Very strange phenomenon in airlock???

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BadgerBrigade

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So I've been adding Raki To my airlock... It is a 90 proof distilled natural spirit ... Like Garapa, Anyways I just kind of topped it up (my airlock) And all of a sudden the top part of the liquid became very hazy and cloudy much like smoke?
I know it has absolutely nothing to do with the liquor, But what the heck happened?

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This YouTube video gives you a real good viewing of what's going on...
 
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dilution with water turns raki a milky white - oils in spirit
fermentation produces c02 with h20 condensation
condensation moves through airlock, mixes with raki, you get milky white liquid
it's the top half because that's where the slots are located on the inner, upside-down airlock cup - the lower half of the liquid remains mostly undisturbed
 
stpug said:
dilution with water turns raki a milky white - oils in spirit
fermentation produces c02 with h20 condensation
condensation moves through airlock, mixes with raki, you get milky white liquid
it's the top half because that's where the slots are located on the inner, upside-down airlock cup - the lower half of the liquid remains mostly undisturbed

Thank you stpug.... It's a really strange looking reaction. Looks like liquid smoke
 
stpug said:
dilution with water turns raki a milky white - oils in spirit
fermentation produces c02 with h20 condensation
condensation moves through airlock, mixes with raki, you get milky white liquid
it's the top half because that's where the slots are located on the inner, upside-down airlock cup - the lower half of the liquid remains mostly undisturbed

Is it still going to be sterile?
 
Yes, certainly, at least until it evaporates... I still recommend Star San - lots cheaper.
 
Same thing happens if you add water to Absynthe (hence the Green Fairy effect) or Liquors like unfiltered straight from the still single malt Aberlour Scotch. It's oils and other things that may either be added to or not filtered out of the product.

bosco
 
It's probably the same reason why dry ice (frozen C02) fogs up. The carbon dioxide forms microdroplets with a liquid, in most cases water. Im assuming that if you use a high % alcohol in the airlock, the vapor will much more readily form a mist due to its higher vapor pressure.
 
I use cheap grocery store vodka in my airlocks,& no misty stuff. And it doesn't foam out the lil holes in the airlock cap like starsan does.
Doesn't evaporate very fast at all,especially this time of year.:mug:
 
I've used filtered tap water for 15 years without any problems. Evaporation is relatively slow.
I've recently tried vodka with no problems. Evaporation is a lot faster than water.
I've used distilled water recently also with no problems. Evaporation is relatively slow.
I've had all drip backwards into my brews without any ill effects, then again I believe that I have pretty good tap water in my area.

For years I was disheartened by the occasional suction of my airlock contents into my beer. I now know that the wort needs to be below room temperature before going to fermenter and pitching yeast so that as the wort warms up a little the pressure pushes out, rather than the wort cooling a little bit to room temperature and suctioning into the fermenter. I also make sure to add room temp water to the airlock for the same reason.

Better yet, S-lock airlock are my favorite if you're not limited vertically. Fill about 1/3 way to max fill line and never a worry if it ever suctions (and it does when it goes in a fridge to crash cool).
 
I would think twice about using a strongly flavored liquor like Raki in your airlock, unless you like your beer tasting like anise.
 
jerrodm said:
I would think twice about using a strongly flavored liquor like Raki in your airlock, unless you like your beer tasting like anise.

Why is a few drops of suck back going to affect my 6 gallons of brew?
 
Raki is, as I'm sure you know, heavily anise flavored. If you've got an ounce or two of it in your airlock, the whole thing could easily get sucked back into your fermenter, and I wouldn't be surprised if that affected your beer's flavor.

To my mind it makes more sense to use an unflavored spirit like vodka. You can buy a relatively cheap bottle of it and use that, that way it won't impact your flavor profile if it gets sucked back in.

Just my .02
 
jerrodm said:
Raki is, as I'm sure you know, heavily anise flavored. If you've got an ounce or two of it in your airlock, the whole thing could easily get sucked back into your fermenter, and I wouldn't be surprised if that affected your beer's flavor.

To my mind it makes more sense to use an unflavored spirit like vodka. You can buy a relatively cheap bottle of it and use that, that way it won't impact your flavor profile if it gets sucked back in.

Just my .02

Okay, you won me over with your argument....
No more Roki for me, I will use vodka from now on :)
 
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