So I'm brand new at this and have read a ton after I already started a few small batches. Some I will just let the run their course and others I tried to do some of what I have learned in the past bits of reading. I have a Cyser going in a 1G bottle. I took off like crazy and I had a good bit of foam on top. I shock it up 2 days ago to aerate (?) and it went right back to bubbling bit the Foam never came back. Comment please. Did I hurt it? Should I not have done this? What affect did this cause?
I killed the Krausen
- Thread starter Squatchy
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Foam doesn't mean much. Some yeasts foam a lot, some fruits foam a lot, some honeys foam a lot, and some don't. It's the fizzing that really matters 
A lot of the stuff that ends up on top of the foam will eventually end up sinking to the bottom of the carboy, so don't sweat it. Go ahead and swirl it to your heart's content, aerating at the beginning is exactly what you should be doing, and swirling or stirring gently throughout the active fermentation even after the need for aeration has passed will encourage CO2 to exit the must which makes your yeast happier. It also keeps everything in suspension so that the yeast have adequate exposure to the food they're supposed to be eating and don't get stuck under a layer of crud as things settle out on top of it. And it can also result in your mead clearing up faster, oddly enough... (it's because it gives the suspended particles more chances to run into each other and stick together into big particles which settle out more quickly).
A lot of the stuff that ends up on top of the foam will eventually end up sinking to the bottom of the carboy, so don't sweat it. Go ahead and swirl it to your heart's content, aerating at the beginning is exactly what you should be doing, and swirling or stirring gently throughout the active fermentation even after the need for aeration has passed will encourage CO2 to exit the must which makes your yeast happier. It also keeps everything in suspension so that the yeast have adequate exposure to the food they're supposed to be eating and don't get stuck under a layer of crud as things settle out on top of it. And it can also result in your mead clearing up faster, oddly enough... (it's because it gives the suspended particles more chances to run into each other and stick together into big particles which settle out more quickly).
