If you make your own cola, ginger ale, root beer, ginger beer or any other soda like substance, then you are going to want to carbonate it. I like the mild carbonation of champagne yeast and the bottles look professional. Carbonating with yeast is also cheaper then a CO2 canister of which the cost of cartridges add up over time. I buy packets of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast for about a dollar each and one packet does countless bottles.
Champagne yeast will add a slight fruitiness to your soda which is almost undetectable in my opinion. You can mess around with different yeasts, but from experience the champagne yeast yields the fastest carbonation with little or no effect on taste as well as settling nicely to the bottom where you can barely see it. There are hundreds if not thousands of strains available to buy, how deep into this you get is up to you.
So, what container to use? The EZ Cap Bottles are great; you get a small bottle that is more convenient to pour then the splashy carbonator and the price is right at about a buck a bottle.
Get your 16 oz EZ bottle and fill it up with 16 oz of whatever warm sugary liquid you want to carbonate. This should leave a good three inches or so of air space. Put 25-30 granules of champagne yeast into the bottle and seal it up. Give it a good shake and let sit in a dark place like a closet or cupboard for two days. Then refrigerate to stop the fermentation of the yeast.
A disclaimer, if you leave your bottles to ferment for more than two days, you are taking the chance that the bottle will explode. The yeast is creating CO2, and will continue to do so in the right conditions. Even if you have had it in the refridgerator then leave it out, the yeast can referment in the right conditions. I always put semi-detailed labels on my bottles to remind me what time/day to put them in/out of the fridge. On a side note I feel the EZ bottles are pretty durable and that the bottle exploding is nothing more than a “possibility.” If you are worried about it, another option is using plastic 16oz soda bottles that have been cleaned out. You have the added benefit of feeling the carbonation by pressing on the side of the bottle.
By: Mark Sexauer
Filed under: Techniques
