Campden tablets when bottling

It hadn't even occured to me to be concerned about this until after I bottled two batches of still mead:

I stabilized each 1gal batch with 2 crushed Campden tablets and immediately bottled. Later I read that one should wait another 24 hours before bottling because of the gas it produces. Since I'm not too interested in exploding bottles, should I take it back and out and rebottle it in a day or two, or is it unlikely to be a problem?

giacomo said:

It hadn't even occured to me to be concerned about this until after I bottled two batches of still mead:

I stabilized each 1gal batch with 2 crushed Campden tablets and immediately bottled. Later I read that one should wait another 24 hours before bottling because of the gas it produces. Since I'm not too interested in exploding bottles, should I take it back and out and rebottle it in a day or two, or is it unlikely to be a problem?

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Well it's quite normal to stabilise i.e. sulphite and sorbate, rather than just sulphite, because if there's any yeast cells left in the batch, then it's possible that when it warms up a bit, if there's any residual sugars left, that refermentation can start.

The sulphite doesn't kill the yeast, it just stuns it (and the sorbate would stop it from reproducing).

Also, it's normal to de-gas the batch before bottling.......

So, if you're happy that the fermentation is complete/finished etc, it shouldn't be a problem.

Hence it's up to you whether you think it necessary or not.....

regards

fatbloke

I didn't use sorbate, since I'd read that it can develop an off-taste in aged wine, and I prefer mead that's been thoroughly aged.

It's being stored in the same area that it was brewed in so I'm hoping the temperature won't change noticably, and as far as I can tell it's completely dry, so I wasn't worried about residual sugars.

Basically, I'd just read that the Campden tablets themselves cause a bit of gas release unrelated to the actual fermentation, and I wasn't sure if it was such a trivial amount that it wouldn't matter, or if it was enough to cause a pressure problem in the bottle.

sulphite wont produce that much gas. it takes a considerable amount of pressure to make a bottle bomb, rocket, or volcano (if your bottles and corks are in good condition)