BeerBorg

I forgot to put water in the air-lock bubbler, so ended up adding it 7 1/2 hours after pitching the yeast. Down the road could that cause any issues with the taste?

No. But if bugs entered before CO2 started flowing out (which is what the liquid prevents), then you could have an infection and the beer would be ruined. Highly unlikely, but possible.

RDWHAHB

If you sanitized the bubbler before installing it, you'll be fine.

What should you fill the bubbler with? I have heard many different options (sanitized water, distilled water, or vodka).


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It needs to be sanitized. Then, filled with your sanitizer solution, i.e. StarSan. Water can work, but if you cold crash the water will suck back into the brew, possibly causing an infection. Vodka is a waste of vodka.

Beer infecting bacteria can not crawl. They do not have motile cilia.

So they have to float in the air and "fall in", or be attached to something unsanatized that you stuck into the wort.

Since your bubbler is not a straight line directly into your fermenter (it has turns or twists or a piece that fits over another piece depending on design), nothing can really "fall in".

Your active fermentation is pushing CO2 out of that thing too, so anything that might even think about "falling in" is getting blown away by the breeze.

Airlocks are overrated and unnecessary. A piece of foil over the lid or a loose fitting cap that covers the hole so nothing can "fall in" is all you really need.

The only exception is if your fermenter is plastic and you like to give it big bear hugs all the time. Then you would be forcing CO2 to be pushed out and air to be sucked back into it when you stop hugging it. That could bring along some unwanted friends. But if you don't do that, your fine.

Or if you rapidly allow your fermenter to rapidly drop in temperature while active fermentation is not happening (IE above mentioned cold crash), although even then an airlock may not help you for real because you will quite possibly suck the liquid from it into your fermenter with everything else in your air after that. Even so, if you dry hop your beer post primary fermentation, your likely introducing just as much crap into your beer as you likely would by having that happen. Do you get infections from dry hopping?

Most people who think they got an infection from something like an airlock problem, did not. They got it before they pitched their yeast or while bottling.

Great information as always Dave!

Your beer will be just fine, pkpreader.

I start with a blow off tube in just enough water to cover the end of the tube and towards the end of high krausen I'll switch to an airlock fliled with cheap vodka that was left over from one of my sons parties.