If you drink as much sparkling water as I do, you may have become very tired of lugging 2 liter bottles home from the store, and recycling an unending stream of bottles and cans.
After some research, I settled on following this very well detailed set of instructions from The Taste of Artisan – scroll down to The Kegorator. https://tasteofartisan.com/how-to-make-carbonated-water/ I chose to use two kegs for a constant supply, a 20 lb CO2 tank for less frequent trips to the beer store for replacement full tanks, and a dual pressure regulator to charge the second tank at a different pressure than I am dispensing from the primary. I find it charges fast enough to keep up with the amount of water I drink. I do need to disconnect my water hose from one to the other when switching but as I need to disconnect the CO2 hose to refill from the tap, it is no real hardship.
Amazon shopping list
I didn’t need the extra swivel nuts as the other parts came with those pieces. I don’t mind having the back up parts though. If you buy a 20lb CO2 tank, you may need to get it replaced for a full tank instead of having it filled so if you can find a used one locally for cheaper, I would go that route. 5 and 10lb tanks are much easier filled (at least in the Portland, OR area). Check your local brew stores and welding supply stores.
- Danby DAR044A5BSLDD Compact Refrigerator, Spotless Steel Door, 4.4 Cubic Feet
- Two New AEB 5 Gallon Ball Lock Kegs – Single Handle + Free O-Ring Kit
- Cyl-Tec 20 lb CO2 Tank – Aluminum Cylinder with CGA320 Valve and Carry Handle (see note about buying used)
- Kegco DT1F-630SS Single Tap Stainless Steel Beer Tower with Perlick 630SS Stainless Faucet
- MOD Complete MDC99007 CO2 Beer Regulator Dual Pressure Kegerator Heavy Duty Features T-Style Adjusting Handle – 0 to 60 PSI-0-3000 Tank Pressure CGA-320 Inlet w/ 3/8″ O.D. Safety Discharge 50-55 PSI
- CMB BLC Ball Lock Home Brew Keg Tap Complete Set
- Barbed Swivel Nut, 1/4″ Flare, 5/16″ Barb
- Barbed Swivel Nut, 3/16″ ID
Hardware store list
- 1/4 inch ID gas hose long enough to go between the CO2 tank regulator and the kegs inside the fridge
- 5 or more hose clamps
Rough steps
This was pretty straightforward but make sure to read through the Taste of Artisan page a few times! If you use the fridge and kegs I linked to above, you will need to saw off the shelf supports. I used aluminum tape to cover up the exposed styrofoam. The door shelves will also need removing and to make that easier, I removed the whole door and cut them off before covering the whole inside in more aluminum tape. Duck tape would probably suffice.
Drill a hole in the bottom being careful to avoid the compressor or any other important parts. Drill a hole big enough to pull the hose from the tap tower through – at least 1/2 an inch – in the top. I would recommend starting with a pilot hole and verifying the location is correct. Drill closer to the light than you think or you may be hitting the chill plate at the back.
Feed the CO2 hoses through the hole in the back/bottom and make sure they’re long enough to reach the tops of the kegs. Use the hose clamps to attach the quick connects to the hoses inside the keg and to connect the hoses to the regulator. If there is a connector on the tower’s liquid hose line, snip it off and use another hose clamp to connect the last quick connect. My water hose is too long (as you can see in the photo above) and I intend to shorten it soon so take that into consideration before clamping it.
Fill the kegs with water and charge them at ~30 PSI. After a couple of days they should be ready to dispense. Turn your dispensing keg’s regulator down to ~5 PSI. Rinse repeat! Then maybe change out your keg handle to something more fun! 🙂
Beth Case Scenario 