10% bleach in airlock?

[maboitan]

i keep reading how everyone uses vodka is their airlocks, i used 10%-ish bleach. then i read about suck back during fermentation. i was under the impression that co2 would prevent any suck back of the liquid in the airlock. should i not be using bleach in my airlock? 10% isnt very concentrated and i do have 5 gallons of beer, so i doin't think a drop would ruin the batch (or kill me when i drink it), btu just curious as to what you thought. when does suck back occur?

 

[EdWort]

Would you rather have bleach sucked back into your beer or cheap vodka?

Vodka will not cause any problems. Bleach can cause the bandaid like phenolics.

I would not risk it

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

vodka ist better

 

[truckmann]

Suckback can occur before fermentation starts when the wort is still cooling. I use vodka or some starsan solution. Neither will hurt the beer like chlorine.

 

[B-Dub]

vodka is the way to go man!!

 

[ChshreCat]

And when your ready to rack, you get to shoot down the contents of your airlock.

 

[MashStirBrew]

when does suck back occur?

It seems to get me when I take the airlock off.

 

[Orfy]

I've never used anything but water.

 

[Loweface]

+1 on just plain water...

 

[Danek]

I use cheap vodka, though I'm sure water would do fine too. But for me, I'd say bleach is a no-no - it's easy enough for a little liquid to fall into (or get sucked into) the beer, so I'd never put anything in my airlock that I wouldn't be prepared to drink.

 

[bluefoxicy]

Someone in the sanitization thread said I could use Star San in the airlock. This interested me because it breaks down in beer, and becomes yeast nutrient. You actually want that in your beer (though I wouldn't recommend dumping Star San into your beer on purpose!), so it makes sense to use it where you're worried about sanitizer getting into your beer...

 

[the_bird]

Water or star-san. Usually water. Don't use anything you wouldn't want to drink accidentally, so no bleach, and I'd probably avoid idophor-water as well.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Apart from all the beer related issues, there is a pretty strong safety reason for not using bleach. It would be way to easy to splash bleach in your eyes when removing the lid or the air lock......And it could ruin my armani brewing suit too.

 

[Mutilated1]

I've never used anything but water.

me either - its totally unnecessary as long as you don't do something stupid like pick the carboy up with the air lock attached nothing is going to go in

 

[ksuflash]

vodka for me.

 

[WortMonger]

Who needs a stinking airlock anyways? lol

 

[Willy Boner]

My SWMBO banned me from bleach a long time ago, she is also my laundress. I use Starsan but the vodka sounds good too. I just seem to drink the vodka before I can utilize it.

 

[Donasay]

I use star san as cheap vodka is often split between me and the airlock usually it goes about 50 / 50. Half makes it into the airlock, half makes it into my stomach via screwdrivers.

 

[mmb]

I cut cheap vodka 50/50 with water.

Never had an issue and the vodka will keep anything funky from growing in the water.

 

[zoebisch01]

Yeah, I use some StarSan sometimes. However, I have had moldy airlocks and never had a problem. True story.

 

[bsay]

Just don't confuse the Star San and vodka if you're going to shoot it when you pull the airlock. I use Star San, works great.