Fermcap in FV and Re-Pitching yeast

[schmogger]

Is there any issues with using fermcap in the fermenter for foam control and being able to re-pitch the yeast form that tank? Thank you in advance.

[beerguy1]

I have done it for years without any issue. I believe I read that some of what makes up fermcap is actually good for the yeast I always try to use as little as possible and in my experience I found after the first dose if you need a second dose it doesnt seem to work as well

[MikeS]

No problem: sterilize it, though

We used to routinely use fermcap and repitch from those tanks at the large regional production brewery I used to work at.

One thing to note is that we plated some out once and found it was far from sterile. We kept a heat plate with some simmering water in it and would boil the fermcap in a small Erlenmeyer flask during knockout to sterilize it before adding it through the top of the fermentation tank. (We would sometimes end up sterilizing it in the microwave when the brewer neglected to drop the flask in the waterbath, too.)

Cheers- Mike

[ATB Consulting]

I've used Fermcap for years in different sized breweries and have always added it to the kettle. You can use it to assist with boil over prevention in the beginning of the boil or just add it near the end of the boil (last 5 - 10 minutes). I'd start with the low end for dosing, around 1ml/bbl and use no more than 8ml/bbl.

The main reason I continue to use Fermcap is to increase the volume of wort in the fermenter with less blow off. This has usually resulted in an additional 2 - 5% of volume per fermenter.

Beers,

Aaron

[schmogger]

Thank you to all that responded.