Another common beginner question is: âThat doesnât look like water in your airlock, what is it?â
picture credit: adapted from https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/image/18411.html
This is because most people start off putting water in their airlocks. Thatâs a perfectly reasonable choice â but not the only one. Even with this approach, thereâs the question of what kind of water. So, the main choices of airlock liquid are:
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The same water you made your must with. Probably easily available and cheap. But, it probably wonât do much to prevent bacteria, mold, or even some kinds of insects from getting through. In fact, if you used spring water, well water, mineral water, or any other water with much micronutrients in it, it will probably help microbes grow.
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Tap water. You probably didnât use this to make your mead, as it is generally advised against. (Maybe Iâll cover that in a later post.) The chlorine in it (in most cities of most advanced countries, anyway) should help with the microbes . . . but by the same token, if it gets into your must, it could somewhat inhibit the yeast from working. (How would it get into your must, you ask? Long story short, if the ambient air pressure rises enough, a three-piece airlock would pull some in. This is one advantage of an S-type airlock.)
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Sanitizer fluid. While things such as Star-San are supposed to be odorless, colorless, tasteless, and perfectly harmless to humans, I just donât like the idea of it possibly winding up in my mead. Plus, it would inhibit the yeast more than tap water. Many of them work by being too acidic for microbes, so it would further lower (acidify) the pH of your must.
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Vodka (or other strong spirits). Now weâre talking! Anti-microbial, hostile to insects too, and if it gets into your must, itâs just water and alcohol, which are there already. Just be careful when using spirits with any distinctive flavor.
So what I suggest is the cheapest vodka you can find, from a reputable source (not Uncle Bubbaâs âshine still!), in reasonable volume â for whatever definition of âreasonable volumeâ fits your needs and budget. If youâre just starting out, and not sure you want to continue making mead, maybe a half-pint hip-flask; once youâre doing a new five-gallon batch every week, it might be a gallon.