Making "Daddy Soda"

Soul still mostly intact I believe...

Dannus - I usually make 3gal batches, because:
1) I don't like drinking the same thing all the time
2) I don't have random friends dropping in to suck up free beer
3) I I do like to give out a little bit to friends and a local bunch of guys that I hang out with (we all brew) as an informal club
4) I used to do mostly 1.5gal batches, but it's the same work and I now have more than 8 bottles to myself.
5) I got a bunch of 3gal kegs cheap.

For sure you can make small amounts. FWIW, a 1.5gal batch will usually render about 14 bottles (sometimes less if you dry hop the snot out of it) once you get good at siphoning/bottling. First couple goes will leave you about 12bottles and a small mess.

Like Lowkey said, you can use the 1gal glass jars if you want - they just don't leave a lot of headspace and will usually make a mess if you have a high starting gravity and an agressive yeast. I usually tell people to get a couple 2gal white HDPE buckets/snap on lid from HD/Lowes and use those instead. They're squat, easy to deal with, cheap, and you can put them in the dishwasher to clean up when you're done fermenting in them.

I started out doing 1.5 gal batches almost exclusively for 7 months (until I got all my keg crap online and working), and it's so easy because you probably already have everything you need to go all grain sitting in your pantry. Even easier with extract.

The hard part is finding premade kits (if you want something easy to start with) under 5gal in size.

Northern Brewer and Midwest both have a lot of 1gal kits if you want to play around, but shipping may be expensive.
www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/recipe-kits/small-batch-beer-recipe-kits

Another option is Austin Homebrew Supply:
www.austinhomebrew.com/Beer/One-Gallon-sm-All-Grain-Recipe-Kits/

Again, watch the shipping.

I get all my stuff from Ritebrew, they're internet only but local and offer counter pickup so I save a ton in shipping. Waaaaaay cheaper than the brick store down the street, which is run by a douche. I know the owner of Ritebrew, awesome dood who isn't afraid to come drink with our "club" once and a while - not to mention he's always available for the local guys.

I'll guess you're going to use standard 20oz/1L/2L PET bottles to carb in?

If so, which fittings did you go with? If you did the ball lock/carbcap conversion, there's a cheaper option out there. The Kent fittings have less parts in them and are easier to clean. Also cheaper if you're buying a lot of them vs the carbcap.

www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=51_66

Something to consider if you're using that route.

Homemade soda is great - you can actually control the amount and KIND of sugar you're using. I had a great homemade soda that was mostly juice (pineapple, fresh tangerine, agave syrup for the sugar, and hibiscus flowers), so the sky's the limit. You can even get coca extract if you want to make a faux Coke, just be aware you can only get so much.

I've got a 5# tank, I've used it now over 6mo's on all the kegs (force carbing and serving) and it's still going strong. I'm expecting it to die here soon, so I either need to get a spare lined up or figure out if the hydro place can give me a loaner while they re-cert my existing tank. Just remember the golden rule, PV/RT - cold liquid gases best, and while you can force the gas into suspension, it's better for beer to let it carb up at a fixed temp/pressure for a week rather than shaking the crap out of it and crashing it. Damages the proteins for head retention....

Any questions ask!

Lowkey -

Just keep in mind the Kent fittings won't work with the ball lock post, you'll need to get the Kent fill port (it's on the same page).  Also if silicon ring goes bad/damaged you can get the ring cheaper from either McMaster or Oring's.  It should be fine for a lot while, though.

Do a youtube search on force carbing and you'll see the process for the 2L bottles, basically:
1) put them in the fridge/freezer until they're cold
2) Open the top, squeeze the 2L until the beverage is at the mouth and THEN put the cap on eliminating O2 headspace
3) Hit it with CO2@ 30psi, the bottle will pop out and pressurize
4) Shake like hell until the bottle's spongy again
5) Hit it CO2 again.
6) Repeat 4
7) Repeat 5 for the last time and put it in the fridge.
8 ) Let stand 24hrs to equalize
9) Once equalized, you can remove the carbcap and replace with a standard cap if you want, at that point it's just like a 2L soda.

Soda is typically pressurized at 4.0p/m CO2, Belgian beer is 3.6p/m, American Beer is 2.5p/m, and English cask is 1.6p/m

If you need a temp/pressure chart I can post one up!

In beer O2 is bad, it oxidizes the hops which then makes for that nasty cardboard flavor.  Skunky beer is from UV light permeable glass (like green/clear/blue).  While I'm not sure if it'd be bad in soda, most of the time they purge with CO2 as it's a natural inhibitor for nasties, things don't like to grow in a low O2 enviroment like acetobacter, brett, etc...   If given the chance little organisms love sugar and O2.

Gas chart below.

Yep, and as an added bonus you can tell that you're actually getting the gas into solution - without purging the head space, you're trying to compress the O2 and the CO2 into the bottle and then shaking it which would result much less "feel/give" in the bottle to know where you are in pressure.  If you squeeze the air out first, you know that the added gas is CO2, and once dissolved into solution the bottle will go back to being "spongy", allowing you to hit the bottle again with more CO2 to continue pressurizing the container.

Keep in mind the above is for force carbonating, where you're actively forcing the gas to dissolve into solution through agitation.  The alternative is the set/forget method that's presented in the chart I posted - if you keep the liquid at temp and constant pressure as noted, the gas will slowly enter solution on it's own until the pressures equalize and result in the PPM as noted in the chart.  That's the way I usually do it as it's easy to just hook up the keg and forget about it for a week vs gas it at high pressure and shake the crap out of 40#, and repeat etc.   Another benefit (for kegging this way) is that the liquid is already at serving pressure, so no need to mess with the regulator or hope that you've matched the internal/external pressures before pouring.  Mismatched pressures for the line length = a glass of foam with no beer.  Letting everything equalize over a week at the same pressure results in a perfect pour immediately after tapping.

Coffee + beer?  *Begins packing car for road trip to NXP's house*

A local brewery makes a coffee porter that is damn tasty.  I used to be super into stouts, but have started down the path to IPA ruin.  Still enjoy a good stout though.  I really need to get into this brewing thing...

www.tinmanbrewing.com/ourbeers/cafeleche