I was thinking of buying a cheap device to pump air into large bottles of beer that I didn’t finish drinking to keep up the carbonation for another day or so, but the following Amazon reviews of a similar more expensive device got me wondering if it’s a waste of time and money.
The second reviewer, Erik L. Russell, M.D., (click on “See all 14 customer reviews…” and proceed to Page 2) brings up the law of partial pressure to debunk the usefulness of this device. Since the air being pumped into the bottle consists of only approximately 0.04% carbon dioxide (Dr. Erik claims 2%), is he correct that this device won’t be effective? Or will the pressure of any gasses pushing down on the liquid prevent carbon dioxide from escaping?
So long as there’s more CO2 in the beer than in the air, it’ll pass into the air. So long as there’s more oxygen in the air, it’ll pass into the beer. Once you reach equilibrium, it’ll stay the same. The question then becomes, how is your 2-day-old beer better: with more CO2 and oxygen (because you added air under pressure), or less CO2 and less oxygen (adding oxygen to beer, wine, etc. will tend to change the flavor)?
In other words, since air has very little CO2 content, the device doesn’t serve its intended purpose?
I’d rather have a beer that hasn’t gone flat than one that doesn’t have a day’s worth of oxidation (different story with red wine containing lots of tannins, and you’d use a vacuum pump for red wine anyway). But if I’m understanding you correctly, it doesn’t matter, as this type of device won’t help CO2 from escaping the beer.
Slight Hijack - I’ve actually wondered about doing something like this with club soda.
I like club soda and I found out that the store brand two liter bottles that cost $0.65 are just as tasty as the Pellegrino 16 oz bottles that cost $1.00.
The only thing is it takes me about 2 or three days to go through a 2 liter bottle. I usually throw out the bottom 30% or less of the bottle because it will go flat if I try to save it for another day. Due to the price I’m not too concerned but that little voice in my head tells me that if I could save that portion that my trips to the store to restock would be few and farther apart.
So thought about getting one of those little pumps to increase the pressure in the bottle.
Anybody use those on the two liter bottles with any success?
You could always build a kegerator. It’s like one huge friggin’ bottle that takes forever to be used up. Since it’s pumped with CO2, you don’t have to worry about oxygen.
If you could transfer your beer into plastic soda-pop bottles, and look for a carbonation cap, squeeze out the air, and introduce CO2 that way. You can also make your own soda water and soda-pop.
The point of the thread is to determine if this device can work as advertised from a scientific standpoint. Sometimes beverages hold adequate amounts of carbonation due to not much beverage poured, temp of the place it’s stored, etc, and people may think the product was effective when it wasn’t, which is why I started the thread in GQ looking for factual answers.
Nah, just looking for a cheap way to preserve the CO2 in partially full 750 ml bottles of beer.
I’m gettin’ old. And some beers that I love are only available in bigger bottles and have a pretty high ABV, not to mention pretty filling.
It should be mentioned, too, that carbonation isn’t the same thing as fizz, and it’s probably actually fizz that you want. Any dissolved gas will produce fizz, not just CO[sub]2[/sub], and pumping in air will increase the amount of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen.
chances are that the agitation & exposure to more nucleation sites by pouring into a new bottle will result in just as much loss as putting a cap on it at ambient pressure.
I’d consider that a special case, though. I also agree with flex about the CO[sub]2[/sub] tasting different. Ever held dry ice in your mouth? It’s got a fairly distinct flavor, identical to that imparted in sodas.
I doubt it. Imagine when you pour a soda into a glass (or plastic cup) it stays fizzy for awhile, right? If the club soda were poured into, say, three 20 oz bottles, it wouldn’t lose more than 10% of its fizz, a very acceptable amount. The other two bottles wouldn’t lose fizz while the first was being used. The reason being that pouring into a new bottle agitates and exposes once, compared to every single time you’d like a glass.
I’ve bought a cheapy $3 one of these at the grocery store a few years back. If a normal 2 liter soda went flat in about 2 days (on average), using the cheapy pump preserved it to about 3 days instead.
It eventually broke after about 3 months of use, but before the hinge snapped it served it’s purpose pretty well. Extended the shelf life about 50%.
Some of the higher gravity ales in large, thick bottles contain live but dormant yeast. You can buy dextrose (corn sugar) at a homebrew store and add a small amount to the bottle, recap and store at room temperature. This may awaken the yeast which will consume the added sugar and possibly carbonate the bottle.
You may want to ask your question at a hombrewer’s forum, it’s very likely that many of them have encountered similar issues with flat homebrew that needed additional carbonation after it was bottled.
It’s not the stupidest thing I’ve ever done with dry ice. As long as you keep it moving in your mouth it doesn’t hurt, although the CO[sub]2[/sub] can give you a bit of a sore throat.
