Did Fermcap-s Mess Up My Fermentation?

I Brewed a Lemon Coriander Weiss yesterday using White Labs WL300 and when I woke up today I checked my fermenter to make sure it hadn't blown off the top, which it didn't, but I noticed a lot of foam billowing at the neck of my 6.5 gallon BB and there was a lot of CO2 bubbling out of my blow off tube inside of my sanitized bucket. So I decide to add the Fermcap-s to the fermenter and used 10 drops as the instructions said to (2 drops for every gallon).

This is the first time I've used the Fermcap-s, but I noticed that after I added it the CO2 bubbling coming out of the blow off tube stopped completely and hasn't returned yet. I'm used to see the CO2 bubbling indicating that the wort is fermenting. Is this normal, or did Fermcap-s mess up my fermentation? Thanks.

I don't know if it could halt a fermentation, but what's the point of using fermcap if you already have a blow-off tube?

FermCap is inert and will not affect the beer. You most likely didn't fit the lid fully and have a leak.

Short answer. No.

Is use fermcap and a blowoff tube on all my high gravity beers now. I still occasionally have a lid pop off so I can understand if your doing this depending on the aggressiveness of your fermentation.

I should have updated this about 12 hours ago, but I solved my problem. I should have been a little more clearer. I'm using an orange carboy cap on my BB, with a thermowell in the center (racking cane hole) and a makeshift blow off tube on the other orange tube. That's why I'm using the Fermcap-s because my blow off tube is so small.

Anyways, my issue was that I had a leak. I decided to put a zip tie around the carboy cap and after a couple minutes, I started to see the CO2 bubbling again in my sanitized bucket. Hopefully I didn't ruin my beer.

When you opened your fermenter to add the Fermcap-s you released all the pressure built up stopping any bubbling that was occurring. Fermcap I think is similar or the same as Simethicone which is an anti gas medication. I would imagine that it might lessen the amount of gas released, hence less foam.

It will not stop the fermentation. It will help prevent blowoff. It will not always succeed. Wait a while the bubbling may start again. If not you may have a leak.

At any rate I feel there is nothing to worry about.

edit after your last reply: I doubt seriously that you have done any harm to your beer.

kh54s10 said:

When you opened your fermenter to add the Fermcap-s you released all the pressure built up stopping any bubbling that was occurring. Fermcap I think is similar or the same as Simethicone which is an anti gas medication. I would imagine that it might lessen the amount of gas released, hence less foam.

It will not stop the fermentation. It will help prevent blowoff. It will not always succeed. Wait a while the bubbling may start again. If not you may have a leak.

At any rate I feel there is nothing to worry about.

edit after your last reply: I doubt seriously that you have done any harm to your beer.

Click to expand...

+1 to this, except that simethicone will do nothing to the amount of gas released. It only changes the surface tension of the bubbles, causing it to foam less.