# Barm > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Barm > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Barm.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barm > Source revision: 1346596003 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Foam on fermenting liquid This article is about the leavening agent. For the bread roll, see [barm cake](/source/Barm_cake). For places in Iran, see [Barm, Iran](/source/Barm%2C_Iran_(disambiguation)). **Barm**, also called ale yeast,[1] is the foam or scum formed on the top of a [fermenting liquid](/source/Fermentation_(food)), such as [beer](/source/Beer), [wine](/source/Wine),[2] or feedstock for spirits or industrial [ethanol](/source/Ethanol) [distillation](/source/Distillation). It is used to [leaven](/source/Leavening_agent) [bread](/source/Bread), or set up [fermentation](/source/Fermentation) in a new batch of [liquor](/source/Liquor). Barm, as a [leaven](/source/Leavening_agent), has also been made from ground [millet](/source/Millet) combined with [must](/source/Must) out of wine-tubs[3] and is sometimes used in [English baking](/source/English_cuisine) as a synonym for a natural leaven ([sourdough](/source/Sourdough)).[4] Various cultures derived from barm, usually *[Saccharomyces cerevisiae](/source/Saccharomyces_cerevisiae)*, are ancestral to most forms of [brewer's yeast](/source/Brewer's_yeast) and [baker's yeast](/source/Baker's_yeast) currently on the market. A [barm cake](/source/Barm_cake) is a soft, round, flattish [bread roll](/source/Bread_roll) from [North West England](/source/North_West_England), traditionally [leavened](/source/Leaven) with barm.[5][6][7][8] In [Ireland](/source/Ireland), barm is used in the traditional production of [barmbrack](/source/Barmbrack), a fruited bread. **Emptins**, a homemade product similar to barm and usually made from [hops](/source/Hops) or [potatoes](/source/Potato) and the dregs of cider or ale casks, was a common leavener for those living in rural areas far from a brewery, distillery, or bakery from which they could source barm or yeast.[1] ## See also Look up ***[barm](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/barm)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. - [Kaiser roll](/source/Kaiser_roll) - [Sour mash](/source/Sour_mash) - [Yeast in winemaking](/source/Yeast_in_winemaking) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) ["Of Pearl Ash, Emptins, And Tree Sweetnin'"](https://www.americanheritage.com/pearl-ash-emptins-and-tree-sweetnin). *[American Heritage](/source/American_Heritage_(magazine))*. May 2017. Retrieved 2023-02-03. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Barm"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Barm). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 407. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Bothams_3-0)** Botham's of Whitby. ["The story behind a loaf of bread"](http://www.botham.co.uk/bread/yeast.htm). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Reinhart_4-0)** Reinhart, Peter (1998). *Crust and Crumb*. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-58008-802-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58008-802-3). Reinhart derived the term from his training under [Monica Spiller](http://www.barmbaker.com). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ayto2012_5-0)** John Ayto (18 October 2012). [*The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink*](https://books.google.com/books?id=NoicAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21). Oxford University Press. p. 21. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-964024-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-964024-9). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Stevenson2010_6-0)** Angus Stevenson (19 August 2010). [*Oxford Dictionary of English*](https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133). Oxford University Press. p. 133. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-957112-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-957112-3). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Chambers1998_7-0)** Allied Chambers (1998). [*The Chambers Dictionary*](https://books.google.com/books?id=pz2ORay2HWoC&pg=PA129). Allied Publishers. p. 129. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-81-86062-25-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-86062-25-8). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Downes, John (28 July 2011). ["BBC Food blog: The ale-barm method: Worthy of revival or just barmy bread?"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2011/07/the-ale-barm-method-worthy-of.shtml). *BBC Online*. Retrieved 14 June 2019. ...the original method of making yeast bread in Britain was a by-product of ale-making. When traditional ale is made, a yeasty froth appears on top of the fermenting liquid, the [wort](/source/Wort). This used to be scooped off, washed and added to bread dough in order to leaven it. Bread made this way is sweeter tasting than [sourdough](/source/Sourdough), and the leavening yeast used to be called 'barm'. Its unpredictability created the word 'barmy'. In the 19th century, the process was refined and industrialized, manufacturing it on a large scale with what is known today as '[baker's yeast](/source/Baker's_yeast)', and used worldwide as the primary method of leavening bread. The barm method appears to be an ancient method developed by Gaelic peoples, and was quite different from that used in Europe, which is to leaven bread with a sourdough or leaven (the French call a similar product 'levain'). When the Romans first conquered Gaul, modern day France, they were astonished by the light sweet bread made by the Celtic inhabitants. Barm bread survived with the Celtic peoples in Britain, Scotland and Ireland, but was not common in Europe, being condemned during the [Enlightenment](/source/Age_of_Enlightenment) as 'unwholesome'. In England, noblemen's bread, [manchet](/source/Manchet), was always made with the barm method, whereas the commoners' bread, [maslin](/source/Maslin), was a sourdough. Barm bread survived until World War Two, and even later in the North of England, largely as barm cakes. Curiously, the old method of making a sponge, or thick batter of flour and water with the barm was still used with the new industrially produced yeast, and was re-introduced to Europe from Vienna where the first yeast factories were established. This became popular in France as a '[poolish](/source/Poolish)', the favoured method of making crusty bread such as a baguette. v t e Bread Types Bark bread Brown bread Beer bread Bun Flatbread Hearth bread Milk bread Multigrain Quick Rye bread Salt-rising Sandwich bread Soda bread Sourdough Sprouted Unleavened White bread Whole wheat Ingredients Baker's yeast Barm Calcium propanoate Dough conditioner Eggs Fat Flour Leavening agent Milk Salt Shortening Sugar Water Equipment Oven Alveograph Bread machine Bread pan Dough scraper Farinograph Lame Peel Stand mixer Warmer Toaster Weighing scales Processes and techniques Autolysis Baking Biga Chorleywood bread process Kneading Leavening Maillard reaction No-knead bread Proofing Pre-ferment Pre-slicing Sponge and dough Steaming Straight dough Tangzhong Vienna process Uses Beer from bread Breadcrumbs Bread bowl Bread pakora Bread pudding Croutons French toast Rusks Stuffing Sandwiches Toast Other Bakery Breadmaking Baker percentage Bread and salt Bread in Europe Bread clip History of bread List articles American breads Armenian breads Brand name breads Bread dishes Bread rolls British breads Buns French breads Indian breads Pakistani breads Quick breads Sourdough breads Sweet breads Swiss breads Toast dishes Category This food ingredient article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Ingredient-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AIngredient-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Ingredient-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Barm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barm) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barm?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.