I'm trying to understand why some of you guys go out and purchase crappy (or good) alcohol to put in your air locks? I've always just filled the airlock with my sanitizer (iodaphor and water) that was in the carboy right before it was filled (it gets dumped into my 6 gal ale pail before being filled, so even easier access to it). I have (knock on wood) not had a single problem with this in 10+ years. I guess I'm trying to figure out why you would spend money on something else, when you'd most likely already have the sanitizer on hand during a normal brew day.
Air Lock liquid - why the alcohol??
- Thread starter dfess1
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
samc
Well-Known Member
They are preparing for "suck-back", where the solution due to temp changes gets pulled into the beer. Figuring that it would taste better to have a bit of Vodka in the beer.
Well, speaking as someone who fills his airlock with Star-San, there is an argument for using booze.
Plain tap water *could* have contaminants in it.
StarSan *might* stop being an effective sanitizer, if the pH rises. In that case, it's basically tap water.
Iodophor; I wouldn't really want to get that in my beer.
Cheap booze, you eliminate any of those downsides. As I said, though, I've never bothered with anything other than my StarSan or tap water, because I figure the actual risk of infection is minimal. Plus, I don't want to waste the coin on even cheap booze.
EDIT: And yeah, suck-back's the issue. It's more of an issue, I find, with Better Bottles, which have (obviously) a lot more flex than glass carboys. Temp changes can cause suck-back, but moving around plastic carboys (even carefully) can cause some suckback as well.
Plain tap water *could* have contaminants in it.
StarSan *might* stop being an effective sanitizer, if the pH rises. In that case, it's basically tap water.
Iodophor; I wouldn't really want to get that in my beer.
Cheap booze, you eliminate any of those downsides. As I said, though, I've never bothered with anything other than my StarSan or tap water, because I figure the actual risk of infection is minimal. Plus, I don't want to waste the coin on even cheap booze.
EDIT: And yeah, suck-back's the issue. It's more of an issue, I find, with Better Bottles, which have (obviously) a lot more flex than glass carboys. Temp changes can cause suck-back, but moving around plastic carboys (even carefully) can cause some suckback as well.
You know, this is a little off topic but when the pH of StarSan changes so much that it loses effectiveness, does that basically mean it no longer meets FDA standards of sanitization or that it is essentially as good as tap water? What I mean is that even if the pH is 3.1 and technically the StarSan isn't effective, wouldn't it still be partially effective and safer than tap water?
Bob_T
Active Member
I've been using Scotch....
My Dad drank Scotch and over the years we ended up with a few bottles...
And since we don't drink Scotch...why not use it?
It smells good when I open the freezer and if it does suck back, I like a nice Scotch Ale...
My Dad drank Scotch and over the years we ended up with a few bottles...
And since we don't drink Scotch...why not use it?
It smells good when I open the freezer and if it does suck back, I like a nice Scotch Ale...
I've had the contents of my airlock sucked back into my beer. Granted, it was when I was a novice homebrewer and I didn't have the temp controls I have now. But, I always have extra vodka or scotch on hand, so I just use a little for the airlock as an added precaution. Probably don't need to, just habit. Hasn't actually happened in years.
Clann
Well-Known Member
Suckback is not an issue with s-shaped airlocks
dfess1
Well-Known Member
yes. Actually just did it for the first time. Again, didn't see a problem with it. :shrug:
Uh, yes it is. All three of my fermenters have S shaped airlocks and, being plastic, if I don't remove the airlock when I transport them to the kitchen for bottling day they suck the entire airlock contents in. So, I remove the airlock when moving them. Plastic flexes so the issue if more prevalent to plastic fermenters.
Rev.
Lucky_Chicken
Well-Known Member
I've been using Scotch....
My Dad drank Scotch and over the years we ended up with a few bottles...
And since we don't drink Scotch...why not use it?
It smells good when I open the freezer and if it does suck back, I like a nice Scotch Ale...
If you have extra Scotch, I have an outlet for it! I'll even trade you for cheap vodka 
Clann
Well-Known Member
I assume you use Better Bottles? If so you need to invest in some milk crates to transport your fermenters to the kitchen. No more suckback issues
Why would you even go out and purchase an airlock? I'm sure you most likely have some plastic and rubber bands. Or some foil.
Why not just use a blowoff tube from start to finish. My glass carboy is on a 2 foot stand so I can rack with out moving it and I have a 1 inch hose go from top of carboy to bottom of a 5 gallon plastic water bottle half full with starsan. I can't see how it could build a strong enough vacuum to suck water 5 feet to top of carboy up a 1 inch vinyl tube
dfess1
Well-Known Member
i use 6.5 gal carboys for my primaries, with a blow-off tube, then (oh the horror) rack to a 5 gal secondary glass carboy, and use an airlock on it. Again, filled with sanitizer, and (knock on wood) have never had an issue.
I think it's like anything else, there's people willing to take the extra step to rule out a variable to not have to worry about it, and those that won't worry about it to begin with.
A large bottle of cheap vodka is only a few bucks, and will last a long, long time (as long as you don't like drinking cheap vodka).
A large bottle of cheap vodka is only a few bucks, and will last a long, long time (as long as you don't like drinking cheap vodka
).I assume you use Better Bottles? If so you need to invest in some milk crates to transport your fermenters to the kitchen. No more suckback issues
No, I use Cooper's fermenters, not my pic but this one:
Rev.
Similar threads
