Aeration/Foam Question

Just started AG, full boils, and the like. I'm wondering if the foam that boils up as I aerate will have a negative effect on the final product with regards to head retention. I aerate in my BK after using the wort chiller, then rack to my carboy from there, leaving several inches of foam in the BK.

Probably a dumb question, but work this week is slow as we're on a plant shutdown.

 

Not a dumb question at all. I've heard various opinions on this, some saying that any foaming before serving the beer is "lost", but my experience doesn't correlate with this and I'd want to know the science behind such opinions before having my own final conclusion.

Obviously, for oxidation reasons, you don't want it to foam up after fermentation, but I shake the crap out of my Better Bottles for aeration before pitching the yeast and get good foam stability in the final beer. So, to answer your question, IMO no... foaming during aeration does not negatively affect beer foam stability.

 

menschmaschine, thanks. To be clear, I'm speaking of foam that's generated by aeration prior to transfer to the carboy, leaving the foam behind in the aeration vessel.

 

Oh, I guess I should have read your post a little more thoroughly.

Well, now that I have, I think it's possible to suffer negative effects on head retention. If you're leaving foam in the BK, that foam will contain some of the proteins that causes foam in your beer. Have you experienced a lack of foam stability in your beer? If so, you might consider finding a different way to aerate so that any foam ends up in your fermentation vessel.