Beer Forum

I've been brewing since 1998ish and I have never used a foam control to boil. Today I used fermcap-s for the first time and I want to kick myself ihe ass for not using it before. I was able to crank my burner up and walk away. I came back in like ... 1/2 the time it usually takes for me to boil and all I had to do was back it down a tad to keep a strong rolling boil. I heard that the 5 stars defoamer isn't as great but I don't know. Fermcap-S has changed my life.

Used it when I had a 10 gallon BK. Went to 15 gallon, never had to use it again.

Yeah, I use it pretty frequently with my starters to prevent initial boilover in my flasks. Works great.

I have never used it because reinheitsgebot, and I don't want Bean-O in my beer.

The anti-foam products (AFAIK) are simethicone which is an OTC treatment for bloating. Here's the rundown on the product:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simethicone

Fermentation rate in starters can be controlled by the speed of the stir plate. When it gets to rocking I turn the stir plate off and come back later.

As the wort transitions from a simmer to a roll a lot of foam is produced. This insulates the surface of the wort and causes boil over. As the wort approaches boil reduce the heat and keep it low for five minutes to expel the entrained gasses and allow the foam to fall. I call this a "Foam wait".

Charlie

There are 10 other things I can be doing other than staring at my boil kettle or Erlenmeyer flask to stop boil overs. Anything that cuts time and lowers brew stress is a good thing. This is not quite as good as dropping 2 tiers and going to pumps, but it is up there.

SoCal Surfer wrote:There are 10 other things I can be doing other than staring at my boil kettle or Erlenmeyer flask to stop boil overs. Anything that cuts time and lowers brew stress is a good thing. This is not quite as good as dropping 2 tiers and going to pumps, but it is up there.

I know lots of people who use it to great effect, and my comment was not meant to offend. I'm a chemist and a pilot, so I'm used to collecting data and waiting for things to happen. It goes with the territory.

Charlie

Charlie wrote:

SoCal Surfer wrote:There are 10 other things I can be doing other than staring at my boil kettle or Erlenmeyer flask to stop boil overs. Anything that cuts time and lowers brew stress is a good thing. This is not quite as good as dropping 2 tiers and going to pumps, but it is up there.

I know lots of people who use it to great effect, and my comment was not meant to offend. I'm a chemist and a pilot, so I'm used to collecting data and waiting for things to happen. It goes with the territory.

Charlie

No offense taken. I am not a chemist but I was once a culture medium prep tech and a TEM technician and I just like to cut steps and simplify. This brewing stuff is harder now that I don't have access to a laminar flow hood, UV sterilizer and autoclave.

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