Topic: Campdon Tabs

[sueshamen]

What exactely do Campdon Tablets do???
read in books that you can use them to sterilize equipement.
Also to stop a wine before bottling to make sure it doesnt fermant further.
And added in early stages to wine
Now I may be dumb but if it stops fermenting why would it be added to "new wine".
Have made and got bottled up over 50 bottles of homemade country wines...all gorgeous and have never used a campdon tablet

[derbex]

They're added in the early stages -before you add your yeast to kill off any wild yeasts &c. they may give an 'off' taste. Then you wait 24 hours as they work by releasing SO2 -a gas, most of which will disappear in that time -then you add your yeast. If you use boiling water on your fruit then you don't really need them at this stage and as you've found out you don't always get an off taste anyway.

They're just Sodium Metabisulphite in a measured dose -so you can use them for sterilising &c. they have a side effect of preventing oxidisation of the wine (which gives sherry like tastes) and are used (generally with Potassium Sorbate) to stabilise a wine after fermentation.

Personally I don't always use them, and if I do only at the very beginning to sterilise fruit. Some people say they should be used at every racking.

Jeremy

[adrianhumph]

Hi All,  :D
               see my reply to Derek the fox`s query " my rhubarb wine"  It is much better to use a teaspoon of the 10% solution, to replace the campden tablet.

                                          Adrian.

[derbex]

Not really, all you're doing is looking for a measured dose of Sodium Metabisulphate. With campden tablets someone's done the work for you -your way you need accurate (not cheapo kitchen, wouldn't trust mine to measure 50g) scales and a way of accurately measuring volume too.

If you're making large volumes your way is cheaper though.