Let's talk about Foam Control drops (aka Fermcap)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

What do you think of Foam Control/Fermcap Drops?

  • I've tried it -- love the stuff!

  • I've tried it -- meh.

  • I haven't tried it, but mean to.

  • I haven't even heard of this before.

  • Don't put that in my beer -- Reinheitsgebot baby!


Results are only viewable after voting.
I just did an IPA Friday and used this for the first time. I thought it was great. I put 6.5g in my 7.5g pot, no boil over. It was a hard rolling boil the whole time, and there was no foam coming up. My ferment is looking good to. I pitched a healthy amount of yeast (100ml of slurry I estimate) and have had a very vigorous ferment. I'm guessing it will be fermented out by the 72 hour mark, but I'll give it a week or two to clean up. Anyway, I filled the carboy up until the top started slopping in, and I've had a thick head almost up to the neck. But it's started to drop after the 48 hour mark. It would have blown off normally, I'm sure of it. I'm sold on this stuff. I think it's great. I imagine I'll be adding this, along with yeast nutrients, now to all my batches.
 
http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/ZI/zinc.html

http://cartwright.chem.ox.ac.uk/hsci/chemicals/zinc.html

I've seen punctured pennies that look full of white powder. It may not be that bad, but as a hobbyist metal worker, I hear a lot of people talk about NOT using zinc plated metal due to fumes that can burn off of it that can be very harmful.

zinc coated metals release poisonous gases when you heat them up. So you aren't supposed to weld galvanized without proper ventilation. I've actually heard of brewers throwing zinc nuts into the BK because zinc is an important nutrient for the yeast that is often deficient
 
I have stopped using Fermcap for kraeusen control - I still had too many clogged airlocks even after using it. I found that installing a blow-off tube reduced the chance for blow-off more than using fermcap - probably has something to do with pressure inside the fermenter.

It's still great and indispensable in the boil for me, since I boil ~5 gallons in a 5.5 gallon stockpot.
 
I got a small bottle of this stuff from Austin and tried it out for the first time last Saturday. I have a 9 gallon brew pot and usually boil 6.5 gallons. I put the recommended drops in right before the boil started and waited, and waited and waited. Wort didn't even come close to a boil over!

Now I just need to get to the point where I can walk away after putting the drops in. I still hovered around the boil kettle anticipating a boil over or signs of one.

I'm sold on this stuff, will use it with all my brews!
 
Think if I used some Fermcap-S in the fermenter I could have avoided this?

4661897622_1117a59115_m.jpg
 
I have stopped using Fermcap for kraeusen control - I still had too many clogged airlocks even after using it. I found that installing a blow-off tube reduced the chance for blow-off more than using fermcap - probably has something to do with pressure inside the fermenter.

It's still great and indispensable in the boil for me, since I boil ~5 gallons in a 5.5 gallon stockpot.

+1 on this. Fermcap is an integral part of the brew day. It's fantastic in the BK and with starters....in the fermenter....not so much.

I've moved away from Fermcap as an ingredient for foam control in the fermenter....way too many blow offs and clogged tubes.
 
That's awesome!!! It's like a mushroom of krausen. How did the beer turn out?

I brewed it on Memorial Day and it happened Tuesday night! I am not too worried though since there was so much krausen and CO2 in the freezer it was protected. Just sanitized the lid and put it back on. Head retention might suffer a bit but it just means I will have to drink it fast :D
 
I wish I could change my vote. Now that I have used Fermcap S, that stuff is like magic. I first used it in my starter, 2000ml flask with about 2200ml in it after DME. Not one boilover. I also used a few drops in the kettle. Now I boil a 6 gallon boil in a keggle so boilover is not really an issue, but I totally didn't watch it at all. I will put it to its ultimate test soon, a bavarian hefe with no blow off. I have faith though. I might even start fermenting in cornies using it too.
 
I've moved away from Fermcap as an ingredient for foam control in the fermenter....way too many blow offs and clogged tubes.

Hmm... this is very different from my experiences with it. The trick is that it has to be added after vigorous fermentation starts. If you add it before the beer is churning it just sinks to the bottom. I currently have 7.1 gallons of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde in my 7.3 gallon conical fermentor. It started fermenting yesterday at around 9 pm, at midnight I added fermcap-s. It is now bubbling about once every 0.6 seconds. There is only an inch between the top of the beer and the top of the fermentor, and my airlock is CLEAN :D.

I don't think I will ever brew without this stuff again!

Klaus
 
I use it in every batch; it enables me to easily do a 6.5 gal. boil in a 7.5 gal pot. As for those worried about the purity of the beer, the stuff precipitates into the trub and is gone; a non-issue.
 
I thought I would mention that I just used this stuff twice in the last week. The first time was in my starter flask and it worked like a charm, boiling steadily without any build-up. That was 1 drop worth.

Today I used it in a 3 gallon partial boil and used two drops. It worked great, not even a hint of a boil over.

Now I'm wondering if those two drops will continue to work against foam in the fermenter or would I need to add more?
 
Use more. It will precipitate out of the boil as you chill.....or so I understand it. I use 5-6 drops in a full 6.5 gal boil...and nary a foam problem. I wouldn't brew without it, now.
 
Yesterday did a 1.060 pale ale / IPA. Filled my fermentor (7.3 gal conical) to within 1 cm of the top, pitched a massive starter of Pacman (made a 1 liter starter, but didn't get to use it for a few days so I reexpanded it as a 2L starter). It was off like a shot, with bubbling within 2 hours and LOTs of bubbling in 4 hours. At 4 hours, added 15 drops of fermcap-s. Woke up this morning and looked- clean airlock bubbling like a champ.

This stuff is as close to a miracle as anything I have ever seen.

Klaus
 
I tried it for the first time this past Sunday. I was making 10 gallons of Pale Ale. I added 20 drops to the boil. It worked great for the boil. It gently came to a rolling boil with no attempt to boil over.

I was only able to chill down to about 84 F. My 5 gallon carboys were filled to about half up the slanted part. I've always used a blowoff in the past.

I was using WPL001 and had made two forty ounce starters. I pitched around 5:30 pm on Sunday. When I got up on Monday, they were rocking. One airlock lid had been blown off. I put them in tuns of water with a t-shirt over them.

I was out of town for the next 3 days. My wife told me about another airlock lid blowoff on Wednesday. I had her cover it with foil.

What really struck me as unusual is that one of the carboys blew off so much that's it down to about 3-3.5 gallons. The other one is around 4.5 gallons, showing some, but minimal blowoff.

The extreme blowoff smells alright and doesn't look nasty. I'm going to RDWHAHB.

However, I'd like to know if I used the fermcap properly. I was expecting it to eliminate boilover and blowoff.

Any advice is welcome.
 
20 drops in the boil? I've been using like... maybe three drops, maybe four, and it works perfect. Able to maintain a nice, rolling boil without any hint of a boilover.

Pretty sure you have to re-add it if you want to use it in the fermenter, though. As was said earlier, it might precipitate out with the cold break when you're chilling. I'd try again, just add a couple drops to the fermenters and see if it helps. I *know* you don't need twenty drops, though!
 
20 drops in the boil? I've been using like... maybe three drops, maybe four, and it works perfect. Able to maintain a nice, rolling boil without any hint of a boilover.

Pretty sure you have to re-add it if you want to use it in the fermenter, though. As was said earlier, it might precipitate out with the cold break when you're chilling. I'd try again, just add a couple drops to the fermenters and see if it helps. I *know* you don't need twenty drops, though!

All of this is true in my experience. I put maybe 5-6 drops in a full 6.5 gallon boil. And Fermcap will precipitate out after the boil. You need to add more to the fermenter.
 
I'd say, more accurately, you MAY need to add more in the fermenter.

I used to strain my wort by dumping it all through a sink strainer lined with a paint straining bag. Now that I have an O2 rig, I whirlpool in the kettle and rack the wort off the hops and break. I used to notice very low, maybe 1" kraeusens without adding additional anti-foam, but now I have to add a few drops in the fermenter when I don't leave enough headroom.

Supports the notion that it settles out, but doesn't just go away or lose efficacy....
 
Or you can avoid all of the silicone in your beer and have a large enough fermenter for the batch you are making. When considering the size, please note that occasionally you will have a healthy fermentation, so make it even larger.

Forrest
 
Or you can avoid all of the silicone in your beer and have a large enough fermenter for the batch you are making. When considering the size, please note that occasionally you will have a healthy fermentation, so make it even larger.

Spoken like a true salesman! ;)

And I think you should ALWAYS shoot for a healthy fermentation!

:mug:
 
20 drops in the boil? I've been using like... maybe three drops, maybe four, and it works perfect. Able to maintain a nice, rolling boil without any hint of a boilover.

Pretty sure you have to re-add it if you want to use it in the fermenter, though. As was said earlier, it might precipitate out with the cold break when you're chilling. I'd try again, just add a couple drops to the fermenters and see if it helps. I *know* you don't need twenty drops, though!

20 drops was per the instructions on the label of 2 drops per gallon. I've learned more about how it works since then and it makes sense that it would need to be re-added to the fermentor. I'll cut my usage and see how much I really need.
 
Spoken like a true salesman! ;)

And I think you should ALWAYS shoot for a healthy fermentation!

:mug:

Not trying to sell you anything except the idea that you should use the right sized fermenter for the batch you are making. Most batches with a healthy fermentation need more than 6.5 gallons of space.

Almost every homebrew store sells you a 6.5 gallon bucket or carboy. They are too small (imho). Since there are no 8 gallon glass carboys we have an 8 gallon bucket with our equipment kit.

Forrest
 
Not trying to sell you anything except the idea that you should use the right sized fermenter for the batch you are making. Most batches with a healthy fermentation need more than 6.5 gallons of space.

Almost every homebrew store sells you a 6.5 gallon bucket or carboy. They are too small (imho). Since there are no 8 gallon glass carboys we have an 8 gallon bucket with our equipment kit.

Forrest

And here I thought you were trying to sell 8 gallon buckets!



OK, sorry Forrest -- couldn't resist! ;)
 
I used this product when I put 2½ gallons of wort in a 3-gallon glass carboy. I used a 7 gram packet of Coopers dry yeast, which always makes a huge krauesen. The Fermcap appeared to work because the krauesen never got bigger than about 2 or 3 inches, whereas many times it has climbed up right out of the carboy! However, this particular batch was gross so it was dumped. It was Magic Hat #9 clone from the book Clonebrews. I guess the apricot flavor was just gross to me. But the drops were great and I don't intend to put 2½ gallons of wort in a 3-gallon carboy without using them or I'd be asking for trouble. Haha.
 
I always get a massive foam over with my stir plate starters, and I've been meaning to give this stuff a try.
I'm with Yuri, even though I'm about 4 years behind on the post :)

*Just placed some drops on the formation of my next supply list to order before coming here to read.

Or you can avoid all of the silicone in your beer and have a large enough fermenter for the batch you are making. When considering the size, please note that occasionally you will have a healthy fermentation, so make it even larger.

Forrest
Thank you Forrest. I came here to confirm that this stuff was silicone. I was really wondering if it was or not based on what I knew about defoamers from mechanic work. Additionally, thanks out loud for your services. I've greatly appreciated your shop, but most of all your service on an order I placed a long time back - put my yeast on ice at no charge to make sure it arrived in good condition. Still a green brewer here, so thanks for the help.
 
I've seen it work for the first time at a club brew, in a members' 8 gal boil pot in 2007.

I use it now for pressure fermenting in a 5 gal corny, I fill my wort right up to the 5 gal mark (at the seam), add 10 drops and set the spunding valve at 12.5 psig. I have NO blow off coming out on the gas side, except off gasing. :rockin:
 
I just tried the baby gas drops in the boil kettle today. Didn't work for me.

I shook it well.
Added 2 drops per gallon at 205 degrees (just before boil as i have read).

I am downloading a very short video right now and will post it here when it finishes.

Anyone have any thoughts on when I added it? Too soon? Too Late?

Thanks.
 
I use 6 drops of Fermcap- S in a full 6.5 gal boil. I add just as it comes onto the boil, and it works like a charm, every time. Hard to say what's going on with your baby drops, as I've always heard it's the same stuff.
 
Anti-Foam Recipe:

80 Part Food Grade Hydrophobic Silica
20 Part Food Grade Silicone Oil
0.1 Part Food Grade Surfactant

Stir it up and it will turn into a thick paste.


I make it at my work and it is amazing.

For 4L starters, barely stick the end of the clean stirring spoon in the paste and swirl it around the Erlenmeyer flask. After that you can boil all day long.

:mug:
 
Has anyone used this:

Dow Corning FG-10 Anti-Foam emulsion in powder form

It's the only thing my LHBS store has for foam control..I've never used any kind before and was hoping they had FermCap since that's the only kind I've ever heard of.

I need some as I want to ferment about 4.5gal in a 5gallon slim keg.
 
Summary: Fermcap = excellent foam control

Story: Finally gave some Fermcap a try today. Yesterday my beginnings of a 3L starter blew the aluminum foil off and flowed over top of 4L flask with only 2L of wort (without the stirplate on). Added 2 drops into the overflow which made it's way to the bottom through the huge bubbles 10 mins later I was able to crank up my stirplate without a problem. Today added another L to the starter and ran the stirplate pleasantly and it'll go until brew tomorrow.

Too aggressive?
...youtube video
I am truely sorry about the boil over. Wish you didn't have to post that bad news at all. What a PITA.... BUT... your video has be BUSTING up here!!! That was friggin HILARIOUS and useful knowledge growth at the same time. Again sorry for your pain, but thanks so much for sharing.
 
Used Fermcap for the first time today. Just as my 2000mL starter was beginning its volcano impression out of the Erlenmeyer, I put 1 drop in and I felt like a 5 year old that just saw David Copperfield for the first time. :ban: Magic.....the foam disappeared!!!!

I'm all for BAM (Big A$$ Mess) prevention as the cleanup is one of my least favorite pastimes.
 
I started using Fermcap about a year ago when I picked it up on the mainland. Used it ever since. Even convinced the LHBS here on Oahu to carry it when I took it to our AHA Big Brew Day.
 
Used the baby gas drops again on past two brews. Brew 1 - 21 drops at 190F, did fair. No boil over but hop additions caused a good rise I had to throttle back.

Brew#2 - 2 droppers worth (about 2/3 full each) at 205 degrees, worked perfect.
 
Used Fermcap for the first time today. Just as my 2000mL starter was beginning its volcano impression out of the Erlenmeyer, I put 1 drop in and I felt like a 5 year old that just saw David Copperfield for the first time. :ban: Magic.....the foam disappeared!!!!

I'm all for BAM (Big A$$ Mess) prevention as the cleanup is one of my least favorite pastimes.

I only use it on my starters... boiling a 4-5L starter in a 5L erlenmeyer flask is a perilous venture without them.
 
I use it for boiling. Shouldn't be in the final product as I get great head retention. Wouldn't use it for ferm though, but only because I don't trust that my 2 year old bottle in the fridge is sanitary. Also don't really need it in ferm anyway. Not too difficult to slowly get yer hot break to happen in the boil, and then it's a non issue, but I would never give the stuff up for starters in flasks. Fantastic.
 
Back
Top