Why is there no foam in Braga. Ways to remove foam from mash

14.03.202227.05.2017

Stopping foam in the mash is a challenge that many distillers face. Especially often it occurs among those who are just starting to master this field and quite recently (we recommend choosing a device with a brand distillation column). Indeed, with active fermentation, there is an intensive formation of carbon dioxide, which leads to foaming.

It may be necessary to knock down the foam in the mash so that the liquid does not splash out, since this will have to be washed, and the smell is appropriate, and the product is lost.

Not to be confused with jam: if you start mixing the mash, it will only lead to even more foaming! This method will not help to remove foam from the mash, since stirring activates fermentation, which only aggravates the situation.

Sometimes the mash is placed immediately in the distillation cube, then you need to be especially careful to ensure that the foam does not “escape”, since the unwashed remains of the mash on the walls and the bottom will start to burn on the outside. If you want and plan to put the mash directly in the distillation cube, then foresee a slightly larger volume in advance to avoid splashing.

How to extinguish foam in Braga

There are several proven ways to help cope with the brew "volcano":

Spillage Prevention - Compliance with Volumes. The fermentation tank must be filled to ⅔ (maximum - ¾) of the volume, depending on the raw material. Braga on peas actively foams - fill the container only ⅔ of the volume. In this case, there will be a place for foam, and you won’t have to knock it down. If the volume exceeds the required values, then part of the mash can be drained. Just be prepared that during active fermentation, pouring a part of the mash means a little more active foaming during the pouring process: it will be very easy to splash, and the smell in the room will be specific.
The physical method is to lower the temperature. At room temperatures below 18°C, fermentation slows down. If you provide the mash with a medium temperature of 8 to 16 ° C, then you can buy time and run, for example, for defoamers, which will be described below. When the container with the mash is transferred back to the heat (18-28 ° C), the fermentation resumes, which means that foam appears.
Crumble regular cookies on the surface. One of the best and proven options for how to extinguish the foam in the mash during fermentation. The simplest cookies without flavors and additives are perfect for this purpose. A small cookie (one piece for every 10 liters of mash) needs to be crushed, and then sprinkled with foam. The crumbs contribute to the bursting of the bubbles, and the foam subsides and then disappears. At the same time, the cookies themselves do not harm the mash and the final drink.
How to extinguish the foam in Braga with vegetable oil? It is necessary to lubricate the neck and edges of the container. Alternatively, you can simply add one teaspoon of vegetable oil for every 10 liters of mash (pour over the surface in a thin stream). Oil also does not affect the quality of the product in the future.
Apply kefir or sour cream. Kefir is preferred. One or two tablespoons of a fermented milk product for every 10 liters of mash is poured in a thin stream over the surface. That is why it will be more difficult with sour cream, because it is thicker. This will not spoil Braga, the method is environmentally friendly.
An extreme case: a less environmentally friendly option is baby shampoo. Contains, as a rule, a minimum of chemistry, but still it is. One tablespoon of shampoo is diluted in a glass of water, the resulting solution is poured in a thin stream over the surface of the mash.

Thus, it is quite easy to subdue the foam in the initial stages of fermentation, and in the case of using biscuits, butter and other products, foaming does not start again. It is important not to miss the moment of active foaming, and this happens, as a rule, during the first day after laying the mash.

At the stage of preparation of the mash, foam is always formed and is a natural process that is problematic to control. As a result of this, some of the product is lost, and in extreme cases, a split of the container or knocking out of the water seal is observed. To prevent such outcomes, you need to know how to quickly remove the foam from the mash, while not spoiling the drink.

Reasons affecting the amount of foam formation

Foaming occurs not only during fermentation, but also at the time of active boiling. Its level is influenced by many reasons, for example:

Maintained room temperature.
Carbon dioxide coming from the raw materials used.
Excess yeast.
Poor quality raw materials.

An analysis of the causes allows you to determine the faster you can extinguish the foam in the mash, while not changing the taste properties of the drink.

Effective ways to get rid of foam

If the mash foams a lot and runs away, then it is recommended to use one of the following methods:

Crush the cookies. This option requires regular crumbled cookies, without flavorings and fillers. The crumbs are scattered in a thin layer on the surface of the drink and after 1 - 1.5 minutes the following is observed:

bursting of bubbles;
decrease in 2 - 2.5 times the height of the "cap";
further disappearance.

The cookies used do not adversely affect the taste of the drink, and also minimizes re-foaming.

Change volume. The method is suitable when the question arose of how to quickly reduce strong foam in mash. In this case, it is recommended to take a clean container and carefully pour half of the drink into it.
Add vegetable oil. It is necessary to carefully pour the oil (3-4 milliliters of oil is enough for 5 liters) onto the surface of the mash. The product blocks further foaming and reduces the existing head level by 2-3 times.

The uncontrolled release of foam during the fermentation process worries all moonshiners. At the same time, part of the foamed mash leaves through the edges of the container and is lost, which significantly reduces the yield of the product. With an overly active process of foam formation, the mash can completely split the container in which it is located, or knock out the water seal. How to avoid such situations? If the mash foams a lot, what should I do?

Why is foam formed?

Foam can form in two stages: during fermentation and when it boils during the distillation process. The causes of foaming will be different.

fermentation

Foam may form at this stage for the following reasons:

To make moonshine, you have chosen those products that have a strong tendency to foam. These include legumes (particularly peas), sweet-fleshed fruits (peaches), and grains (rye).
The rules for spilling liquid for fermentation in containers are not followed. No more than 2/3 of the vessel should be filled - in this case, the free volume will be quite enough for the mash to “play” without going beyond the allocated limits.
The room where the mash is standing is too hot.
Incorrectly selected amount of yeast for moonshine. In this case, the production of carbon dioxide is too intense - that's why the mash foams a lot.
Poor-quality yeast can also cause the formation of foam on the mash, while the quality of the resulting product will be far from desired.

Distillation

During the distillation of the mash, foam can also actively form. At this stage, foaming of the liquid is undesirable, since this behavior of the mash causes a strong clouding of the resulting moonshine. The following factors influence the appearance of foam during distillation:

All the same low-quality yeast, not suitable for the production of moonshine, leads to the fact that the mash actively foams during distillation.
Insufficient cube volume for optimal distillation of the product.
Foaming at the stage of distillation may be the result of the choice of raw materials for moonshine, prone to the issuance of a foamy cap.

Eliminate unwanted factors

To avoid this unpleasant problem, you need to think about which of the following factors could cause active foaming, and avoid them next time.

Yeast

The choice of yeast for fermenting moonshine is determined by the type of raw material. So, to obtain alcohol from berries and fruits, it is better to take wine, and for grain moonshine - special cereals. The use of all-purpose or baker's yeast is perfectly acceptable for home beverage production, but they tend to lead to increased foaming.

Foam problems rarely occur with specialized or dried baker's yeast. Pressed ones, apparently due to the high content of foreign impurities, often form a rich cap on the mash.

Pre-digestion

The way yeast is added to the mash can also significantly affect the foaming process. Ideally, creating a sourdough should be like this:

Sugar dissolves in a small amount of warm water
Yeast is poured into the starter container
From above, the yeast is poured with sweet water at the optimum temperature (28-29 degrees)
You should wait until the yeast swells and starts to work actively - and only after that you can add the starter to the main container, where it will ferment.

If this process is disrupted, and yeast that is not yet active gets into the container with the future mash, they will subsequently cause active foaming and will ferment incorrectly.

Temperature regime

The temperature at which the mash is kept is also a very significant factor. You need to carefully control the fermentation process and put the container in cool or warm places depending on the yeast used and the behavior of the raw materials during fermentation.

So, at low temperatures, yeast can fall asleep. In a room that is too warm, the yeast can behave too actively, and then a lot of foam will appear on the mash.

The optimum temperature for the smooth operation of yeast is 18-23 degrees. With such indicators, the yeast works and produces the alcohol we need, but at the same time does not emit an excessive amount of carbon dioxide, which leads to foaming.

You will follow these rules next time when producing mash and distilling it. But what to do with the product that began to foam? Defoamers will help to eliminate the problem that has appeared.

Household defoamers

Home-brewing is a very developed area in our country, so folk experimenters have tried many ways to extinguish the foaming process with “improvised” means. Many of them performed unexpectedly well and are still used to reduce foam in mash.

To quickly knock off the hat from the mash and significantly extinguish the formation of foam, ordinary cookies help. For 10 liters of product, a heavily crushed half of a biscuit without aromatic additives is sufficient. The crumbs collapse the bubbles of carbon dioxide, the cap quickly settles and is no longer formed. Cookies do not affect the taste of the future product.
Sometimes, if the foam tends to go beyond the container, the best way out is to reduce its volume, just pour some of the mash into another container.
Vegetable fats and sour-milk products will help to settle the cap and prevent its further excessive formation. Odorless sunflower oil, kefir or liquid sour cream are evenly sprayed on the surface of the raw material at the rate of 1 tbsp. for 10 liters.
Another measure to stop the foaming process is to throw a handful of washed and dried millet into the container. Its principle of operation is also based on the simple mechanical collapse of carbon dioxide bubbles.
Popular in Eastern Europe and inexplicably effective way to eliminate foam is an empty can. The sterilized glass container is closed with a plastic lid and placed inside the vessel with mash. It is clear that this method is not suitable if you use a bottle with a narrow neck for fermentation. When placed inside a small container of carbon dioxide, less carbon dioxide is produced, there is no cap.

These are the safest and best ways to extinguish the foam in the wash. Another effective measure is to move the container to a cooler place if the mash foams a lot.

Factory defoamers

Now it is not necessary to use folk recipes to extinguish the foam during fermentation and distillation. In the public domain today there are industrial food formulations that are inexpensive and effectively cope with the task. Of these, it is easy to make the optimal solution to eliminate the formation of caps.

A factory-made antifoam for mash can be added at any stage in the production of homemade drinks. The funds are added to the ripening mash or before the start of the distillation.

It is easy to use purchased defoamers - just dilute the concentrated agent according to the instructions on the package, pour in and mix thoroughly.

Using folk and industrial defoamers when standing and distilling mash, you will make your work easier and get high-quality homemade drinks as a result.

Excessive gas formation and foaming during home brewing can cause a lot of trouble. And if excessive gassing comes down to just an unpleasant smell, then excessive foaming can lead to the release of some of the brew outward, and the mash can stain walls, floors and, in some cases, even ceilings (when the lid is fired, if you seal the fermentation tank tightly enough) .

You can't mix!

It should be said right away that it is impossible to get rid of active foaming simply by mixing the mash. The fact is that mixing only more activates the fermentation process, accelerates fermentation, and, therefore, enhances foaming. Therefore, the more thoroughly you mix the mash, the more you aggravate the situation, even if in the first seconds the foam settles on the mash.

Method 1. Cookies.

The easiest and most effective way to extinguish the foam in the mash is cookies. It is enough just to take the usual crumbly cookies, which do not have aromatic additives, and add it to the mash. Just one half of one cookie is enough to successfully extinguish the foam in 10 liters of mash. Cookies must be thoroughly crumbled and sprinkled over the entire surface of the foam. Literally in 2-3 minutes the foam will subside. The effect will last for several hours.

Cookies have no effect on the taste and aromatic properties of the future distillate.

The mechanism is simple: cookie crumbs mechanically press on gas bubbles, preventing them from forming. As a result, the bubbles burst, and the crumbs fall onto the lower, next layer of bubbles. As a result, in a minute there will be no trace of foam left.

Often, crackers or plain black bread are used instead of cookies. However, the effectiveness of this method is much more modest than when using cookies.

Method 2. Vegetable oil.

Significantly reduces the intensity of foaming and a thin layer of vegetable oil. It is enough to pour only 5-10 milliliters of vegetable oil on the surface of the mash, as the foam will completely subside. The effect will last longer, however, the method involves initial mixing. That is, you must first mix the mash, and then immediately pour a few tablespoons of oil.

Some moonshiners replace vegetable oil with thick sour cream or kefir. However, as practice shows, sour cream and kefir have little effect on the taste of moonshine itself.

Method 3. Lowering the temperature.

If you see that the foaming is much more active than planned, you can sharply lower the temperature, if possible (for example, take the mash to the balcony in winter). At a temperature of 8-15 degrees, the yeast stops working, as a result of which it is possible to temporarily slow down the fermentation processes and solve the problem with foam. That is, the algorithm of this method is simple: we transfer the container to a cold place, remove the mash in any way, seal the fermentation container again and again transfer the container to a place comfortable for fermentation and a suitable temperature. Recall that fermentation is most effective at a temperature of 22-24 degrees; at temperatures above 20 degrees, the yeast begins to die.

How to avoid excessive foaming of mash?

In fact, excessive foaming is a sign that you have poured too much mash for this container. Accordingly, you need to either pour less mash next time, or select a larger container for fermentation. Try not to fill the container more than 65-75% of the total container capacity. It is best to use 21-liter containers for drinking water - they can be filled with around 14-15 liters (three five-liter bottles) of mash, while foaming will not be so large as to create problems for you.

Quick navigation through the article

The mechanical methods are over, now you can proceed to the review of home suppressors. Each of them is an affordable product (remedy), which is either already at home or waiting for you in the nearest store.

Use sour cream (kefir) or vegetable oil

A liquid with astringent effect, evenly poured over the surface of the wort, is suitable. Added in a small amount, it will stop the growth of foam and at the same time will not affect the characteristics of the mash, and therefore will not worsen the taste or aroma of moonshine.

The proportions are shown in the table below:

Such suppressors are good for their versatility. Thanks to them, even a very original compote mash will transfer all its fruity notes to moonshine. And they are quite effective - they are able to remove foam even from a very actively playing alcohol-containing mass. Another plus is that the same sunflower or olive oil is a product that is literally always in the house, such an extinguisher will be at hand even in the most urgent case. Well, most of us buy sour cream with kefir regularly.

Crumble a cookie

The method is simple to disgrace - judge for yourself:

grind cookies at the rate of "1 piece per 10-15 l";
evenly scatter the resulting crumbs over the surface of the infused liquid (but do not mix!).

And that's all, it remains only to observe how quickly the foam disappears. The method works very simply: the crumbs create pressure and cause the bubbles to burst. Only cookies need to be taken the most common, not sweetened and not tinted, without any filler. It is clear why: any additives can affect the quality of the final product, but a neutral suppressor will not affect the organoleptic properties of alcohol in any way.

Did you know? As an alternative, you can use black bread, although it has a little less efficiency, but it's still good.

Pour in some baby shampoo

A gentle hair product will also help remove the foam. Take just one tablespoon of baby shampoo and dilute it in a glass (200 ml) of cool water. After that, you only need to carefully and slowly pour the resulting mixture onto the surface of the alcohol-containing mass, in no case stirring. In just 5 minutes, the bubbles will fall off.

The disadvantage of the method is that it is necessary to use a hair care product, which, with a high degree of probability, will worsen the organoleptic of the finished product. If you are planning to make moonshine with an original taste and aroma, and, for example, you have mash on tomato paste, you should refuse to infuse even delicate baby shampoo, not to mention an adult one, which usually contains relatively more chemical components.

We figured out the folk "helpers", now let's see how to extinguish the foam in the mash using factory suppressors. At the same time, we will find out why they are convenient, because their advantages are widely advertised by manufacturers.

Features of the use of industrial defoamers

The principle of their action is to accelerate the process of the disappearance of bubbles - when they are added, the cap simply does not have time to form. At the same time, high-quality factory suppressors are environmentally friendly and do not change the organoleptic properties of moonshine. Plus, they captivate with the following advantages:

high profitability - they are usually sold in the form of a liquid, and only 2-3 ml of them is enough for 10-15 liters of wort;
efficiency - they quickly and completely extinguish even raw materials prone to foaming, for example, from the already mentioned peaches or cereals, and will not even run away;
ease of use - they are easy to dilute with water and spread evenly over the surface of the alcohol-containing mass without any problems;
versatility - suppressors can be added both at the initial stage of yeast activation, and immediately before distillation.

Now that you know why the mash foams during fermentation, you just need to choose a method that will help you quickly remove it. Effectively control the “game” of the future drink in a format that is convenient for you, and you can make really cool alcohol, clean and tasty, without extraneous flavor.

Why does foam form?

The foam on the mash is so plentiful that it can squeeze out the cork with a water seal. It is formed due to the increased activity of yeast fungi. These microorganisms feed on sugars, and in their absence they break down starches. In the course of their vital activity, they emit carbon dioxide, which appears on the surface of the wort as a foamy cap.

Foam on mash

Pressed yeast is in a "sleeping" form. After entering a favorable environment, they are activated and begin to absorb sugar. If the conditions are not suitable, activation will not occur, or the process will be weakly expressed.

At the stage of fermentation, the appearance of foam is facilitated by:

The presence in the wort of products that are prone to foaming. These include any legumes (especially peas), grains, and sweet fruits.
Violation of the correct recipe. If you put more yeast in the drink than you need, abundant foam cannot be avoided.
The quality of the ingredients. First of all, this concerns the yeast itself - if they are stale, the wort may not ferment at all, or, conversely, give too much foam.

During the distillation process, foam may appear due to insufficient volume of the cube or the specific composition of the raw material. At this stage, foaming is undesirable - it causes a strong turbidity of the drink.