Airlock...

[Lunchtime]

I know a lot of places say to put Vodka in the airlock to keep it sterile. My question is, Will rum work just as well? Is there a difference between say White rum and Spiced rum? I only have Spiced so if it will have adverse affects, I will just use water.

 

[mikebowman]

Either would work in terms of being sterile, but the issue with rum, especially spiced, is that it's flavorful, which could be a concern if any gets sucked back into your beer. It's less than an ounce though, in 5 gallons of beer, so it's probably not an issue

 

[TyTanium]

Ditto Mike's comment. It'd take way more than a few drops from the airlock to affect the flavor. That said, depending on the style, a spiced rum addition might be fun.

I just put my sanitizing solution (StarSan) in the airlock.

 

[OldWorld]

I would use vodka...because it is a neutral grain spirit. Any homebrew knows the joy of smelling the air lock...If you have rum in the airlock all that CO2 off gassing is going to smell like rum.

Have fun. Don't worry. Just leave the damn airlock alone. Or better yet just get the proper sized tubing and shove it in as a blow off tube.

 

[squirrelly]

We always just use star San. I take the air lock and stopper out of the bucket of star San at the time of run off, and fill the air lock with star San liquid.

 

[Seven]

I use star-san because I usually have buckets of it available.

 

[cullen]

I always use plain tap water - it's never caused an issue that I can detect in several years of brewing. Of course, your tap water may vary.

 

[Lunchtime]

Well, every 3rd batch a so...A fly gets into it. I keep it in the basement and I just like it to be as sterile as possible just for when a bug does get in there. Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[Fid]

How the hell does a fly get into your airlock? Do you not have a cover on it? I mean, its probably not an issue if it does happen, I'm just trying to figure out the logistics...

 

[plumbob]

If your getting bugs in it I would cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it with a pin... Though most airlocks have covers

 

[Lunchtime]

It does have a cover but they squeeze through the little holes...I don't know HOW it happens, I just know it does. I mean they aren't "flies", they are more gnat type creatures...still, I don't care for it.

 

[DMartin]

It does have a cover but they squeeze through the little holes...I don't know HOW it happens, I just know it does. I mean they aren't "flies", they are more gnat type creatures...still, I don't care for it.

Sounds like fruit flies. You'll get those from time to time. When you find one in your airlock just replace the airlock. The fact that it got caught in the water tells you that your airlock is doing its job: otherwise that fly would be in your beer.

 

[kev7555]

I used to use vodka in the airlock but for some reason whenever I'd go to use more, the bottle was always empty...

Just santitizer in mine now.

 

[badbrew]

Yeah I would think vodka would evaporate out faster than water.
You guys that use star san, you don't put it in concentrated right?

 

[rossi46]

Yeah I would think vodka would evaporate out faster than water.
You guys that use star san, you don't put it in concentrated right?

no, not concentrated. use the normal dilution rate.

 

[thx997303]

I would think you wouldn't want to use Iodophor in an airlock.

Is this true, or will it not be a problem?

 

[SkyHighBrew88]

I would think you wouldn't want to use Iodophor in an airlock.

Is this true, or will it not be a problem?

I've done it every time, no issues yet. Iodophor water that is, not straight iodine (sorry to state the obvious).

 

[McLompoc]

Vodka FTW

 

[unionrdr]

I use vodka as well. And it doesn't evaporate that fast. The cheapest stuff is all I need...to get me back on my feet again...

 

[mcginnis842]

I'm another one who has just used clean tap water with no issues Given I give the stopper and the airlock parts a spray of starsan but other then that I set and forget it except to watch the bubbles.

 

[squirrelly]

"clean tap water" that's a good one. Does anyone but me actually plate their tap water to see what is actually living in it?

 

[unionrdr]

I have,several times over all the homes I've lived in. Under the microscope,I see amoeba's living in it,some dead though. And a lot of bits-n-pieces of organic looking material.

 

[badbrew]

I have,several times over all the homes I've lived in. Under the microscope,I see amoeba's living in it,some dead though. And a lot of bits-n-pieces of organic looking material.

will my brita take that stuff out?

 

[unionrdr]

I think so,but I haven't tested that yet. After having that microscope for so many decades,the kids finally found & broke it. Lost my dissecting kit that came with it too!

 

[squirrelly]

The home water filtration systems are good for removing heavy metals, chlorine, and organic matter, but will not get rid of the living microbes in the water. Pro breweries and wineries use DI filtration systems for this purpose.

 

[cullen]

"clean tap water" that's a good one. Does anyone but me actually plate their tap water to see what is actually living in it?

I routinely use tap water for top-off. The last batch that had a noticeable infected taste (amazingly sour) was 20 years ago. Compared to that, a little tap water in the air lock doesn't seem like such a big risk.

 

[unionrdr]

yeah,diatamous filtration I believe is what was said in a couple videos I saw. And they force carb anyway,for the most part.

 

[mcginnis842]

Yeah YMMV on tap water but most city water supplies have a small amount of chlorine to keep anything from growing in it during transit or is sanitized with ozone if your water company is fancy, so your looking at an extremely small amount if any living organisms in your water supply. I tend to worry about contamination from organisms on the container I'm using then from the water flowing from my tap.

 

[3sheetsEMJ]

Lets not forget that as the beer ferments and the alcohol % goes up to 5-6% or whatever, the environment gets unfavorable for bacteria growth.

I actually cold crashed my carboys last night and when i popped the airlocks off a drop of my city water airlock water got into the beer. Im not worried because the alcohol will likely kill off any normal nasties that are in tap water.