Can a Soda Stream Carbonate Homebrew? (& TMCraft Keg Test)

Special thanks to TMCraft for sponsoring this video. Today we are testing a soda stream and its capabilities to carbonate home-brew! We obviously know that the soda stream is intended for water and other non-alcoholic liquids (generally speaking). However, after seeing a lot of people commenting on the legitimacy of using one for Homebrew.. I had to put it to the test! If you want to do some force carbonation, check out TMCraft for small kegs!
TMCraft: tmcraftus.com/MANMADEMEAD5
How to Force Carbonate Homebrew: • A Guide To Kegging & F...
How to Bottle Carbonate Homebrew: • How to Bottle Carbonat...
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0:00 Intro
0:16 All About the Soda Stream
0:55 Testing with a Beer
4:20 Did it work?
4:45 Pros & Cons
6:25 Keg Carbed vs Soda Stream Carbed Test
10:29 How to Use the 1.3 Gallon TMCraft Keg
14:50 Taste Testing the Mead

[@brandonjohnston2101]

I've been using a soda stream for a year for carbonating mead. It can get highly carbonated like champagne levels if you give it about 7 pumps which unfortunately can take upwards of 15 minutes to do because you have to wait for the foam to settle down. It will also oxygenate the mead so you need to drink it immediately or same day. You also need to spray the soda stream nozzle off really well with water after or it will get sticky and break the machine over time. But that mini keg is a cool concept for mead too for sure! And probably cheaper and easier. Soda stream carbonation feels just like soda carbonation and tends to be more prickly and sharp on the tongue.

[@randallalston95]

I have been thinking about whether this would work and be good or not for years! Thanks for reading my mind and making a video!

[@Dogstickfetch]

I wasn't aware of these kegs before the video - pretty cool stuff! I have always been weary of SodaStreams, though.

[@Foolio949]

I have a drink mate, competitors to sodastream. One thing I love about it is pulling off a ~6oz sample of beer while bottling to give it a try. It's also a lot of fun for carbonating a single bottle of wine or mead. But imo that is its only roles in homebrewing, it operates on too small of a scale to be helpful in 99% of brews. Cool toy to play with if you are already addicted to seltzer though 😁

[@ogm19881]

OMG I was just thinking about this this past week. When I bought a soda stream tank adapter for my mini keg system.

[@alfsavel4621]

I use my soda streamer to fill the headspace in my carboys with co2 whenever I open to measure or add anything. Just tilt it over the carboy, put the nozzle in the neck and blow out.

[@DarkStar666]

We were JUST wondering about this, but I have a minikeg and that works great, just takes a day or so. We just did a prickly pear mead in the keg.

[@ManMadeMead]

That was what I put in this keg too!

[@sarzootashoota351]

I'm so glad you guys made prickly pear mead! I've been trying to get people to make it for a while now, it's good!

[@AtticPCGuy]

I've been looking into getting a couple of these mini kegs since they fit nicely in a fridge and I make 5 L batches most of the time anyway. I'm also thinking of getting a similar system to this one for carbonation. A small tip though, there's adapters for these regulators that let you use sodastream CO2 canisters instead of the small 16g capsules. It turns out a lot cheaper than the capsules, easy to have refilled anywhere and a lot more manageable than a big CO2 bottle in terms of space.

[@LegendSeekerX]

Do you have any recommendations for a specific product that you used? I see a lot but they all sort of look the same, wondering if you've used and vetting a specific brand that I could search up.

[@AtticPCGuy]

@@LegendSeekerX I can't give a personal recommendation since I haven't pulled the trigger and gotten one yet, and I do agree they look very similar. I've been leaning towards getting one from a canadian webstite called CanKeg since they have a video on youtube demonstrating the system and they have a full kit (regulator, adapters, all the hoses and clamps you need, etc), but their regulator specifically looks very much like other options out there you can get separately. And if you only need the adapter you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

[@Todrick451]

never used a soda stream? 1.straw/nozle has to be submerged (it wasn't on the mead)... there is even a fill line on the bottle to help you.... mead appeared to only be about half full. 2. your 2 presses isn't good enough... you press in 1-2 second bursts until you hear the check valve pop... it's loud, you'll know... then do 2-3 more presses.

[@ManMadeMead]

Oh! Interesting!

[@Todrick451]

@@ManMadeMead try it with just cold water... you'll see what i mean... it's a HUGE difference. They also make smaller single-serve soda stream bottles. so you don't have to carbonate a ton at a time.

[@TigerPat_9180]

Really Enjoyed Your Video , Thanks ! 🐯🤠

[@baghdaddy202003]

I don't do a lot of carbonated mead but do have a soda stream in the garage (my father works at Frito Lay and when they bought the company, they gave all the employees a free soda stream so he gave it to me). Perhaps I'll use it to carbonate my weekly drink every so often.

[@jodrichy]

I just have one hanging around too. Was thinking of using it for some ciders. I plan on making.

[@InsanityPlusOne]

Surely what we need is an intrepid 3d printer to make a variety of bottle adapters for that to use with various common bottles.

[@JoeSteffy1932]

You can get three or more pumps from the Soda Stream but you have to wait for the foam to die down. It took about 5 minutes in between pumps for me. 🍻

[@stonerzz1]

So I attempted my first batch of making things with yeast I saw a video a while ago on this channel where you just poured about a gram of yeast into some Ocean Spray and other types of juice did that are they supposed to be carbonated like really carbonated cuz that happened it tastes pretty good much seems to be fine not quite sure what the alcohol rating is on it because I lost the original gravity roof was leaking in my shed and all my notes are gone

[@claclarolo1]

your friend looked a little lost 😂

[@justinedward81]

Well, bummer, I wanted to look into this keg, but the link says error.

[@perotross]

That TMCRAFT 1.3 Gallon Double Walled keg is pretty cool. Love the idea of double walled to keep it cold on the go. That would be perfect to bring to the neighbors parties instead of bottles!

[@cupid1313pr]

Is avoiding oxygen after alcohol is present necessary even when the brew has been stabilized with Sorbate? I ask because I left out a mead in a decanter on my shelf for over a year and it tastes better than the same brew I have in a bottle..

[@julietardos5044]

MMM did a test with two brews, both in bottles, but one was only half full, so lots of head space, and same thing: he liked the one with the head space better. Since watching that video, I've been very casual about any amount of head space in my brews with no issues. I think it might be problematic in beers or in low alcohol wines that might have acetobacter in them that could turn to vinegar, and that fear has extended into all brewing. I dunno. I have not done the experimentation. But I'd guess that's where the fear of oxygen came from.

[@TigerPat_9180]

@@julietardos5044 JULIE , That Was very Informative . All my Brews have High Alcohol , so I guess that's a good thing there . I've always transferred into smaller vessels when I take a Gallon or 2 inside to Bottle 🍾 & Chill. , Because of Headspace . Then clean out the Larger Carboys , and get them Ready for the next Go-Round .I HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SPACE AND I LIKE TO KEEP IT FULL 🌝. 🐯🤠

[@julietardos5044]

@@TigerPat_9180 Half of that was a guess! Don't take it for gospel.

[@TigerPat_9180]

@@julietardos5044 10-4 , ROGER THAT !

[@InsanityPlusOne]

Going by big clives will it carbonate videos the idea is 3 runs in a soda stream, he does use one that is press and hold not tap though so who knows with that weird new one.

[@Muddeth63]

So I don’t know much about kegging, can you bottle straight out of that keg?

[@ManMadeMead]

Yup!

[@kevin_ninja_jones2363]

Can you carbonate a higher abv brew

[@ManMadeMead]

Of course!

[@hetspook666]

that line on a soda bottle isn't just to say don't fill past this, its the always fill on this line line, you needed more mede for curacy. not that it mattered.

[@tylerist8]

How long will mead be good in keg while in kegerator

[@ManMadeMead]

I would say quite a long time!

[@michaeljohnson-mc9lx]

No offense to anyone who has a sodastream, but from your video it looks like a cheap piece of plastic garbage to me haha. I have plenty of cheap pieces of plastic garbage at my house already. I never thought of kegging, and force carbonating my brews before! That keg looks pretty cool. I just might.

[@donjohnson9813]

Could you review King Cobra JFS’s bacon and banana mead? It absolutely disgusting.

[@ManMadeMead]

I’ll be honest… that guys mead and mead making process is a waste of time for anyone who wants to get into the hobby.. I don’t really have any interest giving him publicity!

[@donjohnson9813]

@@ManMadeMead LOL yeah I just wanted a professional opinion about his process. Thanks for taking the time to at least check it out.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

You’re supposed to hit the soda stream’s button until excess pressure escapes (you’ll hear it). I didn’t hear that on the video. It can be tricky, because when carbonating anything else than water you can get a lot of foam. I’d recommend hitting the button in short bursts with a wait in between AND waiting for a while before taking the bottle out of the machine. Otherwise you’ll be stuck cleaning up quite a mess: as soon as the pressure releases, foam can bubble up quite violently. How do I know this? Enter “will it soda stream” in the search bar on KZbin. Quite enlightening.

[@TigerPat_9180]

Dang Girl , Ain't Heard from You in a while . Since Moby Dick was a Minnow . Good to See You're still Kickin .🐯🤠

[@JohnDoe-es5xh]

Again, another new keg system?

[@ManMadeMead]

Lots of options! I like to demonstrate what options people have!

[@JohnDoe-es5xh]

@@ManMadeMead Options, whose support is uncertain in the future.

[@Trinciacrophobia]

I saw you answer another question saying you could bottle from this keg. Have you done any tests on how well the carbonation holds in the bottle over time?

[@ManMadeMead]

I haven’t bottled off a keg with this thing but I have with my kegerator. It does a decent job at holding carbonation but you definitely lose some

[@jgar538]

Cool keg review. I see that was the most expensive model, having a large capacity at 1.3 gallons (about166 oz.) and double walled to keep your liquids cold longer. Cheerz.

[@nimexwolf]

Why didn't you make him guess!! It's driving me crazy you had the setup for it and didn't make him guess

[@Barkas_]

How long can you leave mead in that keg ?

[@ManMadeMead]

Theoretically forever! I normally drink my kegs before I worry about that to be honest

[@-Tecky-]

I wonder if putting a plastic tubing down into the product from the soda stream with work better if you already have your product bottled in separate container

[@Ch1oeW]

Why would you lose the bubbles if you transferred the sodastream-carbonated-mead to a bottle for storage? Be kind, I’m a newbie. Thanks!

[@Dogstickfetch]

Yeet! First! 😂🎉😂🎉

[@juts89]

Tmc link is dead

[@USCisgay]

I wonder if that little keg setup would have an adapter to use with larger c02 tank

[@ManMadeMead]

I bet so!