Ogri

Recipes 

Got a packet of campden tabs so I can use my tap water for brewing. Definitely has a chlorinated smell about it, possibly chloramine in there too.

I notice that it says on the packet that they are a sterilant and preservative so I'm wondering a couple of things.

Does this mean I can use campden treated water without boiling for top off? Will using this water for my starsan solution mean I could use or keep the solution for longer, safely?

I realize it isn't going to make my tap water as pure as distilled would be, but sterilant suggests to me that the water is, somewhat, purified as a result. Maybe totally off the mark with this though.

Gavagai

Recipes 

The amount of potassium metabisulphite (Campden tablets) recommended for de-chlorination is about 5% of the amount recommended for killing microbes, which is what wine-makers use it for. If you want to make sure the top off water is sanitary, use 1 tablet per gallon.

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Ogri

Recipes 

Thanks for the crystal clear answer

RunBikeBrew

Recipes 

I've had problems with too much campden causing stuck fermentations. I use it to remove chloramine from tap water. When I used too much (1 tab per 5 gallons), I couldn't get FG's below 1.020. Cut back to 1/4 tab per 5 gal (recommended dose) and FG's were fine.

Ogri

Recipes 

Oops, already started a pale ale batch using, what I thought was the correct ratio of, 1 tab to 5 gallons Pitched yesterday, late afternoon, with a pack of rehydrated US-05 and it's looking a bit un-dynamic at the moment. Recently, every time I rehydrated yeast I had a really quick transition from lag to the beginnings of krausen. Was wondering if the campden tab might have something to do with that.

Will see if the FG ends up a bit high as did exactly the same brew a couple of months ago.
Thanks for the heads up.

BTW, were your brews that ended up with higher FGs extract, PM or AG?

AnOldUR

Recipes 

With the Crosby & Baker campden, it's 1 tablet per 20 gallons for chlorine and chloramine removal.

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Ogri

Recipes 

The ones I've got are LD Carlson, 100 tabs, 550mg.

kombat

Recipes 

Hmm, I recently started using Campden tablets instead of spring water, and the first 2 batches I used them on were much slower-starters than other batches (48-72 hours). Like the others, I used a whole tablet for a 5 gallon batch. Now I'm wondering if that was the problem.

VampireSix

Recipes 

Just to be clear, since I'm new...

I just bought this for my next batch to neutralize chloramine:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/campden-tablets-potassium-metabisulfite.html

It says on it 1 tablet per gallon. I've read various posts on here saying 1 tablet is good for 20 gallons (probably the source of my confusion).

Now, just to make sure I understand all of the other threads/posts I've read, someone please let me know if I've got this right. 1 tablet (550mg) is used to sanitize 1 gallon of water, but (I'm piecing this part together) neutralizes chloramine in 20 gallons of water. So 1/4 of a 550mg tablet is enough to neutralize chloramine in 5 gallons of water?

greendragonbrew

Recipes 

The problem is likely that the Campden tablets in the first 24 hours after added them are causing your wort to be less hospitable to for yeast growth. Try adding less next time.

BYO suggests 1/2gram per 20 gallons.

UPDATE: Do not add one tablet per gallon. This is for wine and for inhibiting wild yeast in wine must 24 hours in advance of pitching yeast for WINE.

Anymore, I get the powder for and just put a pinch in for 5 gallons of water. But, if you want to get precise, measure out 1/8 gram per 5 gallons of water and just stir in.

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