fermcap

[RobZamites]

Okay..I got the hint, Mr. Jay!

(orders some anti-foam for his brewhouse)

[LCSam]

I think fermcap is a Crosby&Baker product, but I'm not 100% sure about it. However, 5 Star kettle defoamer does about the same thing, and is broken down by the yeast during fermentation. About 2 oz. keeps 25 bbls of wort from boiling over, and head retention is still great.
Cheers,
Sam

[grs]

Sorry to revive an old thread but had to add my $0.02. Used fermcap in the kettle today for the first time and had an excellent boil with not a single boilover, even when adding hops.

I'm gonna bring some home for mamma for when she cooks rice or adds too much bubble bath to the jacuzzi...

[JoeV]

Alternatives

I know this stuff works great and supposedly doesn't remain in the beer after filtration but I just can't help feel a little dirty adding a synthetic oil to the beer. Are there any non man made alternatives?

[Sulfur]

Nay

I tend to vote against this product. Have never used it but I can see the reasoning behind it. The reason being maximization. Sure I can produce more per batch....but it seems to me that a line has to be drawn somewhere. I can also produce more per month if I cut down on lager times, up fermentation temps etc. The less I can do to a beer (and get away with in terms of good beer) the better!

[Greenbrewmonkey]

Hello Sulfur,

Actually I don't use it to maximize production, but for safety reasons. As I mentioned earlier, anyone who does not have automatic boil over protection on their kettle should consider using it and have a spray bottle on the platform to help avoid dangerous boil over conditions.

Having been splashed with my share of sticky boiling wort, I now try to avoid it whenever possible. Strange I know, but that's just me.

One of our many brewery mottos; Safety first!

Rincon 1 to 4? A good day for a long board, I think.

Aloha,
Ron

[monkeybrewer]

fermcap

I tend to agree with Sulfur. I definitely like to keep stuff out of my beer that doesn't grow in a field or the ocean (irish moss). I have also never used it but it seems to me less is more. I also wonder not only about adding a synthetic oil to a brew but also what it takes to make that oil. I like the idea of leaving the smallest brewing footprint as possible. That being said the process to make this stuff may be harmless but using it just kind of seems gross. Another thing I think about is; do people who use this tell there customers? That to me is a prerequisite about anything that goes into my beers. If I don't want to tell the public about something in my beer then I won't use it. As for the safety issue why not just turn down the heat a little bit till you find the amount that won't boil over but still gives you a good evaporation rate (I guess that may be easier said than done though) Just my two cents
Cheers

[Jephro]

Fermcap

Let me first say i agree with you on the Natural thing, and i only use it if i need to, usually just the beers i don't FWH. I was against it when i first saw it, but with a burner that has a "variable setting" of "on" or "off", i have taken a liking to it. I don't like to have to babysit the boil with a hose, there is usually plenty of other stuff to do.

When i do use it it only takes a drop, less than an ounce, to prevent boil over. But for argument's sake lets say i use a whole ounce in 11 bbl's of boiling wort. That's a ratio of 1/43,648.

Personally i would be more concerned with what is used to make water "safe" at your local water facility, or those pharmaceuticals they recently found in many cities water supplies, or what kind of final rinse sani your using....etc....etc

BTW it's great in blowoff buckets too, saves a big mess.

[beauxman]

Clean brewery tip: Nest your 5 gallon blowoff bucket inside a laundry basket/keg tub and drop a dab of fermcap into the 5 gallon bucket with your sani. You will never have to scrub down, spray off floor again from blowoff! Well, almost never...

-Beaux

[fdkassik]

My two cents

I have been using it for well over a year now in the boil kettle with excellent results. I have a steam system and brew mostly by myself. I use 1.2 oz per
7bbl batch. As I recall that figures out to approx. 50 ppm. The tech that I spoke with recomended to start at 100 ppm. I just kept cutting down the dose until it still did the job. However, I was told that it is not approved for cattle if your mixing any with spent grains. I agree to try and keep it as natural as possible, however looking at the big picture the brews are tasting great and it gives me time needed for other projects while in boil.

Have a great day,
Frank Kassik
Kassik's Kenai Brew Stop

https://www.kassikskenaibrewstop.com

[grs]

I agree with Jephro in that there's other things that should be more important to worry about in terms of what's going into the beer.

If you're that concerned with it getting into the finished product that you'd have to tell your customers then I'd question the hops you use as dimethylpolysiloxane was used as a defoamer in fungicide testing on hops.

http://fruit.wsu.edu/hops/Assets/FC009.pdf

http://fruit.wsu.edu/hops/Assets/FC014.pdf

Maybe it's a common defoamer used for all spraying of hops...if it survives into the final stage of beer then maybe it survives the processing of hops...who knows...

I know I'll worry about something else than Fermcap and boilovers.

[monkeybrewer]

size does matter (or volume anyway)

I never really thought of how little would actually be used compared to the volume of beer. Also interesting about the anti-foamer used in hop production. Thanks for the education. After hearing that I better stop asking these questions as I may not want to know what goes into processing the raw materials we all must use. I guess if I ever need it I will consider using it in the future. Again thanks as usual for the great info from our awesome brewing community
Happy Beering!

[grs]

I don't know that it's used in regular hop production, just in those fungicide test cases. I did find though that it's used quite extensively in McDonalds:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html

and hey...if their fries taste THAT good then it must be ok. Interesting to note that it's also included in the ingredients for Sprite and diet Coke.

[monkeybrewer]

yikes!!!

Stop! Stop! I knew the fat was bad in the fries but there's more!? Some things I might be happy not knowing Maybe I'll just turn into a tree hugging, organic vegan eating non-drinker...no, not likely. I guess you can't live forever anyway, so ignorance is bliss.
Cheers

[Jephro]

Maybe I'll just turn into a tree hugging, organic vegan eating non-drinker...no, not likely.
Cheers

Well, you're already making "that dark, #$$#ing hippy beer" anyway...

...(turns down the phish blaring from his stereo)