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Many novice moonshiners have a problem with foam in the mash, the release of which is difficult to control. In the worst case, part of the product “runs away” from the container to the floor and is irretrievably lost. You can prevent this trouble with a few simple methods that work in any situation.
Attention! Do not try to remove the foam by stirring the mash, as you will activate fermentation, which will further aggravate the situation.
The best homemade foam extinguishing methods are:
The easiest and fastest way to combat active foaming. For quenching mash, only ordinary cookies without flavorings, fillers or dyes are suitable. First you need to crumble it (one half is enough for 10 liters), then sprinkle the crumbs in an even layer over the surface. After a few minutes, the foam will begin to subside, and then completely disappear.
Under the pressure of the crumbs, the foam bubbles burst more actively. As a result, the “cap” falls off quickly, and its reappearance is unlikely. Cookies do not affect the quality of the mash. Instead, you can crumble black bread, but it helps worse.
2. Reduce volume
This is usually done with highly foaming raw materials, for example, pea mash. When there is not enough free space in the container, the foam begins to come out. Initially, it is better to fill the container with mash no more than 2/3 of the volume.
If this recommendation is not followed, during the fermentation process, you need to drain part of the mash into another container. Disadvantage: with strong foaming, it is very difficult to separate the mash without spilling at least a little liquid on the floor, and the smell in the room will not be the most pleasant.
3. Add vegetable oil (sour cream, kefir)
One teaspoon of sunflower oil per 5 liters of mash, poured in an even layer over the surface, well stops the release of foam. The principle of operation is the same as in the case of cookies.
Thick sour cream or kefir helps a little worse (1-2 tablespoons per 10-12 liters of mash). Adding a small amount of vegetable oil or dairy products to the mash does not affect the quality of moonshine.
4. Lower the temperature
The optimum fermentation temperature is 18-24°C. At higher values, the yeast may die; at low values, it “falls asleep” and fermentation stops. When the conditions are right again, the yeast is activated and continues to work.
To knock down the foam, it is enough to put the container with the mash in a cold place (6-16 ° C). Disadvantage: this method only allows you to buy time, since then you still need to resume fermentation, and with an increase in temperature, the foam will appear again.
5. Use baby shampoo
Dilute a tablespoon of baby shampoo in a glass of cold water. The resulting mixture is slowly poured onto the surface of the mash. After a few minutes, the foam will fall off.
Disadvantage: the ingress of third-party chemicals into the mash, even if there are not many of them in baby shampoo, is highly undesirable.