SilverZero
Well-Known Member
I keep seeing a lot of good stuff said about fermcap, but I also hear about how a blow-off tube lets some (unidentified) "bad" stuff out of the beer. Are both sides true? Which is more desirable?
Does Fermcap Keep Bad Stuff From Blowing Off?
- Thread starter SilverZero
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Many of the batches of beer brewed here (the majority?) have no blow-off. I'm not sure what people are talking about there, but if a good batch of beer had "bad stuff" that needed to be removed, I've never noticed it.
SilverZero
Well-Known Member
Alright, then riddle me this: THEORETICALLY (just playing the game here), would fermcap in a 5-gallon batch do enough to prevent blow-off in a 5-gallon carboy? Just want to know how potent this stuff actually is. 
The idea that there's "bad stuff" in the krausen that needs to blow off, or be removed, is old school brewing thought, not anything most modern day homebrewers are concerned about any more.
It's part of the same mindset that spawned autolysis uber paranoia. Now most brewers these days don't worry about stuff like that. Some folks who brew german style beers may still hold to that stuff. But it's not something most of us care about.
The fact that you can't even describe what the "bad stuff" supposedly is, kinda goes along with the fact that it's old school thinking that a few people may regurgitate from old brewing books or second hand, but not anything most take seriously these day.
Now most of us believe the the yeast and the krausen as it falls actually helps clean up the beer, pulling stuff down with it.
So it doesn't matter, and shouldn't have you passing by such a wonderful product like fermcap. I've been using it for years.
It's part of the same mindset that spawned autolysis uber paranoia. Now most brewers these days don't worry about stuff like that. Some folks who brew german style beers may still hold to that stuff. But it's not something most of us care about.
The fact that you can't even describe what the "bad stuff" supposedly is, kinda goes along with the fact that it's old school thinking that a few people may regurgitate from old brewing books or second hand, but not anything most take seriously these day.
Now most of us believe the the yeast and the krausen as it falls actually helps clean up the beer, pulling stuff down with it.
So it doesn't matter, and shouldn't have you passing by such a wonderful product like fermcap. I've been using it for years.
Bierliebhaber
Well-Known Member
Fermcap is magic! I believe the ingredients are something like: eye of newt, hair lip of a giant clam, and the toe nail clippings of 3 belgian, 4 British, and 1/2 german brewers.
Only good can come from it!
Only good can come from it!
Actually it's simethecone...the same stuff as is in Gas-x
Bierliebhaber
Well-Known Member
Alright, then riddle me this: THEORETICALLY (just playing the game here), would fermcap in a 5-gallon batch do enough to prevent blow-off in a 5-gallon carboy? Just want to know how potent this stuff actually is.
Not necessarily. Some yeasts create more krausen than others. I did a batch and topped up a little high then added my starter which I did not cool long enough to decant the liquid off the top. I pitched the whole thing into my 6 gallon BB. I used the fermcap and still expected some blow off so I set up the tube. It blew but I think it would have blown much more without.
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