Hi,
I have been using a 3 piece air lock with starsan in it for a while, The airlock assembly is in the stopper in my 14 gallon fermenters.
During the first few days of active fermenation the starsan bubbles all out of the air lock and I have to keep adding more and have the fear it blowing it all out and allowing air into the brew. I usually dont have a yeast blow out problem.
Is there a better air lock design or should I just use a blow off tube or any other suggestions to keep a safe amount of starsan in the airlocks?
Vodka also works as a sanitary liquid in the airlock and since it doesn’t foam it generally doesn’t suffer the same problem that starsan does. Vodka does tend to evaporate a little quicker than water/starsan so just keep an eye on it.
I don’t even use an airlock during initial fermentation. The reason yours bubbles out is from the CO2 escaping, which would not allow air to ingress anyway. When it calms down I install one.
If you are still nervous, I’d suggest a blow off hose with the end in a jar of sanitizer.
Mine do the same during the more vigorous part of fermentation. No big deal. When it looks low, just pop off the top and spray some more starsan from a spray bottle into the chamber.