Fermcap-S or this stuff?

Any feedback on the product, not the company?
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ANTI-FOAM AGENT - 1oz.

The CHI Company 376 anit-foaming agent is a 100% active, NON-SILICONE defoamer. Designed for use for food and beverage processing.
It even has Kosher approval.

When comparing products from other stores: BE CAREFUL of other beer anti-foaming agents that contain silicone:
Brewers should not use silicone-containing antifoam for unfiltered beers. The FDA allows active silicone to be used up to 10 parts-per-million (ppm) but stipulates that the silicone must be removed prior to packaging by either filtration or centrifugation.

Our 376 is biodegradable, has no phosphates and neutral pH.

Add Anti-Foam as needed (drops) prior to fermentation to prevent foam from pushing up and clogging your airlock. It can also be added during the boiling stage of brewing to prevent messy boil-overs!

The Anti-Foam will not affect the finished flavor, appearance or head retention of your beverage.


http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_261_388_307&products_id=2293

Interesting. There is no information on what that stuff really is, or who makes it. Also, the MSDS link doesn't work...

I've always used Baby Gas Drops. Similar to FercapS, but I feel safe because you give a couple of drops to an infant and it's safe. A few more drops in 5 gallons of beer is a LOT less of a dose for a grown person.

I'm sure I've seen that stuff before and there was a thread on it a long time back.

The MSDS link isn't working, but I did a search using the filename and found an MSDS which doesn't provide any information on what is inside. However, I did more searching and found the stuff is sold by Birko and made by Hydrite. It's called Patcote 376. This is what Birko has to say about it:

A 100% active non-silicone antifoam. Ideal for use in blood operations utilizing nanofiltration in their process.
*A product of Hydrite Chemical Co.

They do list an Antifoam 100 which has the following description:
A proprietary blend of antifoam compounds with the capacity to prevent foam or kill it immediately. Unlike similar products it works equally well in both oil-based and water-based systems. Acceptable for use in food processing and is ideally suited for use in the brewery in brewkettles, fermentors and blow-off buckets.

So maybe the Chi company has the MSDS link wrong. However, the description sure sounds like the stuff use in "...blodd operations utilizing nanofiltration in their process." and not the stuff "...ideally suited for use in the brewery in brewkettles, fermentors, and blow-off buckets."

Homercidal said:

The MSDS link isn't working, but I did a search using the filename and found an MSDS which doesn't provide any information on what is inside. However, I did more searching and found the stuff is sold by Birko and made by Hydrite. It's called Patcote 376. This is what Birko has to say about it:

A 100% active non-silicone antifoam. Ideal for use in blood operations utilizing nanofiltration in their process.
*A product of Hydrite Chemical Co.

They do list an Antifoam 100 which has the following description:
A proprietary blend of antifoam compounds with the capacity to prevent foam or kill it immediately. Unlike similar products it works equally well in both oil-based and water-based systems. Acceptable for use in food processing and is ideally suited for use in the brewery in brewkettles, fermentors and blow-off buckets.

So maybe the Chi company has the MSDS link wrong. However, the description sure sounds like the stuff use in "...blodd operations utilizing nanofiltration in their process." and not the stuff "...ideally suited for use in the brewery in brewkettles, fermentors, and blow-off buckets."

Click to expand...

I have had conversation with the folks Birco, they are a pretty cool company with some really talented people, many of whom are very accomplished brewers!

The product is in fact non silicone and is sold to many breweries as well as other food/beverage manufacturers however it is not available in any small amount worthwhile to purchase on the retail market and according to them it probably will never be sold in any amount less than 50 gallon drums as they only provide wholesale goods.

duboman said:

I have had conversation with the folks Birco, they are a pretty cool company with some really talented people, many of whom are very accomplished brewers!

The product is in fact non silicone and is sold to many breweries as well as other food/beverage manufacturers however it is not available in any small amount worthwhile to purchase on the retail market and according to them it probably will never be sold in any amount less than 50 gallon drums as they only provide wholesale goods.

Click to expand...

I have to head over to CHI Company anyway to pick up CO2 bottle handle I ordered. Think I'll snag some of this while I'm there and see how it works.

Thanks for the knowledge/research

edit:lots of discussion here
https://www.google.com/search?q=Pat...a:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs

and here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/fermcap-s-alternative-322227/

and here:
http://www.birkocorp.com/brewery/confessions-of-a-homebrewing-chemical-salesman/

I just ordered a 1oz bottle of Patcote 376 off of ebay. I'll give it a try in my next batch and see how it compares to Fermcap-S which I use now.

There's actually several threads on this, including a couple that were less than friendly if I recall. The Chi guys were on here. I think some folks were accusing them of hyperbole or something. This stuff has been talked about on here for 2-3 years iirc. I'm perfectly happy with the fermcap, but for me it's whatever the lhbs carries, which is cheaper, and whether or not it works.

Homercidal said:

Interesting. There is no information on what that stuff really is, or who makes it. Also, the MSDS link doesn't work...

I've always used Baby Gas Drops. Similar to FercapS, but I feel safe because you give a couple of drops to an infant and it's safe. A few more drops in 5 gallons of beer is a LOT less of a dose for a grown person.

I'm sure I've seen that stuff before and there was a thread on it a long time back.

Click to expand...

Yeah all the baby gas drops are, is simethicone. Its basically "breaks apart" bubbles. I use it a lot in pharmacy compounding to cut down on the bubbling of the suspensions we make.

Doed said:

I just ordered a 1oz bottle of Patcote 376 off of ebay. I'll give it a try in my next batch and see how it compares to Fermcap-S which I use now.

Click to expand...

Interesting.....
I'm going to try and get in touch with my contact at Birco with the link to ebay you found and see if they know anything about this as there is no mention of Birco in this product but yet the name is the same.

When you get it let us know how it works!

SO to follow up with some clarification...........

Birco is a small distibution company that handles products for the food/beverage industry and Hydrite is the large chemical company that actually manufactures the Patcote 376 which explains why Birco does not sell this in small amounts for retail purchase.

They stated that most likely the vendor of this product is either getting the smaller packages directly from Hydrite to re-sell or have gained the rights to re-package and re-sell accordingly since it appears from the EBay ad that it is Merry Moose Brewing doing the selling.

I know last year when I did multiple searches for this product I came up with absolutely nothing so it appears to be a newer option on the small home brew front.

Curious to find out how it works. Again, let us know.

I received the Patcote 376 on Saturday. Hopefully will give it a try this coming weekend.

Let us know how it turns out. Take pictures if you can and let us know the OG and the yeast strain. I wanna see the beer at peak krausen and the krausen line post fermentation before I switch over from Fermcap.

MrNatural said:

I have to head over to CHI Company anyway to pick up CO2 bottle handle I ordered. Think I'll snag some of this while I'm there and see how it works.

Click to expand...

They allow store pickup? I emailed them about this a while back and never got a response. I'd love to pick up some $45 cornys while I bomb up CA-50E, but don't want to be charged to ship them.

thadius856 said:

They allow store pickup? I emailed them about this a while back and never got a response. I'd love to pick up some $45 cornys while I bomb up CA-50E, but don't want to be charged to ship them.

Click to expand...

You may be correct. When I ordered, I selected free shipping/store pickup, and got email saying order did not qualify for free shipping. I replied that I wanted to pick up and haven't heard back.

Order status shows "pending" and asks if I prefer UPS or USPS. Going to call them when they open this morning.

Did you mean US-50, or are you talking about IMR/MET?

**edit**
Talked to them this morning and my item is coming from another warehouse and I'll get email when it is ready for pickup. Also asked about ordering some of their 376 online for pickup same time. Told me it is normal stock and just buy it when I'm there.

Picked up my CO2 handle and got some corny parts and some of the 376 stuff while I was there.
So, pretty cool dude on the pick up end, but will be a while before my rig is done and I can try the 376 stuff.

Here is my review of the Patcote 376 anti-foaming agent. This is BM's Centennial Blonde recipe.

[ame]http://youtu.be/IF913ucg82k[/ame]

Thanks for the awesome video review

Did you try any on the fermentation side?

Super not impressed with the stuff, having seen your review. FermCap-S would have killed that head with 1 drop per gallon without the need to stir.

I routinely do 13.5 gallon boils in a 15 gallon keggle at 1 drop per gallon. No stirring. I'm comfortable enough to walk away for extended periods. Never boiled over yet. Only pulling the hops bag out creates a thin (1/8") layer of foam. No idea why.

I did not put any in the fermentor. I don't put Fermcap-S in my fermentor either.

Thadius - I would agree. I think if I hadn't stirred it might have boiled over. Fermcap-S doesn't let the foam get that large.

For anybody that has never used FermCap-S, here's a comparison of my BK with FermCap-S. This was 13.7 gallons of 1.059 wort in a 15 gallon keggle (earlier today), on its way to 1.080 after a 90 minute boil.

I did a "volunteer" day at a local microbrew and they used Patcote 376 in their 15bbl system. Interestingly they had it in 1gal jugs (vs 50gal barrels)