I just got home after leaving my fermenter for two days i brewed on saturaday it was my first time, I filled my air lock with star san and it was bubbling with soap suds, im pretty sure that was normal but now the air lock is empty. is that normal?? Do i have to do anything??
i wouldn’t put star sans in the air lock, that’s what’ll happen. clean water would work fine. lots of people use booze too. don’t leave it empty though.
I use typical diluted sanitizer water in my airlocks all the time. Did you use full strength?
Cheap vodka in mine. Even if the StarSan was sucked back into the fermenter, the amount in an airlock isn’t going to impact the beer.
Yea i used about two tablespoons of full strength star san. Thanks for the fast responses, i think i have vodka ill put some of that in.
I also use cheap vodka
[quote=“beermoney”]Yea i used about two tablespoons of full strength star san.[/quote] :shock: That’s a different matter entirely - if the StarSan ended up in the fermenter then I would seriously consider dumping the batch (that’s enough concentrate for five gallons of dilute solution). If it sprayed out of the airlock from vigorous fermentation, you need to thoroughly clean everything in the immediate area - the low pH concentrate will eat through paper and paint and can cause burns in it gets on your skin.
Add another vote for cheap vodka.
I use star San solution all the time, but I don’t affix the airlock until I am below fermentation temperature. Of course it is at dilute strength (1 oz per 5 gallons of water). If it bubbles out, I just add some more…but I have used vodka with favorable results, too. Just too cheap, I guess.
I think most of all the star san bubbled out of the airlock, not into the beer
when i left on monday morning the air lock was really bubbeling out star san suds my fermenter was really bubbling on the inside. On wednesday afternoon the airlock was empty and the bubbling was not on the inside of the fermenter, the bubbels on the inside are kinda on the top pressed up against the glass. is that normal for foam/bubbles to be gone after 4-5 days after brewing???
Yes fermentation can be compete four to five days after brewing. And the krausen could fall that quick.
personally when I see a airlock low or empty it is due to a temperature drop sucking it into the beer, not an over active fermentation blowing it all out.
i’ve used some rum and rye whiskey just because its all i had around. i hadn’t really thought about it.
is there a reason vodka is the cheap booze of popular opinion?
and do ya’ll shoot it when you’re done?
i’ve used some rum and rye whiskey just because its all i had around. i hadn’t really thought about it.
is there a reason vodka is the cheap booze of popular opinion?
and do ya’ll shoot it when you’re done?[/quote]
No reason. Any hard alcohol is fine. I just poor it down the drain when I’m done, which is why I use the cheapest I can find. weather it be whiskey, rum, or vodka
If it does get sucked in, the small amount of alcohol in 5 gallons is too insignificant to impart flavor into your beer
[quote=“beermoney”] is that normal for foam/bubbles to be gone after 4-5 days after brewing???[/quote]You need to clarify what you meant by “full strength starsan” - if you mean the concentrated solution, prior to diluting 2T in five gallons of water, then you have a problem, but if you mean that you used 2T of the normally diluted StarSan than you’re OK.
i’ve used some rum and rye whiskey just because its all i had around. i hadn’t really thought about it.
is there a reason vodka is the cheap booze of popular opinion?
and do ya’ll shoot it when you’re done?[/quote]
No reason. Any hard alcohol is fine. I just poor it down the drain when I’m done, which is why I use the cheapest I can find. weather it be whiskey, rum, or vodka
If it does get sucked in, the small amount of alcohol in 5 gallons is too insignificant to impart flavor into your beer[/quote]
Yep, no real reason other than it is cheap. I also poor mine out when I am done with it.
From what I can tell, he used straight star san. My guess is that it did not get sucked back in but rather made so much suds that it just bubbled right out of the top of the air lock.
Other than having a dry airlock, I am guessing that you do not have a major problem. Unless YOU think some got sucked into the beer.
I use cheap Vodka and the brand has to be Dubra.
I use Star-San. I have a spray bottle filled with it that I use to top off all my airlocks every so often.
Try dubra. My brother uses Flieschman’s vodka and he once got an infection in his beer. So don’t use Flieschman’s. 
