can’t help with your CO2 connections but why would you worry about running out half way through bottling? It’s not necessary to purge bottles anyway.

If you did run out what is the worst that can happen? You would just end up with a few un-purged bottles that you could prime and carb naturally. I wouldn’t bother with the backup co2 if you are only bottling, or do you also keg and could use it for dispensing backup?

 

[Paddy Melon]

Just bottling, I am being anal I know, it's just that I did a comparison test in a batch where a dozen bottles weren't purged with CO2 and there was a definite taste difference. Not huge but perceptible with the better taste going to the Purged bottles. You are right not a big deal really, just something more for me to tinker with.

 

[S.E]

Tinkering is half the fun of home brewing.

 

[djebel]

Unfortunately the gauges won't tell you how much is left. The only way to do it is to weigh the cylinder. The information about cylinder weight, fill capacity, etc should be stamped on the neck.

Weigh it before and after you bottle. After a few batches, you should have a rough idea of how much CO2 you use for each bottling session. Then you can check if you have more than that in the days before you plan to bottle (because all us homebrewers are really well organised, aren't we? )

 

[Paddy Melon]

I've just found an adapter on ebay....I didn't know they existed and didn't think of looking it up before. But then, why should I look things up when I can just ask here.

 

[duncbrewer]

You can of course also buy an adapter that will allow you to fill your Sodastream cylinder from your 2.7.
Kegland sell it and have a how to do it video. They work well and it's best to freeze the sodastream cylinder before filling and do it when the 2.7 is just refilled ( its a pressure thing ).

If you really want to go the whole hog look for a counter pressure bottle filler, the Williams warn is expensive but does a great and mess free job. The itap one also seems to work well. But as @S.E says why bother wasting the CO2 if you are bottle conditioning, fill to near the top so virtually no Oxygen in there ( air is 80 percent nitrogen) use some 02 scrubbing caps and bottle condition.
If you are bottling NEIPA and super hoppy then go the counterpressure way, keep the cold chain and closed transfers etc, etc, etc.

 

[Vic]

Hi Guys, I have a 2.7kg CO2 cylinder and gauge which I have attached to an air gun for purging my bottles. I began to worry about getting caught halfway through bottling and running out of CO2. (I'm not sure how to tell how much is left in the cylinder). I have recently acquired a full soda stream cylinder and wanted to have it as a back up just in case. What I'm wanting to find out is, whether there is a way of connecting the soda stream bottle to the normal CO2 connections or just to an air hose which I can then fit to the gun. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This part:
https://www.kegland.com.au/deluxe-sodastream-cylinder-adapter-with-pin-adjustment.htmlor
https://www.kegland.com.au/sodastream-cylinder-adapter.htmlwill allow you to attach a SodaStream bottle to a standard CO2 regulator/

 

[Ballaratguy]

I’ve got a keg king beer gun (gas & liquid)
$40 + postage

 

[duncbrewer]

@Vic
THis for refilling sodastream from your 2.7
https://www.kegland.com.au/sodastream-cylinder-filling-adapter-filling-station-with-bleed-valve.htmlWatch the kegland youtube video for a howto.

Either of the ones you have highlighted will allow you to connect a regulator to your sodastream cylinder. The extra five dollars for the deluxe is worth it as can be fiddly tuning the cheaper one to work correctly.

 

[fifis101]

If you're using PET bottles you don't have to botherwith the purging. Just fill the bottles as much as you can, then before putting the lid on, squeeze the beer up to the top. That pushes all the air out.

 

[Paddy Melon]

Thanks guys. Believe it or not I thought I was coming up with something new, I should have looked up google first, but now I know and thanks for your advice.