Ball Lock Keg O-rings For Sale

The Homemade Soda Expert is pleased to offer ball lock keg o-rings for sale!

When buying used pre-mix soda tanks, some of the seals are in less than perfect condition.  I opened my own up recently and found the dip tube o-rings to be kind of gunky.  I just needed the dip tube seals, but it seems that no-one really offers just those.  I'd have to buy a whole kit, and you don't really find savings on ordering multiple kits.  The lid o-rings tend to hold up rather well, so I don't anticipate needing one for some time.  The bottom line is that I saw a number of needs that needed filled.  Now I'm glad I can fill them. 

Available for sale are full kits of Buna-N o-rings which include one lid o-ring, two post o-rings, and two dip tube o-rings.  These are all the seals on a keg.  I am offering one kit for $3, two kits for $5.50, three for $7.75, or four for $10.  Not a huge savings at each step, but in this economy, every little bit helps.  These fit ball lock kegs, I don't have any pin locks, so I don't feel comfortable selling pin lock kits just yet.  Maybe in the future when I have something that I know I can test them on. 

Because the dip tube o-rings are the first to wear out, followed by the post o-rings, I'm offering smaller kits as well.  That way you don't end up replacing a perfectly good lid o-ring if you don't need to.  A pack of post and dip tube seals with enough for 5 kegs or a pack of just dip tube seals for 10 kegs are each $3

You will see a paypal button in the sidebar that will be there permanently. 

These will also be available on ebay, if you're worried about a blog not being a secure market place.  Look for supramansquee as the seller.

I hope to be able to offer other products in the future, I don't think this will ever bloom into a full blown homebrew store, but I'd like to maybe sell some bottle caps and other items eventually.  Comment below if there's anything you'd like to see sold here.

Syrup Review: Master of Mixes Cocktail mixes

So every time I pass the beverage aisle at the grocery store, I see the cocktail mixes and think, "A piña colada soda would be really tasty."  So my birthday rolled around and I thought it would be a great time to put it to the test.  We picked up a bottle of piña colada mix and a bottle of strawberry margarita/daiquiri mix. 

Regrets are usually prefaced by "It seemed like a good idea, at the time" 

So, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  I think this, and the coconut flavored La Croix I had over the holiday have kind of turned me off of coconut for a while.  I seem to still be ok with coconut and lime together, but on it's own, or apparently with pineapple, it doesn't seem to go down as smooth.  I think it reminds me too much of lotion. 

Aside from the coconut flavor, I do have some problems with the Master of Mixes.  There's an off flavor in each of the mixes I bought.  It's almost a salty flavor that I can't quite put my finger on.  The body of this syrup is great, for syrup.  I'm sure it works great blended with ice, but it just doesn't mix well with seltzer.  It sinks even with some agitation.  With enough agitation to get it blended, you lose your carbonation rather quick.  The strange thing to me is that one of the first ingredients listed is HFCS, but for how thick it is, it doesn't seem to be very sweet.  I can't quite figure that one out.  The coconut cream certainly is not water soluble, so it leaves a bit of a bubbly sludge on your glass.  The strawberry is made with real strawberries, which is always a good thing, but I know my kids don't like the sediment.

I think that I may try some other brands of cocktail mixes, but the Master of Mixes is definitely off my list.

So the Master might be mixing up some tasty cocktails, but as for soda, that's best left to the experts. Not to toot my own horn or anything.

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Soda Maker in all of us!

As Christmas gets closer and everyone is scrambling to come up with gift ideas for those difficult people on their lists, I thought I'd help some people out.  For the soda jerk on your list, or any jerk or non-jerk for that matter, here are some essentials that no homemade soda maker should go without. 

First on the list is ready made syrups, Monin has a very nice selection of 102 full sugar syrups from basic to floral to fancy including some nice holiday flavors.  I've been working on a pumpkin pie soda, but it's just not working out.  I suppose this is the next best thing, they have a pumpkin spice and a newer pumpkin pie:

Torani is another great syrup manufacturer. They have about 75 full sugar syrups.  Most of these are more traditional cafe flavors, but some like Bacon seem to stand out. 

For those looking to make their own syrups, there are a miriad of options.  One that I've been meaning to try is using flavoring oils.  LorAnn oils has a nice selection of candy, beverage, and chocolate flavors.  They're super concentrated, so you you're not paying for excess sugar and water, you can add that yourself.  Choose individual flavors, or blend them to create your own.  These would be helpful in creating that supposed secret Coke formula floating around the internet that uses cinnamon oil, nutmeg oil, and some various citrus oils.

If you're unsure about mixing oils to get a flavor base, you can use some more water soluble options from Rio.  These are available from the Praire Moon company.  These are normally sold as snow-cone flavoring mixes, but work well for homemade soda.  I had some friends in high school that earned money over the summers with a shaved ice stand by the city pool.  They had the best shaved ice around, that's for sure.  They used some of these syrups for their shaved ice, and they are quite tasty.

In my opinion no one serious about homemade soda should go without a keg system.  There is a sense of superiority and control that comes with kegging.  You can keg what you want, in what quantity you want, with the exact amount of fiz that you want, and you can dispense as much as you want without losing carbonation.  Granted it doesn't fit on your countertop like a Sodastream might, but who wants more gadgets cluttering up your counter anyway. 

Ball lock kegs are becoming increasingly hard to find, and the price keep going up on used kegs, but new kegs seem to be coming down in price.  I imagine supply and demand will eventually even that out.

Anyone Bottling should have some nice nostalgic bottles.  You can dig up old ones, and worry about what gunk might be in them, or you can get some new 187 mL champagne bottles in either clear to show off your colorful sodas, or green to hide your less than desireable colors.

Another great bottling option is the 125th anniversary Coke Hutchinson Bottles available this year.  I've seen these in four packs at the local Wal-Mart, though I can't find a link for you online.  These are limited release, but would make great additions to anyone's bottle collection.  Soda maker or not, these are just neat.


And of course there's always the old standby, Martinelli's.  These are one of the few recappable bottles widely available.  And for the Holidays, why not.  I'm assuming that both the 8 oz and 24 oz are recappable.  I don't see why they wouldn't be.  Anyone with any input, feel free to comment.

Of course, if you're going to bottle, who doesn't need more caps.  If you're looking for the most inexpensive option, MoreBeer! seems to have the best price, particularly on their overrun caps, though they're not always in stock.  If you're looking for some more personalized options, most homebrew shops have various colors.  For something completely custom, you can try BottleMark, Crafty Caps, or Brew Toppers.

And of course you'll need something to get those caps off.  StarrX bottle openers are classic, and you can find some cool vintage ones on Ebay occasionally.  You can also get them new for your home bar, soda fountain, or I've thought about attaching them to a wooden crate to take bottles to parties and gatherings.


If you want to get started, I'm sure Andrew Schloss can help.  His book is very handy and has lots of great recipes that are great alone, or as inspiration to build your own.  With 200 recipes total, this book will keep any soda maker busy for a while.  These recipes are focused mainly on using carbonated water or a soda siphon, but there are a fair number of brewed beverages here as well.

If you want to stick with brewing and bottling, nothing is as classic as Stephen Cresswell's book.  This book got me started and I still refer to it.  Great root beer recipes and tips on bottling, recipe development, and troubleshooting.

So there you have it, that's my 2011 gift guide for soda makers. I hope you found some inspiration for the soda maker on your list.

Recipe 16: Holiday Gingerbread Soda

In time for the holidays, here's a lovely concoction for your holiday gatherings.  To adjust to your ideal gingerbread flavor, try varying the levels of molasses, and ginger, as those are the main flavoring components.  The caramel malt adds depth and "breadiness" to the flavor, getting you closer to ginger bread and further from spiced ginger ale.

Gingerbread Soda (makes 1 gallon)

2 1/8 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 cup caramel malt, cracked
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardomom
1/4 tsp ground clove
2 Tbsp molasses
cold carbonated water up to 1 gallon (2 2-liter bottles)

Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar, bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes. Allow to cool. In a separate saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups water to just before boiling. You will see small bubbles form at the base of the pan, but they shouldn't rise to the top. Turn heat to low to maintain this temperature. Add in the caramel malt and all the spices. Steep for 30 minutes covered. Allow to cool. Strain out the grain and spice sediment and add to the sugar solution with the molasses. Add to carbonated water and mix gently until dissolved.

Recipe 15: Halloween Root Beer with Dry Ice

As the harvest season approaches, there are invariably countless Halloween parties at which homemade rootbeer is a staple. I don’t know if it’s the dry ice in the bubbling “witch’s brew” that makes us think of Halloween, or if enjoying a root brew has always been traditional this time of year. One thing is for sure, whenever I think of homemade soda with dry ice, I think of the large orange beverage cooler bubbling at a church Halloween party, with little kids hoping to get just a little sliver of that dry ice in their cup so they can watch it bubble and “smoke” until it quickly disappears.


If you’re planning a party with just such a brew, here are some tips on carbonating with dry ice to get the best carbonation in your beverage.

- A general rule of thumb is 1 lb of dry ice/gallon. This is going to bubble like crazy, so make sure you have a lid for your orange beverage cooler to contain the splashes.

- Also easy to remember is 1 lb of sugar/ gallon. This may seem like a lot, but it is the same amount of sugar as Kool-Aid, so it’s nothing you haven’t imbibed before.

- How much carbonation a drink will hold is mostly a function of temperature and pressure. As the drink gets colder and the more pressure the drink is under, the more carbonation it will hold. Increasing pressure can be difficult and dangerous (especially with 5 lbs of dry ice), placing the lid on the cooler will certainly help, but you’ll get more results with keeping it cold. Dry ice will chill it, but you’ll be much farther ahead if you start out as cold as you can go. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight if you have that much space, or add some of your water as ice. With that much sugar you should be able to get it just below 32 degrees before it freezes.

- You’ll get more mileage out of your dry ice if you don’t add it all at once. Add about 1 lb and stir until it’s gone. The agitation will ensure that you get even cooling, pH adjustment, and carbonation from the first pound, then add the rest and let it sit.

So why does dry ice carbonate water? Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide or CO2, it’s held at a temperature of about -110F. Instead of melting, it sublimates, meaning it goes straight from solid to gas. As the gas bubbles through the water, some of it dissolves into solution, creating carbonic acid, or H2CO3. Carbonic acid readily breaks down at room temperature and pressure to 1 molecule of CO2 and 1 molecule of H2O, carbon dioxide and water. Many people think that the tingle of soda in their mouth is the bubbles, but part of it is the bite of the acid.

5x5 Halloween Root Beer Recipe:

5 gallons water

5 lbs sugar

5 lbs dry ice

5 ounces extract(2 oz rootbeer, 3 oz vanilla)

Combine water, sugar, and extracts in a 6 gallon or larger beverage cooler (you’ll need extra space so it doesn’t bubble over). Make sure this is as cold as it can possibly get, or chill it overnight if you have space. 1-2 hours before serving, add 1 lb dry ice and stir until dissolved. Add the rest of the dry ice and let it sit for the remainder of the serving time.

I wish I had a lovely picture of this, it's always fun to see all that bubbling brew.  Maybe closer to Halloween one will pop up, no pun intended.

Recipe 14: Homemade Mountain Dew / Sun Drop Clone

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a Mountain Dew drinker.  Really the only time that I can think of that I actually drank Mt. Dew and said "Wow, this is good!" Was after being in Italy for a year and a half drinking the bitterness they pass off as soft drinks. 
I shouldn't say that, Italian beverages are fine.  Some are an acquired taste, but there's nothing inherently wrong with them.  They do run light on the sugar, though.  So it's possible that my taste of Mt. Dew that made me think it was a good drink was based on sugar content.  I love sugar.  When I returned back to the States and acclimated myself to standard US syrupy goodness, Mt. Dew was just kind of *meh*.  So this may not be an exact match, but it's a start for anyone looking for a match. 

2 cups sugar, inverted in 1 cup water (with 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, see recipe below)
Juice from:
2 oranges (about 1/2 cup)
2 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

1 cup water
Peel from:
1/2 orange
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime

Carbonated water up to 1 gallon.

Combine sugar, 1 cup water, and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.  Allow to cool. Bring the other 1 cup of water to a boil separately. Add the citrus peels, remove from heat and cover. Allow to steep until it has cooled to room temperature. Strain and add to sugar solution, along with the strained juices Ensure it is well blended. Add to carbonated water and mix gently until dissolved.

This has a bitter citrus bite because of the peels, there's that acquired Italian influence sneaking in there.  Feel free to adjust as you see fit.  If your a Mt. Dew drinker because of the caffeine, you'll need to add that separately. As you can see, it's not as green as the commercial version, but does it really need to be?

I'm thinking that this does need some work, but it's at least a start.  I know some people online have been looking around for something like this, so here it is!

Update July 2014: Because this is such a popular recipe, I've included it in my book - Making Soda at Home.  The recipe there takes on a slight variation and also includes methods for carbonating via fermentation or force carbonating like pre-mix rather than just making a syrup to add to carbonated water.

Homemade Soda: Cheaper than Store Bought?

I like to keep tabs on what homemade soda information is available on the web. A couple weeks ago I found this article from the Christian Science Monitor by a Trent Hamm. It talks about the other costs associated with drinking homemade soda, particularly health costs.  In my opinion, it seems a bit narrow minded and kind of misses the mark.

I agree that drinking that much sugar is not anything near healthy. But there are some calculations in the article that could use a second look. The article compares Sodastream cola to Coca Cola. First, let's look at the financial aspect: The article says that using the Sodastreams syrups you spend about $0.40/liter.  One thing they forgot was the ridiculous amount you end up paying for a cylinder exchange.  Generally, about $15 per cylinder which works out to an extra $0.25/liter.  So sorry kids, you're spending $0.65/liter for Sodastream beverages.  Compared to the $0.70/liter for cans of Coke.  So you'd have to drink 1600 liters for you to make the initial machine investment worth your while.  You'd be way worse off in reality than what you thought following Hamm's method.

As far as the health aspect goes, what Hamm doesn't realize is that each serving of Coke has 100 calories while each serving of Sodastream Cola has only 35 calories.  27g of sugar compared to 8g.  So in reality, you'd only be consuming 112 lbs of sugar from that amount of Sodastream cola rather than the 380 lbs of sugar you'd consume from that amount of Coke.  Hmm... that sort of waters down his claim about the health consequences of the Sodastream.  Even if it is still more than Hamm's original estimate, it's actually sort of a selling point for the silly little contraption.  Though, that's still a ton of sugar.

Perhaps the best way to look at it economically are the following two scenarios:
Club Soda - For some strange reason, I can't find a decent sized bottle of seltzer anywhere in this town.  The largest bottle I've found is a 1L, and the cheapest that's been is $0.50.  Now I know there are companies that make 2L bottles, but I guess there just isn't a market for that here.  Anyway, The soda stream could carbonate water for $0.25/liter as noted above for cost of the CO2.  So you'd have to drink 320L of club soda to break even on the device.  Plus, no significant negative health consequences.  That's still a lot, but not as bad as the cola. 
And since I'm by no means trying to sell the Sodastream to anyone, let's look at my method: the soda keg.  I can carbonate water for about $.09/liter.  However, I paid more for my setup, so I actually don't break even until I hit 365L of club soda, so kind of a bummer.  

Gourmet Soda - Coke is like the Buick Century of sodas.  It's a staple.  Decent, but ubiquitous and thus, inexpensive.  In fact, some places use the name Coke to mean any type of soda.  What Hamm doesn't take into account is the quality of homemade soda that equipment like this can churn out.  What we're looking at here is a not a way to duplicate the Buick, but a way to build our own Alfa Romeo.  I'm going to consider a recipe from Andrew Schloss that in my opinion is even better than an Italian import, San Pellegrino Limonata.   I can buy a six pack of 330mL cans of Limonata for about $6.  That's about $3.03/liter.  Ouch!  But, honestly, it's worth it.  Schloss's recipe in my setup gets me a better product for about $0.99/liter.  Huzzah! So I really only have to make 144L of that for me to break even on my equipment or 42L on the Sodastream... interesting.  Additionally, when I can make something that good, I'm going to want to share it so I can show of my beverage making skills. So I guarantee that I won't be drinking it all by myself and I won't be shouldering that health burden of all those extra calories alone. 

The bottom line: soda isn't the best choice of beverage, but if you want to make it yourself, you do have a little bit more control over your finances, your health, and the quality of your soda compared to drinking standard commercial fare.