StarSan or vodka in airlock?

[MaxStout]

The alcohol must be 70% with the remainder water.

Depends on how fast you want to kill germs. Yes, 70% is optimal for quickly killing germs, such as when wiping surfaces, cleaning around wounds, etc.

That said, alcohol is sitting in an airlock for an extended time. There is a relationship between exposure time to the alcohol and its effectiveness. The CDC notes that many strains can be killed with concentrations much lower than 70%.

Concentrations <70% will work, it just takes more time. I would doubt very much that many germs would survive in vodka during the time that we have our airlocks filled with it. Some viruses will survive, but those are not what we are targeting. We want to keep out bacteria, molds, etc.

 

[tootal]

The next time you brew a bad batch of beer, I know, nobody does that!. Don't throw it out, find a friend who does distilling. Have him distill it and then use it in your air lock! Recycle folks!!!

Actually we use a blow off tube into a bucket of left over Starsan that was in the fermentor right before we filled it.

 

[TheZymurgist]

I just pee into mine. Urine is sterile anyway. What? No one else does that? It's just recycled beer...

 

[SansPants]

Once I had run out a starsan so I used Macallan 18. :ducks:

 

[LibertyBrewer]

Anything with alcohol in it. These days I'm using a bottle of cheap whiskey we got as a Christmas present. If it gets sucked back into the brew, well, just a little more ABV.

 

[NTXBrauer]

Vodka in an airlock...Starsan with a blowoff. Works every time.

 

[hbrookie]

I use tap water. If it gets sucked in, the CO2 in the fermenter will kill it for me.

 

[m1k3]

I voted "Other" since I don't use an airlock.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/no-air-lock-363813/