3L Coke bottles and 8gm CO2 bulbs

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GlentoranMark

GlentoranMark

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Would a 3L Coke Bottle (which I can purchase in Iceland for £2) withstand a CO2 bulb injected into it?

I have a barrel which I rarely use, I was thinking of taking the CO2 injector and modifying it so it fitted onto the Coke bottle lid. I wouldn't prime my beer and chill the beer down very cold. I'd then inject a CO2 cartridge and leave in the fridge for a few hours before drinking.

Would this work? There is obviously a risk of explosion but I'd wrap the bottle well up in towels before trying.

Surely someone has tried this yet I can't find any details.

Any thoughts?
 
My thoughts are that you shouldn't go anywhere near it!
If it's an 8gm bulb of CO2, that's equivalent to about 4 litres of gas at ambient conditions. If you inject one bulb into an empty 3 litre bottle it could potentially raise the bottle pressure to about 1.3barg or 20 psig, which would probably split the bottle.
However you intend to inject into a much smaller volume than 3 litres i.e. the space above the liquid already in the bottle, and rely on the CO2 to be instantly absorbed into the liquid, which just won't happen, so that's even worse.
Therefore stay clear in my opinion.
Why not use the 3 litre bottles as you would a much smaller bottle, and fill and prime accordingly. I use 2 litre PET bottles in conjunction with a 1 litre serving jug, and provided I consume the contents within a couple of days don't have a problem with any off tastes.
 
I tried to scourge the internet before I asked the question but found very little info.

The idea came to me after seeing the Tap-Draft system which uses 5L bottles. I thought about a SodaStream but that costs £40 so very little difference. A full keg system is over £100 but when I think of spending £40, I might as well go the whole hog. I was wondering if I could make something similar to the TapaDraft with those 3L bottles as a cheap alternative.

I won't be exploding bottles until I've found out if someone else has done it :)
 
Reading the reviews on the Tap-a-Draft, some of the users are putting 4 cartridges into each bottle.
 
A 3 litre coke bottle would hold 50 PSI no problem. Generally a pet bottle should hold close to 100 PSI but as they get bigger they lose a little integrity. But no way would it only be half as strong. It's probably 80 PSI give me a minute to check something.
 
After asking a local contact who uses pressurised bottles for questionable tasks he told me the following information. Coke released a statement a couple years ago saying that ALL coke bottles are capable to hold 150 PSI. They then went on to say the rupture pressure of a coke bottle should be no less than 175 PSI. With that said, he went on to say the plastic would undergo fatigue if repeatedly pressurised at 100+ PSI. He then added wrapping a layer of fiber/duct tape around the middle would ensure fatigue is kept to a minimum.
 
If you try this and blow your hand off please send your legal team in the direction of bquiggerz not the forum owner. :lol: :wink:
 
Too late, left arm has been removed!

I may or may not give this a go but I'm tempted on buying the Tap-aDraft after the reviews.
 
Alternatively, do it the tried and tested (and much safer!) way. Fit a stainless steel tyre valve to a bottle lid and use a bicycle co2 pump for the cartridges. Small bursts of gas at a time.

Plenty of videos of this on YouTube and a good few posts on this forum too. Thinks I have a picture of my old ones somewhere....
 
I do agree that the commercial option should always be taken when working with anything that uses high pressure gasses! BE SAFE PEOPLE
 
I won't go down this route unless someone else tries it first :-?

I quite fancy the Tap-aDraft system but for a few £ more I could go the whole hog. I''m not ready yet (or have the money!) for a keg system and why I thought about this.
 
GlentoranMark said:
Would a 3L Coke Bottle (which I can purchase in Iceland for £2) withstand a CO2 bulb injected into it?

I have a barrel which I rarely use, I was thinking of taking the CO2 injector and modifying it so it fitted onto the Coke bottle lid. I wouldn't prime my beer and chill the beer down very cold. I'd then inject a CO2 cartridge and leave in the fridge for a few hours before drinking.

Would this work? There is obviously a risk of explosion but I'd wrap the bottle well up in towels before trying.

Surely someone has tried this yet I can't find any details.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Just a question - why don't you use your barrel?
 
ManseMasher said:
Just a question - why don't you use your barrel?
Click to expand...

I've done 2 brews in it but I've nowhere to keep the barrel chilled, I'd also a leak in one of my brews and the beer spoiled, that's why I prefer bottle conditioning.

I'm aspiring to a clean crisp taste that I'd get with a commercial beer. While I've minimised the yeast sediment, it's not exactly pleasing on the eye or taste. I'm just aspiring for a better beer.
 
Last edited:
GlentoranMark said:
I'm intrigued by these systems so I delved a bit deeper, I'll start a new thread but it seems there are a few of these systems.

http://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/mini-keg-system-with-co2-tap-717-p.asp

roughly £60 or cheaper w/o the kegs but some commercial kegs that you can buyhttp://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/mini-keg-system-with-co2-tap-717-p.asp can be re-used. (not sure if any of those kegs can be re-used, just used that link as an example)
Click to expand...
Good find! I reckon they must be re-usable, as they sell spare bungs etc. for them, and new kegs are £5.99 anyway.
 

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