Cheap booze in the airlock - What's your brand?

I've been using sanitizer in the airlocks on my bucket fermenters. I'm going to switch to cheap booze.

What's your brand? Why?

Been thinking about doing this myself. I will probably go with some cheap vodka. Not that any very small amount of any spirit will necessarily be evident in your beer (if it somehow got down in there)...but if it was I would think vodka might be the least evident.

I use cheap vodka in all my air locks. Never is a problem.

Albertsons, grocery store brand, Vodka. Under $10 for a 1.75ml bottle.

Cheap vodka works fine...

...but I just use star san

Whatever vodka is $4ish a liter.

Starsan in the airlock won't ruin your beer. If it drops in your beer, the yeast will eat it. It has less flavor than cheap vodka and it's cheaper than cheap vodka. I bet I could dump a pint in your 5 gallon batch and you would never know it happened.

$7/fifth vodka, the cheapest I could find...

Cheers!

Starsan.

Whatever vodka I happen to have around.

Starsan. Its the good stuff

If you use starsan in the airlock and your ferment goes really slow, you will still see the bubbles from the starsan in the airlock. Vodka won't leave you with any record of the bubble that happened just seconds before you started watching.

Cheap vodka works great.

What i was actually looking for is the BRAND of the cheap booze you use, you know, so i can go to the store and not have to compare prices to find the cheapest brand. Yeah, i know, lazy, right?

YNOT2K said:

[...] Yeah, i know, lazy, right?

Click to expand...

Stunningly. Might want to see someone about that

I doubt the rot gut I buy is carried many places. Just ask the clerk what their cheapest is...

Cheers!

Phillips handles for like $8 or $10? Plus it's local! Airlocks use so little of it that it basically lasts forever unless you have to keep refilling the airlocks due to vigorous fermentation. At that point a blowoff tube is in order.

tap water

Kinda hard to compare brands/prices between states. Anything with faux russian labeling and in a bottle that passes the bounce test will likely be cheap and the difference between brands not worth the gas driving to a different liquor store.
That said:
Aristocrat and Popov are what's cheap around here.

Pivovar_Koucky said:

tap water

Click to expand...

+1

It's an air lock. It keeps air out and allows CO2 to escape.

Besides, I ferment in 10 gallon cornies and se a blow off tube...in a container of water...

When I used airlocks (I've moved to blow-off tubes), I used Twenty2 Vodka. Yes, it's $26 for 750mL, but a) I'm friends with the owner and rarely ever pay for it, b) it is a truly neutral spirit and c) even if I have to buy it, I'm supporting a local small business, and in all reality how much do you actually use? MAYBE 1/4 ounce?

Buy good stuff.

I use svedka

Cheapest vodka on the shelf. Figure it costs about four cents per batch.

I'd gladly down a shot of even cheap vodka. Starsan . . . not so much.

For four cents per batch (that's something like $.001 per beer), why would you take the chance of something ending up in your glass that you wouldn't willingly drink?







disclaimer:
If I need a blow-off, I'll use Starsan because more is required. But between having enough head space and good temperature control it's rare.

Grain.

Whatever the cheapest one I can find is - one shot for the airlock and one shot for me! No need to worry about particular brand...

Whatever vodka friends bring to my house and leave in the freezer. I used absolut kurant on a batch of apfelwein once and it tasted kinda good when it was done. Otherwise I use starsan or tap water or whatever is handy. So long as it will not grow hair on its own it is fine with me.

I use star San. On occasion alcool which is 94% alcohol just had it Laying around. When I do edworts apfelwine I use spiced rum or whiskey and almos hope it gets sucked into the mix

I've always just used water. I've been brewing for 22 years and it works fine.

DrunkleJon said:

Whatever vodka friends bring to my house and leave in the freezer. I used absolut kurant on a batch of apfelwein once and it tasted kinda good when it was done. Otherwise I use starsan or tap water or whatever is handy. So long as it will not grow hair on its own it is fine with me.

Click to expand...

so the CO2 bubbling through the vodka left traces of flavor from the apfelwein? or the apfelwein picked up kurant flavors? confused...

YNOT2K said:

so the CO2 bubbling through the vodka left traces of flavor from the apfelwein? or the apfelwein picked up kurant flavors? confused...

Click to expand...

Vodka picked up the cider flavors. It actually was not too bad for stale vodka. Then again. I am not really a vodka fan.

I'd rather drink a pint of starsan than a pint of cheap vodka any day. The acid content is less than a normal soda pop.

Potters vodka for $4 a 375. I always drink it too after racking or kegging, vodka seems to take hop flavors pretty well when brewing a big IPA.

Sheesh - reading this thread is giving me a bad hangover. (Says the guy who used to buy a liter of Bowman's Virginia Vodka for less than $5 in college, and who therefore is VERY familiar with hangovers caused by cheap booze.)

I use Bowman's Virginia Vodka in my airlock when I'm cold crashing. Starsan otherwise. Or tap water if the fermentation is banging away.

It is such a tiny amount, I just use the SWMBO's vodka...the good stuff