Sparkling Wine using Soda Stream!

[ibglowin]

So I picked up a Soda Stream a few weeks back and have been playing with it and picking up different flavors of pop off Amazon. So far so good. I like the pop flavors but Soda Stream is using Sucralose instead of Aspartame so it takes some time to get used to the flavor change from the sweetener. I finally decided to play around and try and make some sparking wine out of still wine. So far I carbed a bottle of my Spanish Vino Blanco as well as my Oregon Pinot Gris. The Vino Blanco was amazing. Tasted exactly like a Vinho Verde. Perfect. The Pinot Gris was good but I may have over carbed it. The CO2 does affect the taste as most of us know and I think here is a perfect example where "less is more". I hit the Vino Blanco with about 3 hits of CO2 and the Pinot Gris with about 5-6 hits. Came out with more fizz but also more metallic taste/bite on the tongue that is not there with the still wine. So this is fun to play with for sure. Works well, and is easy to setup and use. I had to add about 24 marbles to raise the liquid level up to the line as a bottle of wine is only 750ml and you need closer to 900ml to get to the fill line. I have done the research as well to minimize CO2 cost compared to using Soda Stream refills so that was another fun journey. Happy to share.

Pictures of the carbing process and final product below.

Another toy in the winemakers toolbox for sure!

 

[Rmarsh]

I have a Sodastream myself, and never thought of using it this way! I'm curious about the size and consistency of the bubbles, are they large like I get with any other bottle I carbonate with the machine?

 

[JohnT]

Nice Mike! I often wondered how well that would work.

 

[ibglowin]

Carbonation seems to look the same as water. I added the pics just so you could see how it looks in the glass right after the pour.

I'm curious about the size and consistency of the bubbles, are they large like I get with any other bottle I carbonate with the machine?

 

[BernardSmith]

Does wine carbonate in the same way as water? We have the "Play" model and Sodastream strongly advises not to carbonate flavored water but to add flavors after carbonation. Hence my question.

 

[ibglowin]

Pretty much. Soda Stream recommends carbing water only and not anything else because you risk plugging up the tip with dried goop (inside) if your not careful. To be safe just carb some water afterwards and you should have no problems.

 

[BernardSmith]

Pretty much. Soda Stream recommends carbing water only and not anything else because you risk plugging up the tip with dried goop (inside) if your not careful. To be safe just carb some water afterwards and you should have no problems.

Aha! Thanks ibglowin. That makes good sense... I am going to try to carb me some elderflower wine...

 

[BlueStimulator]

That is awesome

 

[thruhike00]

Mike,

Recently purchased a soda stream to try this as well, just haven't had the time. We do a Saturday or Sunday morning get together with the neighbors and have breakfast with all the kids. Typically have a round of mimosas to welcome in the day. Any wine in particular that you would recommend trying to use the soda stream to get close to a sparkling wine that would work to make a drinkable mimosa? Thanks!

 

[JDesCotes]

I have done this for about 5 months now.

A couple of things to note:
1. Most Sodastream models WILL NOT WORK. rule of thumb: if the bottle screws in it should work, if it "clicks in" it won't. The click in models have a safety feature to prevent the unit from blowing up if over pressurized but that just leads to wine exploding everywhere when used. I personally use the Genesis model to great success.

2. DO NOT use any back sweetened wine. Use dry wines only, sugar syrup can be used after carbonation if you like your wine sweeter.

3. Take your time taking it off the Sodastream, I normally take between 3-5 minutes after carbonation to slowly let off the pressure. If you don't, it will fizz everywhere and cause a huge mess.

Edit: unsweetened skeeterpee works GREAT for mimosas

 

[terrymck]

Why can't you lengthen the tip of the S/S and eliminate the marbles?

 

[ibglowin]

You probably could with the right type of tubing as long as it didn't blow it off. I simply used what I already had on hand to quickly fix the problem and try it out.

 

[ibglowin]

I would think any dry white wine would work just fine for a mimosa since your adding OJ with sugar to it afterwards. I don't see any issues carbing an off dry wine along as you immediately clear the unit by carbing some water afterwards.

I purchased mine from Amazon and got an "old school" designed one in which the bottles screw in to the holder, no "carbonation lights" etc.

Mike,

Recently purchased a soda stream to try this as well, just haven't had the time. We do a Saturday or Sunday morning get together with the neighbors and have breakfast with all the kids. Typically have a round of mimosas to welcome in the day. Any wine in particular that you would recommend trying to use the soda stream to get close to a sparkling wine that would work to make a drinkable mimosa? Thanks!

 

[bkisel]

Very inventive! Talk about thinking outside the box.

 

[MilesDavis]

Fun. Since I both keg beer and weld, I have CO2 cylinders around. I bought one of those carbonator caps. Carbonate damn near everything I can find. Fizzy strawberry wine rocks.

 

[Boatboy24]

Mike: Do you plan on carbing and bottling, or just when the mood strikes?

 

[Runningwolf]

Mike thanks for posting, I am a fan of Soda Stream. I've been using it for about two years now at work.I use it for bench trials when I want to make a sparkling wine and see what it might turn out like. I respectfully disagree with a previous poster about carbing a back sweetened wine. I do it all the time. Silly me though I never keep notes on how many pumps to give it. Yes, I've had a few very messy episodes. I am actually thinking about getting one for at home also. This would be a great addition to anyone doing Skeeter Pee, DB or Island Mist kits.

 

[ibglowin]

I will just bottle as normal dry or off dry and then carb when the mood strikes me. If you carb and then bottle you risk the corks a popping unless you use Champagne corks and a cage.

I carbed an off dry Oregon Pinot Gris yesterday and didn't do anything except wipe down the tube. Today at lunch I made a liter of Diet Cola and it was not plugged.

There are videos where people are hitting still wine with like 13-15 shots of CO2. That makes for lots of fizz and bubbles but also a higher probability of a volcano if you don't release the pressure in multiple step downs.

Caveat Emptor!

Mike: Do you plan on carbing and bottling, or just when the mood strikes?

 

[Jericurl]

I can't believe I missed this thread!

I'm not wanting to really invest in a whole keg/carbonating setup, so a Soda Stream would work well for us.

Do you guys think I could use this to carb meads and then bottle them in the 500ml flip top bottles?

 

[ibglowin]

Should work as long as the flip top seals I would guess. The wine/mead should be clear obviously and make sure to clean the tip after use with a wet rag so the wine/mead doesn't dry and plug up the tip at the end. Make sure to get one of the older systems like this one from Amazon:

Soda Stream

After this model Soda Stream started to produce machines that were increasingly harder and harder to "hack" to use "alternate" sources of CO2. This model will allow you to use a paint ball CO2 canister which can be refilled for a few dollars and last much longer than the standard Soda Stream CO2 canisters.