What to add so that the mash does not foam. The most effective methods for extinguishing foam in Braga

The technology of making mash plays an important role in the quality of the future moonshine. But sometimes the rules are followed, the ingredients are added exactly according to the recipe, and foam begins to collect in the prepared container. Is it harmful, and why does the mash foam? Let's try to find out.

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.

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:

1. The presence in the wort of products that are prone to foaming. These include any legumes (especially peas), grains, and sweet fruits.
2. Violation of the correct recipe. If you put more yeast in the drink than you need, abundant foam cannot be avoided.
3. 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.

What determines the amount of foam?

The intensity of foaming is influenced by such factors:

The type of yeast used. When using pressed baker's yeast, the foam is rich and thick. If you add pressed alcohol and dry yeast to the mash, there will be much less foam. The least foaming is characteristic of wine and grain yeast fungi.

How to administer yeast. If you add them undiluted to the workpiece, there will be a lot of foam. But preliminary preparation - dissolving in a small amount of sweetened water - reduces foaming.

Working temperature. When preparing mash, two parameters are usually used - the upper and lower temperature thresholds. The closer the temperature is to the upper limit, the less foam will be, and vice versa.

Maximum foaming occurs when all these factors are combined. In this case, the foam can tear the glove off the mash and flood the kitchen floor.

What to do if the mash foams a lot?

The question of how to clean worries many novice distillers. You can reduce foaming using proven folk methods. An important point - in no case should you mix the mash, otherwise the volume of the foam will increase.

Adding cookies

A simple and effective folk way. For every 10 liters of liquid, add half of any cookie, after crushing it. The recipe, freshness and taste are not important, but it is better to choose cookies with a minimum amount of flavors.

The foam cap will begin to decrease right before your eyes, 10-15 minutes after the introduction of the supplement. After another half an hour, it will completely disappear.

Cookies can be replaced with brown bread. It also needs to be crushed first. Approximate proportions - one loaf per 100 liters of liquid.

To slightly reduce the amount of foam, you can use dairy products- sour cream or kefir. They are administered in two tablespoons for every 10 liters of wort.

Volume reduction

According to the rules, the mash should fill the vessel by 2/3 of the volume. If this calculation was not taken into account, the liquid will foam strongly. To reduce the foam cap, part of the workpiece must be poured into another container.

This method has several disadvantages. Firstly, during transfusion, part of the wort is inevitably lost. Secondly, a fairly stable specific smell will appear in the kitchen, which will not be easy to get rid of.

Adding vegetable oil

Safe and effective method. You need very little oil, so adding it will not affect the taste of the future drink and will not disrupt the fermentation processes. It is best to use refined sunflower oil with a faint aroma.

The additive is administered at the rate of 0.5 g per liter of mash. The oil forms the thinnest film on the surface of the workpiece, which will prevent foaming.

Temperature drop

This method takes into account the characteristics of yeast fungi. At temperatures ranging from 5 to 16 degrees, their activity decreases sharply. If the temperature is sharply raised to 28-29 degrees, the microorganisms will die.

Expert opinion

Levandovsky Dmitry

moonshine expert

Taking into account these features, the mash is transferred for several hours to a cool place - for example, to the cellar. Before this, you need to control the temperature regime: it should not be higher, but not lower than the permissible one. In 2-3 hours, the foam cap settles, and the mash can be returned to the room again.

This method is convenient in that it does not require the introduction of any additional additives. However, it is not very reliable: after returning to a warm place, the foam may reappear.

Purchased defoamers

Defoamer for mash can be purchased at specialized stores. The composition of such a solution includes components that inhibit the activity of yeast fungi. They are non-toxic and safe for humans, and do not affect the taste of the final drink.

Purchased defoamers can be used at any stage of preparation - both during the maturation of the mash, and immediately before distillation. They are usually sold in concentrated form; before buying, the composition must be diluted with water and added to the wort.

Craftsmen came up with the idea of ​​using baby shampoo instead of a purchased defoamer. It differs from the adult low content of alkali and harmful chemicals, so it can be considered a relatively harmless "additive". The shampoo is diluted with water (a tablespoon per glass) and slowly poured onto the surface of the mash. After 8-10 minutes, the foam will settle.

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 this will activate the fermentation, which will further aggravate the situation.
The best homemade foam extinguishing methods are:

1. Add cookies. The simplest and fast way 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 brown 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 to the mash vegetable oil or dairy products 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.

So, you have put the mash and are preparing to successfully distill it. Unfortunately, there is such a nuisance as the formation of a large amount of excess foam, the release of which is difficult to control. If you do not notice this process in time, then the valuable product will simply “run away” from your container and be spoiled. There are a few easy ways to help prevent this problem.
Attention! DO NOT MIX THE FOAM IN THE BRAG, this will only increase the fermentation process and the problem will worsen.

1. Add cookies.

To solve the problem of excessive foaming, the simplest and cheapest cookies will do. Choose a product that is more natural, without additives and flavors. A croquette type biscuit will do. The cookies must be finely chopped (1 half of the cookie per 10 liters), then gently sprinkle the crumbs over the entire surface of the foam. After a while, the previously formed foam "melts".

2. Reduce volume.

If there is not enough free space in the bottle with mash, then during active fermentation, the foam rises up and begins to pour out. It is necessary to choose the right container for fermentation, as a rule, it is necessary to fill with mash no more than 2/3 of the total volume.

If you find that the mash is actively producing foam and there is no longer enough space, then carefully pour part of the mash into another clean container. With this method, there are a couple of disadvantages: with abundant foaming, it is problematic to drain the mash, as the liquid spills by, while the smell in the room cannot be avoided, and also when pouring liquid, your mash is mixed, which will further increase foaming.

3. Lower the temperature.

The recommended fermentation temperature of the mash is from 18 to 24°C. When the temperature rises, the yeast dies, when the minimum value is lowered, it “falls asleep” and the fermentation process stops. When the temperature stabilizes to optimal values, the yeast is activated and fermentation will resume.
To remove excess foam, place the container with the mash in a cold place (6-16 ° C). Disadvantage: this method allows you to remove the foam only for a while, since then it is necessary to resume fermentation, and when the temperature rises, the foam will reappear in large volume.

4. Add defoamer for mash.

Now there is a special, ready-made defoamer on sale, which you just need to add to the container with mash and this will reduce active foaming.

Such a defoamer is very convenient to use at the stage of fermentation, because it is possible to effectively, quickly, and without loss prevent excessive foaming. By purchasing a defoamer, you can be sure that it will last for a long time, since only 2-3 ml of liquid is needed to extinguish the foam for the best result. To date, this is one of the most reliable methods of defoaming, the cookie does not always help effectively.

Also, the defoamer can be added to the mash that is already ready for distillation. This will help to reduce the formation of foam during distillation.

Defoamers are good for mash, which are made from peas, peaches, rye. These products form a lot of carbon dioxide, so you need to be prepared for the fact that the mash will begin to release a large amount of excess foam. The defoamer is very convenient and easy to use. Before use, you can add a little water to them to make it easier to distribute over the surface of the raw material. It is recommended to mix the mash after adding the defoamer, without fear that even more foam will go.

Braga itself is a product that is prone to foaming. Foam on the mash appears after 6-8 hours. The process is that during fermentation, the liquid is saturated with carbon dioxide, and bubbles form. Without them, from the point of view of chemistry, the extraction of alcohol from sugar is impossible. But sometimes the height of the cap goes off scale, and the mash splits the dishes, squeezes out the corks and simply “runs away” during the cooking process. To prevent this from happening, you need to know all the precautions.

Foam on mash

What determines the amount of foam?

Braga foams at two stages of preparing the drink:

• during fermentation;
• during active boiling during distillation.

The level of foaming is different, it depends on several factors:

• choice of raw materials, which gives a large number of carbon dioxide (peas, fruit mash);
• the amount of raw materials in the tank exceeds the limit of 70% of the volume;
• high room temperature;
• a large amount of yeast or their low quality.

In addition, in addition to running off the liquid, moonshine may become cloudy due to the high “cap” - this is what distillers are afraid of. Foam also appears during distillation for the following reasons:

• incorrectly selected distillation cube;
• low-quality yeast can play a role at this stage as well;
• using products that produce more foam in the process.

What to do if the mash foams a lot?

Part of the raw material, approximately 30-40% of the liquid, can be lost during the formation of foam, which entails financial losses. Playing mash easily spills over the edges of the container, and sometimes spoils the container itself. Sometimes winemakers save themselves from foaming by stirring the liquid, but this is not a way out. Moreover, such measures are highly ineffective and undesirable. The thing is that the alarmed mash will begin to boil even more.

If the mash foams strongly, then the problem is solved with the help of defoamers. Proper use of these substances is able to control the process and does not affect the taste of the drink. You can use very simple methods and recipes without the use of chemical additives and components:

• Putting cookies in the brew. You should not use fragrant sweets, cookies should be simple, without dyes, flavors or fillers in the form of jam and others. Pre-crushed cookies. Half of the biscuit is used for 10 liters of raw materials. The crumbs are scattered on top of the mash in a thin layer. They do not need to be mixed, and the cap will begin to settle under the pressure of the pieces. Thus, the cookies will get rid of the layer of foam and will allow it to form further and ferment the drink calmly. And cookies will not change the taste of mash and distillate in the future. Sometimes distillers replace cookies with Rye bread or even crackers, but this method works worse. And not always the cookie itself is able to cool the ardor of the mash and affect the foam. But in any case, this method should be tested first.
• It will help not to lose raw materials and such a technique as reducing the liquid in the bottle. The bottom line is not to pour a lot of mash into the container, a maximum of 70 percent of the total volume. This precaution will not reduce the foam in the mash, nor will it save the container, but it will save the liquid inside the container. You can use the rule and fill in 2/3 of the volume. If foaming has already begun, and there is more liquid in the container, then part of the drink can be poured into another bottle. But the smell of mash, which will spread around the room, will be really pungent and strong, since it is difficult to pour a neatly foaming liquid.
• Dairy products are suitable in order to extinguish the foam. Sour cream or kefir is often used. Sometimes sunflower oil is taken. If it is oil that is used, then the proportion is as follows: 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of mash. The product is spread as a thin film over the surface without stirring, so that the mash does not foam anymore. Kefir and sour cream is enough to take 2 tablespoons per 10-12 liters and also distribute. The advantage of the products lies in their naturalness, and also in the fact that they do not spoil the taste of mash and distillate. They are compatible with any raw material.
• Lowering the temperature will also work to reduce the activity of foam formation. The optimal indicators are 18-24 degrees. If the temperature is lower, then the yeast will reduce activity and fermentation will be slower. That is why the mash with foam should be placed in conditions with a temperature of 6 to 16 degrees - this will reduce the layer. But remember that after the raw materials return to temperatures suitable for fermentation, the foam will reappear and will again have to be fought.
• Sometimes children's cosmetics are used to remove the foam. For example, hair shampoo in the amount of 1 tablespoon per glass of water. After dilution, the mixture is poured into the container and after five minutes the foam falls off. The effectiveness of the method is good, but the organoleptic of the drink will suffer. It is better not to use adult cosmetics, which contain even more harmful substances.

Purchased foam suppressants

Of course, you can use special purchased defoamers to suppress the activity of the foam. These products effectively affect the foam and speed up the process. A ready-made defoamer for mash is simply added to the liquid along with other components at the preparation stage. As a result, the volume of the cap will decrease.

This is convenient because the liquid is added during the fermentation stage, and in order to see the result, you need only 2-3 milliliters of liquid. One bottle of defoamer is enough for a long time, which allows you to save on the preparation of mash, as well as free up space for a drink. Such a liquid can also be added immediately before distillation on the apparatus. The product will help to cope with raw materials that form a lot of carbon dioxide before distillation (peaches, rye, beer mash).

And the product captivates with ease of use. Before pouring into the mash, water can be added to the defoamer, then the liquid will be easier to distribute over the surface of the raw material. The raw material itself needs to be mixed after adding the defoamer.

Remember that sometimes defoamers should be used, then the controllability of the process will improve. If all the mash escapes during preparation, it will spoil the entire drink and reduce the amount of distillate yield. The choice of products, as well as the right to use natural ingredients or defoamers, remains with each distiller. The main thing is to follow the rise of the foam in time.