So i made an 11 gallon batch of Copper Ale clone this weekend and filled 2 5.5 gallon fermentors. I hated to waste any precious wort so i didnt leave much headspace in one of the fermentors. I pitched a healthy yeast starter of a german ale strain that kicked off very quickly. The krausen formed quickly and started blowing off overnite. My question is Is this hurting my fermentation having this much of my healthy yeast blown off or will the available yeast compensate for the loss? This is not the first time ive experienced this and ive never really had trouble attenuating but i was just wondering what yalls thoughts were on this.
Blowoff Tube
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insanim8er
Well-Known Member
It should be fine since there is plenty of yeast in suspension. Blow off is typical. But you still lose your precious wort through blow off, so get a bigger fermenter. Especially if you're filling it to the brim.
I used to always primary 5.5 gal in a 6.5 gal, but now I moved to 1/4 slim kegs. Haven't had any blow off except for recent with a graff I made.it blew off about a tablespoon.
I used to always primary 5.5 gal in a 6.5 gal, but now I moved to 1/4 slim kegs. Haven't had any blow off except for recent with a graff I made.it blew off about a tablespoon.
No, it won't likely hurt anything. You WILL lose beer though. If you want to do 5.5Gs in a 6G fermenter (I do it all the time) use a few drops of fermcap to keep the blowoff/beer loss at bay.
It stops excessive foaming.
insanim8er
Well-Known Member
I don't like putting that crap in my beer because it's silicon. It aids in keeping krausen to no more than 1/2" so you don't experience blowoff in undersized fermenters.
Some say it drops out of suspension and doesn't make it into the beer, but the FDA changed the laws for breweries who use it. They must filter the beer.
The stuff is gooey and hard to measure, so you never know if you're using too much. Low dosages don't harm, but over time who knows... Just not worth it.
I understand Palmer uses vegetable base de foamer, but I don't think its available for home brewers.
Fermcap reduces the amount of foam produced - great for fermenting with little headspace as it will eliminate a good deal of blow off. It also works great during the boil to stop boil overs. I use it in almost every brew.
insanim8er
Well-Known Member
No it doesn't... Like I said its suppose to drop out. But I still don't want to add silicon or anything of the sort into my beers.
Just buy 1/4 kegs to ferment in. They're awesome fermenters. Add a spunding valve and start to ferment under pressure. You can even carb your beer by the time it's done fermenting.
Fermcap works, its safe and it drops out of the beer. It does not effect head retention...at all. You use synthetic chemicals to clean and sanitize things that come in contact with your beer, in most cases you use plastics to ferment/handle your beer (sample taker, autosiphon, racking cane)...fermcap is no less safe then any of these things.
Everyone gets to decide what works best for them, I just won my first best of show last weekend and got 4 gold medals, so I just recommended what works for me, and I'm feeling pretty confident in the results
Everyone gets to decide what works best for them, I just won my first best of show last weekend and got 4 gold medals, so I just recommended what works for me, and I'm feeling pretty confident in the results
insanim8er
Well-Known Member
Fermcap works, its safe and it drops out of the beer. It does not effect head retention...at all. You use synthetic chemicals to clean and sanitize things that come in contact with your beer, in most cases you use plastics to ferment/handle your beer (sample taker, autosiphon, racking cane)...fermcap is no less safe then any of these things.
Everyone gets to decide what works best for them, I just won my first best of show last weekend and got 4 gold medals, so I just recommended what works for me, and I'm feeling pretty confident in the results
Well congrats on your successes, but I absolutely disagree with your statement. I don't see how medals replace a chemistry degree. Just because it doesn't affect your beer, doesn't mean it's not toxic for your body.
I can make almond extract using peach pits, or I can make almond extract using compounds dirrived from bananas and vinegar. Both taste like almond extract, but the extract dirrived from peach pits contain traces of arsenic. Eat enough of that, and you die.
As an off topic subject, to make it more interesting, labels would allow the peach pit extract to be labeled as NATURAL flavors while the banana vinegar would be artificial. So natural is not always better...
Anyway... I would assume since FDA put forth a regulation for breweries who use fermcap s to filter their beer, it's not safe for consumption and/or does not drop out entirely. There's fermcap AT that apparently doesn't need filtering.
I don't see the logic of it being as safe as using a plastic racking cane. That's like saying putting oil in your beer is as safe as dipping a tire in it. The oil might float to the top, but is it out of the beer if you rack everything from under it?
I don't see a problem in you choosing to use it, but I would suggest not going around telling people it's safe because your beer that you used Fercap in has been awarded a medal. I would hate for your tombstone to say, "Here lies a man whose fermcap beer made him gold. He would still be brewing, but the fermcap turned him cold."
Congrats on your chemistry degree. Doesn't replace homebrewing medals. (see what I did there? )
It drops out of the beer. It doesn't go in your body...unless you're eating the yeast cake, but I try not too. FDA assumptions? I'll leave that to you. I assume that's a typical governmental bureaucracy and lobby interests are more influential then public safety.
I'm all done. Said what I thought. I'm here for the brewing discussion is all.
Edit: I'll go around telling people exactly my experience with the product. It's safe, and it works great.
)It drops out of the beer. It doesn't go in your body...unless you're eating the yeast cake, but I try not too. FDA assumptions? I'll leave that to you. I assume that's a typical governmental bureaucracy and lobby interests are more influential then public safety.
I'm all done. Said what I thought. I'm here for the brewing discussion is all.
Edit: I'll go around telling people exactly my experience with the product. It's safe, and it works great.
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