Vodka in the airlock for beer?

I bought some cheap vodka for Ed Wort's apflewien that I'm making today can I also use the vodka in my airlock for my beer?

 

Yes you can.

 

It's all I use in my airlocks, and was inspired by Ed's Apfelwein thread to do so.

 

What in the world do you think it'd hurt?

MMMMM VODKA BEER.....

 

I use cheap tequila.
Beerbeque

 

I 2nd the tequila
I have used everything from vodka, to tequila, to malibu, to rum, etc. All that stuff works just fine.

 

So does water.

-a.

 

200 proof ethanol from lab.

 

I use cheapy vodka too.

Used top shelf tequila my first batch (only hard liquor I had on hand at the time), and every CO2 bubble gave off a strong aroma of green olive. Haven't had that with the vodka. I wonder what other liquor airlock bubbles smell like?

 

Tanqueray gives a nice aroma. Someone gave us a half gallon, and we don't drink it, so I have brined with it, cooked with it, and used it in my airlocks.

And tasted a bit.

 

I just use star-san. no sense wasting vodka like that.

 

what's the advantage over water?

 

I use whatever cheap alcohol I can get for like $4 a bottle at Krogers. Vodka, Rum, it all does the trick.

 

Water will develop microbial life that could contaminate your beer. That said, it's relatively unlikely because whatever microbes are in the airlock will be kept out of the beer because the carboy is under positive pressure. And because the bad guys will be outcompeted by the 100 billion yeast cells you pitch.

I use water that's been boiled with nary an infection, but I'll probably switch to cheapo vodka.

 

I usually just use (sanitized) water in my airlocks, but I found that my modified mini fridge turned fermenter tends to freeze the water in the airlock (the airlock sits right in front of the coils) when fermenting at lager temps (or lagering). so now I use cheap liquor (usually vodka).

 

If anyone has ever gotten an infection they can say came from tap water in an airlock, I sure would like to meet them and thank them for sapping all the bad luck out of the universe.

If it helps you sleep at night, put some dadgum vodka in your airlock. However, if you have that much trouble sleeping, you might do better to pour that shot of vodka down your gullet instead of your airlock.


TL

 

Quoted for Truth.

 

I use rum. I have used water in the past but switched. One batch I did it was hot when I was brewing outside. Upon moving to the cooler indoors the airlock sucked several drops into the beer. The beer turned out fine just a bit paranoid now.

 

Very true. However, I use vodka. Not that it helps me sleep or anything like that, it is just that I dont drink vodka but somehow it always ends up in my house. Better to use it in the airlock than just let it sit there.

 

Starsan for me. Simply because I have some sitting around in a small bucket everytime I brew.

 

My first brew and i am using water. My idiot self not thinking right put the water in and then tried seating it to the bucket. So I did get some suckback right when I started but everything looks and smells great. Taste? Well its 1 week in and it aint no Guinness but it aint bad either.

 

I also use rotgut vodka. I've had a couple of batches suck back (normally when carrying a better bottle by the bottom rim or picking up a full pail by the handle), and I've also pushed krauesen into the airlock. I imagine it would not have been a big deal to have used water/starsan/some other miracle magic lock-juice, but at least the alcohol in the vodka keeps the leftover krauesen from setting up in the lock.

 

Sometimes I wonder how people managed to make beer successfully 1000 years.