Scrape Foam Off Boil?

Am I being obsessive compulsive when I scrape off the excess foam off the boil? Should I leave it?

I'm on my third boil and I haven't even bottled my first one yet. I do feel my technique getting tighter though. The first brew was hap hazard, the second much better. Now on my third and it's going real smooth, but that foam looks like it could cause some nasty flavors. Am I wrong?

It won't cause any nasty flavors at all. It is all part of the process.

What you would be removing is protein. It would reduce the amount of hotbreak and reduce the boilover hazard, but a certain amount of protein is needed for good head retention. A long time(20+ years) brewer friend of mine swears by it as a means of preventing boilover. Since I seldom have any concerns with boilover, but am concerned about head retention I'm on the fence.

If you're worried about boilover just use a spray bottle on the mist setting. It'll knock it right down.

I'm not worried about boil over. I just wasn't sure because I vaguely remember reading somewhere to get a slotted spoon for scraping off foam. It's all good, I'll leave it alone because i want that head retention. Thanks for the info.

Right….the foam is protein, but if left it will decrease shelf life. With that said I usually don’t scrape but if I’m brewing a special batch….why not.

i use a SS splatter screen that;s just a bit smaller than the inside of my pot and skim off the foam as the pot starts boiling.

but if left it will decrease shelf life

Click to expand...

Wow. That's a whole other dimension to think about.

Most of the protein will be caught in the hotbreak, which will be filtered out. The protein that is left should provide with plenty of head retention.

King of Cascade said:

Right….the foam is protein, but if left it will decrease shelf life. With that said I usually don’t scrape but if I’m brewing a special batch….why not.

Click to expand...

Most of that protien will drop out in the primary, or even the kettle if you siphon the wort off of it. Using a fining agent like irish moss or whirlfloc helps.

Most of that protien will drop out in the primary, or even the kettle if you siphon the wort off of it. Using a fining agent like irish moss or whirlfloc helps.

Click to expand...

True that but if it's your hobby and you’re making a special beer and want to do something extra to make it last longer....why not
Like I said I rarely skim off the foam because the break could be used by the yeast as food.

King of Cascade said:

Right….the foam is protein, but if left it will decrease shelf life. With that said I usually don’t scrape but if I’m brewing a special batch….why not.

Click to expand...

I've never heard that scraping foam off will increase shelf life. Not that my beer is going to ever last that long as is.

Do you have a source for that?

I don't skim off the foam because usually there's a nice deal of hops residue in there, and I don't want to muck with the bitterness.

If that means I have to drink my beer faster, oh well, I guess I just will.

I always stir it back in. I didn't even know it could be an issue! This could prove a good learning thread for me!

AIU, the main idea behind the 90 minute boil is to give brewers a buffer zone for hot break and skimming I forget the benifits but there is a good write up here to explain;

http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue1.4/barchet.html

For the yeast benifit, it is actually the cold trub that is preffered in teh fermenter. Which IIRC is eluded to here;

http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.2/barchet.html