Airlock question

What air locks are you guys having success with? What do you use for the fluid? I've read that water is fine, but a lot of folks I know use vodka also. I'd rather not use vodka because of the smell (you guessed it, I had a bad experience with it once).

Is water ok to use?

I use starsan in my 3 piece airlocks. I always have a bunch around when I'm brewing, and if some gets sucked back into the primary it wont affect the beer.

I use whatever bottle of the cheap stuff is closest. vodka, jack daniels, soco...

I use three peice air lock on my carboys. They are great because they are easy to use and you can take them apart to clean/sterilize them.

As for the fluid in the air lock I have used vodka or water, typically just use clean water. I think your biggest concern here would really just keeping everything relatively clean/sterile and you really will not have any problems with contamination.

However, I do have a dopplebock and a maibock lagering in my garage right now... I was out of vodka, so I used some 151 that was in the cabinet. My concern was if the temps did drop enough out there that the air lock would not freeze...seems to be working fine.

What do you mean by "success?" The only thing that an airlock does successfully is to vent excess co2 so you don't paint the ceiling with your beer.

It's a vent, a valve to bleed off excess co2, it's not a fermentation gauge, it works "successfully" if you don't have an explosion....NOT if it bubbles or not.

Beers ferment no matter if the airlock bubbles or not.

Many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

So all airlocks work, as does blowoff tubes, or using plexiglass, or tinfoil, or saran wrap, or just setting the lid on loosely.

I have both kinds. I use the 3-piece generally, but I switch with a bubbler whenever I think the wort or beer might cool down and suck the liquid into the fermenter. Like when cold crashing.

I normally use vodka in mine if I have it. If not, starsan, or water. Starsan is nice because if it gets sucked in, it won't harm the beer. Water could potentially have some bacteria in it.

Homercidal said:

I have both kinds. I use the 3-piece generally, but I switch with a bubbler whenever I think the wort or beer might cool down and suck the liquid into the fermenter. Like when cold crashing.

I normally use vodka in mine if I have it. If not, starsan, or water. Starsan is nice because if it gets sucked in, it won't harm the beer. Water could potentially have some bacteria in it.

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+1 But recently I have been using carboy caps on my secondaries during the long lagering period without an air lock. I leave the small caps on the carboy cap figuring that as the beer cools it will contract and create some suction on the cap, but so what.

I do use the three piece air locks during primary fermentation. I monitor the air lock activity and this gives me a feel for how the ferment is progressing. This is blasphemy in some odd quarters, but it works for me. No need to fear the air lock.

Revvy said:

What do you mean by "success?" The only thing that an airlock does successfully is to vent excess co2 so you don't paint the ceiling with your beer.

It's a vent, a valve to bleed off excess co2, it's not a fermentation gauge, it works "successfully" if you don't have an explosion....NOT if it bubbles or not.

Beers ferment no matter if the airlock bubbles or not.

Many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

So all airlocks work, as does blowoff tubes, or using plexiglass, or tinfoil, or saran wrap, or just setting the lid on loosely.

Click to expand...

Pretty sure I wasn't asking if it was a good gauge or not. I just wanted more information on the types of airlocks and the fluid contained within. But thanks for the pointed and generally annoyed tone of information anyway. I posted this in the beginners section not because I'm totally green, but it seemed like a basic question that may come up.

To the rest of you:
Thanks for the responses.
I'd not thought of using star san in the airlock before. Excellent. Now I won't worry about buying vodka.

There was no annoyed tone. Actually about 20-30 times a day a new brewer comes on here in a state of panic because for whatever reason, whether it's because fermentation hasn't started, or fermentation has wound down, OR co2 is leaking out the side, or it's simply not producing enough co2 to bubble.

Brand new brewers have actually dumped out batches because their airlock didn't bubble, even when there was a krausen present.

So when you asked a question phrasing it as "success" I simply posted an answer that I post several times a day, an one that most new brewers actually don't know, too many new brewers put too much stock in them.

You didn't ask "Hey, what's your favorite type of airlock, gang?" You phrased it as "What kind of airlock works?" (That is implied by the word "success," to me.) And the answer is, they all work, but not using one works justas well.

I wasn't being sarcastic, or whatever you may think. I don't know what you know about brewing from adam. For all I know, you ARE one of those brewers who actually believes that an airlock is some sort of magic gauge.

All I know is you asked a question and I tried to give you some information, like I do everyone.

One problem I would like to solve with my airlocks is for long term aging of sour beers. During temperature changes I've seen the airlock reverse direction. I could solve this with a long hose into a deep glass of water, but I like the small plastic airlocks on top of the carboy with the plastic caps with the holes in them. They are less likely to knock over. Maybe the solution is simply to have less airpace in my carboy.

My standard is the 3 piece with vodka, but I've used plain water and iodophor water in the airlock, too. After having one plugged and expeciencing an exploding primary twice in a day, I now use a blowoff tube on all beers for the first week. I know that's probably a bit much, but I don't like cleaning ceilings.

wetherel said:

One problem I would like to solve with my airlocks is for long term aging of sour beers. During temperature changes I've seen the airlock reverse direction. I could solve this with a long hose into a deep glass of water, but I like the small plastic airlocks on top of the carboy with the plastic caps with the holes in them. They are less likely to knock over. Maybe the solution is simply to have less airpace in my carboy.

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I have some but never used the 3 piece airlocks however the two-chamber one-piece airlocks should be fine in this capacity. If you fill the airlock so a little less than half per side is filled, no matter which way the air is flowing none of the liquid should be sucked in or blown out!

If using alcohol or other "sanitizing" agent that won't mess up your beer all should be well as long as you check the fluid level once in a while!

At least that is my humble opinion!

Keep brewing!