I've never made yeast-carbonated soda before, and after reading a lot about it, I have a few questions.
1. I bought one of these (not a case, just one) in regular, clear glass, and would like to use it. If I am careful to occasionally release pressure and store the bottle in a safe place (so if it explodes it won't hurt anyone), is carbonating the soda in this an option? I've seen several guides which recommend doing just that with this type of bottle, but I've also read around here that using glass is frowned upon.
If yes, when and how often should I open it and release pressure? If I'm leaving it ~48 hours to carbonate, my thought was that I would open it at the end, before putting it in the fridge, and then a few hours later, after fermentation has slowed.
If no, is it feasible to pour soda made in an old, plastic 2-liter into this for storage? If I did this, and didn't let sediment slip into the glass bottle, would fermentation/carbonation effectively cease? I know that even in the fridge, as long as the yeast is there, the soda will be very slowly fermenting. I'm hoping changing containers will ensure the soda stays non-alcoholic and won't blow up. Even if this isn't worth worrying about, I think it will look better without the sediment, and I don't want the bottle purchase to have been a waste. My concern with doing this, though, is that the soda could lose a lot of its carbonation being funneled into the glass bottle. Is that possible?
2. About how much yeast should I use for a 32 oz bottle? I'm seeing a lot of different numbers for this, but I figured around 1/8 tsp. I don't want to be wrong and blow anything up, or waste all the ingredients on flat sugar-water.
3. My plan was to make a syrup with sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and then combine it with the warm water/yeast. Is this okay?
4. I plan on using grocery store active-dry yeast to start with. No problem, right? Just checking….
All other advice is welcome, too. I'm sure I need all the help I can get.
Thanks a bunch.
Update:
Since I'm impatient, I just went for it. Here's the recipe I used:
1 cup water+1 cup sugar+1 tbsp brown sugar+a drop of honey -> syrup
~3 cups water
2.5 tbsp vanilla
~1/8 tsp yeast (I added this in two 1/16 tsp segments, an hour apart, because I made a mistake the first time)
I mixed the syrup while hot with the cold water, let it cool a bit, and added the yeast while it was lukewarm. I gave it a shake or two to mix everything together, and put the whole bottle in a large plastic storage container (wrapped in a towel) to be safe.
Update #2: And I accidentally put double the ingredients in, as the recipe I'd written down was for a 2 liter bottle (duh). Went and tasted it, though, and while it tasted really sugary, it wasn't unbearably so, and there are worse things than too-sugary soda.
1. I bought one of these (not a case, just one) in regular, clear glass, and would like to use it. If I am careful to occasionally release pressure and store the bottle in a safe place (so if it explodes it won't hurt anyone), is carbonating the soda in this an option? I've seen several guides which recommend doing just that with this type of bottle, but I've also read around here that using glass is frowned upon.
If yes, when and how often should I open it and release pressure? If I'm leaving it ~48 hours to carbonate, my thought was that I would open it at the end, before putting it in the fridge, and then a few hours later, after fermentation has slowed.
If no, is it feasible to pour soda made in an old, plastic 2-liter into this for storage? If I did this, and didn't let sediment slip into the glass bottle, would fermentation/carbonation effectively cease? I know that even in the fridge, as long as the yeast is there, the soda will be very slowly fermenting. I'm hoping changing containers will ensure the soda stays non-alcoholic and won't blow up. Even if this isn't worth worrying about, I think it will look better without the sediment, and I don't want the bottle purchase to have been a waste. My concern with doing this, though, is that the soda could lose a lot of its carbonation being funneled into the glass bottle. Is that possible?
2. About how much yeast should I use for a 32 oz bottle? I'm seeing a lot of different numbers for this, but I figured around 1/8 tsp. I don't want to be wrong and blow anything up, or waste all the ingredients on flat sugar-water.
3. My plan was to make a syrup with sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and then combine it with the warm water/yeast. Is this okay?
4. I plan on using grocery store active-dry yeast to start with. No problem, right? Just checking….
All other advice is welcome, too. I'm sure I need all the help I can get.
Thanks a bunch.
Update:
Since I'm impatient, I just went for it. Here's the recipe I used:
1 cup water+1 cup sugar+1 tbsp brown sugar+a drop of honey -> syrup
~3 cups water
2.5 tbsp vanilla
~1/8 tsp yeast (I added this in two 1/16 tsp segments, an hour apart, because I made a mistake the first time)
I mixed the syrup while hot with the cold water, let it cool a bit, and added the yeast while it was lukewarm. I gave it a shake or two to mix everything together, and put the whole bottle in a large plastic storage container (wrapped in a towel) to be safe.
Update #2: And I accidentally put double the ingredients in, as the recipe I'd written down was for a 2 liter bottle (duh). Went and tasted it, though, and while it tasted really sugary, it wasn't unbearably so, and there are worse things than too-sugary soda.
