What liquid do people use for their airlocks?
I have been using water for a while but have recently seen people who think this isn’t best practice and is likely to get infected.
I have also found out that the sanitizer I use breaks down over time so likely wouldn’t be suitable. I have taken to using dish soap for now but don’t know if there is a problem with this practice.
I am currently avoiding vodka because of the alcohol duty in my country.
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the chances of it getting infected with plain water are very low. depends on what sanitizer you use, but basically none of them will break down in the time it takes for your wort to ferment and for you to refill it.
i’ve been brewing for a long time, never had anything get infected, and i always use diluted phosphoric acid (starsan).
think about it this way; would you rather have sanitizer (safe, food grade), or soap (possibly both emetic, and laxative) in your wort?
Thanks for the input. I don’t use starsan but something called chemipro oxy which contains sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate. I think this stuff breaks down faster than starsan but I am not sure.
And liquor like vodka evaporates fast. Just use water.
Honestly lots of people are saying this and I am glad. I was told on the r/mead subreddit by a certain person that using water could lead to mold in the airlock. It’s reassuring to me that not everyone thinks this as I have personally never seen it so I think it’s quite rare.
everyone who brews anything at home starts out being very worried about infection, meticulously cleaning every surface, and thinking that you’ve fucked the whole batch cause of minor shit.
as you go through this process a few times, you gain the experience of knowing what is a minor, or major screwup.
chances are you just ran into someone who has seen a bunch of youtube videos, or at most have brewed once or twice, and is still in the “oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck”-mentality, projecting their stress on to you.
brewing is supposed to be fun, i hope you have a good time brewing.
They had the advanced flair so I think they had been brewing for a while. Lots of people on that subreddit seem to be a bit obsessive or perfectionist.
If this is going to be a long term airlock situation Def check for mold or evap
Beer is usually a quick ferment.
Most soap (at least where I am) is not antimicrobial - it cleans by removing germs from surfaces, so it doesn’t seem effective to me being put in an airlock. Not to mention the potential mess during fermentation and potential contamination of your batch.
The same SO2 solution I use to sanitise my equipment. While not strictly necessary during the fermentation, as the CO2 from the fermentation is already displacing oxygen, It prevents oxygen from getting in after the fermentation has ended.
I use the sanitizer I’m using at the brew day. Iodofor, Starsan, Alcohol 70%, etc. Have never had an infection, never used tape water though. Just keep in mind that if you don’t have any way of closing the airlock in the fermentation vessel - airlock tube section, when cold crashing, the liquid might get sacked to the vessel, due to pressure difference caused by temperature drop.
I don’t cold crash lol. Do you have a dedicated fridge or something?
Not really, but it’s on my goal. I intend building a kegerator and use my fridge just for fermentation. I cold crash in the same fridge for the momment. Oh, and I do have a valve for closing my airlock, mostly for preventing oxidation tham infections concerns.
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That sounds good.
