Air Locks: StarSan or Vodka for aging?

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Using vodka in my air locks for long-term aging of wines rather than StarSan was the norm, but now that I am learning about aging beers I questioned whether either one of these liquids lose their effectiveness as they began to evaporate from the air lock over time. The answer for one of them turned out to be "Yes"

The evaporation rate on the vodka quickly outpaced the StarSan during the 1st week, but then they pretty much equaled out and started to evaporate at the same rate. I didn't realize it at the time but that was the "ethanol" portion of the vodka disappearing, leaving mainly just water which offers no sanitation properties at all.

Here is the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/6XahERny5hE

Cheers !

 

[Stillraining]

Cool...I have used star-san from day one...I'm too cheap to waste Vodka .

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

Starsan also turns opaque when it gets too old, which is a handy indicator.

 

[bja]

I never understood why anyone would use vodka.

 

[WAORGANY]

I use Vodka for all air locks, something that I learned at a winery it is standard for their industry, they use it for sanitation and airlocks, and cheap Vodka is less expensive than StarSan

 

[bja]

I use Vodka for all air locks, something that I learned at a winery it is standard for their industry, they use it for sanitation and airlocks, and cheap Vodka is less expensive than StarSan

And the alcohol evaporates quickly and leaves you with only water.

 

[augiedoggy]

Starsan turns cloudy and from what I've read is then is no longer effective after a few days when used in an airlock...

Ironically I just dealt with my first infected beer and it was a result of the starsan in the airlock not doing its job...
I know the beer was fine when I put it in my conical but got infected after I drew some yeast from the bottom to use in a starter for another beer (Which did not get infected btw) whien doing this is sucked some star san into the conical through the airlock... since my valves had been taken apart and cleaned and sanitized there is a strong chance it was the airlock which allowed the infection in with the starsan water.

The next time I try it I will use RO water for the starsan mix.

 

[DarkStarNJ]

Starsan turns cloudy and from what I've read is then is no longer effective after a few days when used in an airlock...

Ironically I just dealt with my first infected beer and it was a result of the starsan in the airlock not doing its job...
I know the beer was fine when I put it in my conical but got infected after I drew some yeast from the bottom to use in a starter for another beer (Which did not get infected btw) whien doing this is sucked some star san into the conical through the airlock... since my valves had been taken apart and cleaned and sanitized there is a strong chance it was the airlock which allowed the infection in with the starsan water.

The next time I try it I will use RO water for the starsan mix.

I use Distilled water to mix up star san and it stays clear for months. When i used my tap it would get cloudy almost instantly.

I suspect you will see good results from the RO but have never tried it.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use Distilled water to mix up star san and it stays clear for months. When i used my tap it would get cloudy almost instantly.

I suspect you will see good results from the RO but have never tried it.

I use RO water for my spray bottle and it also stays clear for months but I believe the fact that its in a bottle has a lot to do with this too... an airlock is constantly seeing different gases passing through it and exposure to air...

In any case its something for me to try and see if it in fact helps.

I have plenty of cheap vodka which I've ran through a brita water filter a few times to make it taste like expensive vodka (really works well) so I hate wasting it myself even though I dont drink the stuff.

 

[bja]

I use RO water for my spray bottle and it also stays clear for months but I believe the fact that its in a bottle has a lot to do with this too... an airlock is constantly seeing different gases passing through it and exposure to air...

In any case its something for me to try and see if it in fact helps.

Like was posted, if you use RO water it stays clear for at least months. I've never had it go cloudy, even in air locks.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for the experiment Jim.

Using vodka in my air locks for long-term aging of wines rather than StarSan was the norm, but now that I am learning about aging beers I questioned whether either one of these liquids lose their effectiveness as they began to evaporate from the air lock over time. The answer for one of them turned out to be "Yes"

The evaporation rate on the vodka quickly outpaced the StarSan during the 1st week, but then they pretty much equaled out and started to evaporate at the same rate. I didn't realize it at the time but that was the "ethanol" portion of the vodka disappearing, leaving mainly just water which offers no sanitation properties at all.

Here is the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/6XahERny5hE

Cheers !

 

[augiedoggy]

Like was posted, if you use RO water it stays clear for at least months. I've never had it go cloudy, even in air locks.

ok I'll give it a shot , thanks.

 

[bob1852]

The pH of a Star San solution tells you if it's effective as sanitizer, not the cloudiness....

 

[augiedoggy]

The pH of a Star San solution tells you if it's effective as sanitizer, not the cloudiness....

But from what Ive read when it starts out clear and eventually turns cloudy later the ph has in fact gone up at that point making it a good visual indicator that its gone weak in most cases?

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I use Vodka for all air locks, something that I learned at a winery it is standard for their industry, they use it for sanitation and airlocks, and cheap Vodka is less expensive than StarSan

When 1 oz of Starsan makes 5 gallons of solution, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than a $6 bottle (750ml) of vodka.

 

[Spartan1979]

Anybody else just use water in their airlocks? That's all I've used for 25 years without an issue.

 

[Kee]

Anybody else just use water in their airlocks? That's all I've used for 25 years without an issue.

The first few days of primary I often just put a piece of aluminum foil over the carboy neck.

 

[PGEduardo]

The first few days of primary I often just put a piece of aluminum foil over the carboy neck.

I've always done this - never an infection. Once or twice I left it (within a ferm. chamber) all the way through primary fermentation... :rockin:


For aging - I would personally just use a solid plug. As long as FG is reached, I don't foresee a huge swing in pressures...

 

[Kampenken]

...Ironically I just dealt with my first infected beer and it was a result of the starsan in the airlock not doing its job...
I know the beer was fine when I put it in my conical but got infected after I drew some yeast from the bottom to use in a starter for another beer (Which did not get infected btw) whien doing this is sucked some star san into the conical through the airlock... since my valves had been taken apart and cleaned and sanitized there is a strong chance it was the airlock which allowed the infection in with the starsan water....

It wasn't the Star San's fault, it was Yours for not pulling off the airlock!! (something all of us conical owners I suspect do at least once!)

 

[augiedoggy]

It wasn't the Star San's fault, it was Yours for not pulling off the airlock!! (something all of us conical owners I suspect do at least once!)

I had read here that it wasn't needed with the S style airlocks but yeah I could have pulled the airlock but I figured why introduce more air than I need to? I use a long blowoff tube hose on my older conical and this has never been an issue before.. Honestly with my carboys I always used plain water as mentioned and used starsan with the conicals thinking I was being extra careful..

 

[Raenon]

When 1 oz of Starsan makes 5 gallons of solution, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than a $6 bottle (750ml) of vodka.

This, so much This.
I honestly think some people believe Star-San is meant to be used straight out of the bottle, otherwise there is just no way that math works out.

 

[Kampenken]

Sounds like bad advice on the S lock (I use the 3 piece so wouldn't know). I don't know when I exactly switched over to Star San in the airlock, always have enough around so no big deal, but I too used to use water and wasn't ever concerned.

 

[Kampenken]

This, so much This.
I honestly think some people believe Star-San is meant to be used straight out of the bottle, otherwise there is just no way that math works out.

Yeah King beat me to it when I was reading this thread. C'mon man, Star San is not that expensive given the dilution factor! I do buy mine in the family size!

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Thanks for the experiment Jim.

Thanks passedpawn!

To be honest I never gave it much thought that the vodka level in my air locks that I was using to age wines was actually no longer vodka at all.

It had simply turned into water that I was topping off each month with more vodka.

Is this a big deal with ales and lagers that quickly ferment down within weeks? Probably not because even with StarSan you are topping off the air lock with more fresh liquid (or vodka) pretty frequently.

But I'm currently learning how to brew and age sour beers and oak aged beers. These have a much lower ABV compared to wine and they may not be able to fight off an infection if ambient air is passing through the air lock in both directions due to temperature changes within the room.

So I'm not taking any chances. The only place for vodka in my house from now on is on the rocks!

Cheers

 

[ChuckO]

Years ago I used vodka in an air lock for long term wine aging. I kept topping it up as it evaporated until I finally noticed that the plastic of the air lock was turning soft and actually bent in my hand when I removed the cover. I don't know what type of plastic it was, but I replaced it and switched to water from then on. Started using StarSan recently.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks passedpawn!

To be honest I never gave it much thought that the vodka level in my air locks that I was using to age wines was actually no longer vodka at all.

It had simply turned into water that I was topping off each month with more vodka.

Is this a big deal with ales and lagers that quickly ferment down within weeks? Probably not because even with StarSan you are topping off the air lock with more fresh liquid (or vodka) pretty frequently.

But I'm currently learning how to brew and age sour beers and oak aged beers. These have a much lower ABV compared to wine and they may not be able to fight off an infection if ambient air is passing through the air lock in both directions due to temperature changes within the room.

So I'm not taking any chances. The only place for vodka in my house from now on is on the rocks!

Cheers

See I find I often dont have to top off my airlocks at all. once in a while yes but never more than once... I wonder why? Maybe its drier where your using them? I do take care to not over fill them. I also do most of my brewing in the colder months.

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Years ago I used vodka in an air lock for long term wine aging. I kept topping it up as it evaporated until I finally noticed that the plastic of the air lock was turning soft and actually bent in my hand when I removed the cover. I don't know what type of plastic it was, but I replaced it and switched to water from then on. Started using StarSan recently.

That is an incredible piece of info / observation Chuck

Thanks for adding your own supporting evidence to something that I should have notice sooner.

Cheers

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

See I find I often dont have to top off my airlocks at all. once in a while yes but never more than once... I wonder why? Maybe its drier where your using them?

Great question Augiedoggy,

Are you talking about not having to normally top off your fermenter air locks after "weeks" or "months" ?

NY has a balance of humid weather and is somewhat arid / dry during the winter.

I'm really not sure at what point the apparent fluid level in my air locks for long term storage was no longer vodka and simply turned into the remaining "water component" of the Absolute.

Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

Great question Augiedoggy,

Are you talking about not having to normally top off your fermenter air locks after "weeks" or "months" ?

NY has a balance of humid weather and is somewhat arid / dry during the winter.

I'm really not sure at what point the apparent fluid level in my air locks for long term storage was no longer vodka and simply turned into the remaining "water component" of the Absolute.

Cheers

Normally only weeks.
But its funny you say that because I have a 5 gallon glass carboy full of brown ale which I imagine is no good because the other half of the original 10 gallon batch was slightly scorched from a failed rims experiment...Anyway its been sitting in the carboy under an S type airlock and I have only added water twice in almost a year its been sitting... the funny thing is its still active from time to time with a bubble here and there... I was curious if the scorched flavor would dissipate with time originally but now its an out of sight out of mind thing..

I plan on switching back to star san water solution for my future brews.

 

[passedpawn]

Great question Augiedoggy,

Are you talking about not having to normally top off your fermenter air locks after "weeks" or "months" ?

NY has a balance of humid weather and is somewhat arid / dry during the winter.

I'm really not sure at what point the apparent fluid level in my air locks for long term storage was no longer vodka and simply turned into the remaining "water component" of the Absolute.

Cheers

Normally only weeks.
But its funny you say that because I have a 5 gallon glass carboy full of brown ale which I imagine is no good because the other half of the original 10 gallon batch was slightly scorched from a failed rims experiment...Anyway its been sitting in the carboy under an S type airlock and I have only added water twice in almost a year its been sitting... the funny thing is its still active from time to time with a bubble here and there... I was curious if the scorched flavor would dissipate with time originally but now its an out of sight out of mind thing..

I plan on switching back to star san water solution for my future brews.

What do you guys think about a few drops of veg oil in the airlock, on top of the water, to prevent them from drying out? I think that would work with vodka, starsan, water, whatever.

 

[augiedoggy]

What do you guys think about a few drops of veg oil in the airlock, on top of the water, to prevent them from drying out? I think that would work with vodka, starsan, water, whatever.

As long as it didnt make it into the beer it should work good I would think.

 

[ncbrewer]

What do you guys think about a few drops of veg oil in the airlock, on top of the water, to prevent them from drying out? I think that would work with vodka, starsan, water, whatever.

Just a guess, but I think the vegetable oil would be bacteria food and could lead to an infection. It might not be an issue because it can sit in an unsealed jug in the cabinet for a month or more, but I'd still be hesitant to try it.

 

[m00ps]

I think one of those waterless silicon airlocks would be best for long term aging

 

[WiscBrewer]

Anybody else just use water in their airlocks? That's all I've used for 25 years without an issue.

Same here....just water

 

[WiscBrewer]

Anybody else just use water in their airlocks? That's all I've used for 25 years without an issue.

Same here...just water

 

[WiscBrewer]

Anybody else just use water in their airlocks? That's all I've used for 25 years without an issue.

Same here...just water

 

[WiscBrewer]

Like Spartan, I just use water. For about 20 years.