DIY CO2 newbie support group

connor_09 said:

I have all the equipment ready to be set up for a DIY system, thats not the problem its the recipe I'm worried about...

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I've read a million recipes and only done the one. I think if you are talking about a larger tank like mine it's not so much the recipe you need to worry about as the number of bottles.

As far as the recipe goes, the critical step (I think) seems to be making sure you activate the yeast first. The recipe I posted a few pages back is close to what I did the first time, though I used less yeast then, but here it is with extra info:

activate yeast:
1/4 cup hot water (105 - 115 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon sugar (for yeast activation)
3/4 teaspoon yeast

heat water to 105 degrees f, stir in sugar. Dump 3/4 teaspoon yeast into spinning mixture.

main mixture:
2 cups sugar (for main mixture)
? warm water (to fill bottle to shoulder)
1 teaspoon? baking soda

once yeast is activated, poor sugar and 2 cups water mixture into bottle. Or poor them separately and mix them in the bottle. Once that mixed, and with the water not too hot, add yeast mixture from above. Then add baking soda. Then fill the rest of the bottle with warm water, up to the bottle's shoulder (leave some space.)

That's my best guesstimate on a good procedure, and how I'll be doing it this next time.

James0816 said:

Here's how I wake up my little yeastie friends:

- Place 1 tsp sugar in a measuring cup
- Run hot water for a couple minutes to be sure to get the hot stuff. I don't take temp readings anymore but it is over 100 from the tap.
- Fill measuring cup with 1 cup hot water
- Stir until sugar is dissolved
- Add 1/4 tsp yeast (usually try to do this right after stirring to keep the water moving)
- Let sit for 15 minutes

That's it.

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Thanks I was hoping you'd chime in. Aside from the amount of yeast, that's what I'll be doing. Now I'm wondering though if I'm going for too much yeast. Hmmm.

James0816 said:

The more yeast you use, will just cause the mix to burn up faster as they will reproduce quicker quickly consuming the sugars.

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Right, and I think since I'm doing two bottles this time instead of one I'm going to reduce that yeast amount to 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon, so the only variable I'd really be changing is the number of bottles.