Campden Tablets & a Boil? Is that ok?

Hi,

I have bought some Campden tablets for my next brew. The last one (my first full grain) was malty, clear but still had that home brew taste that I got from the boots kits when I was younger.

I'm sure it must have been either my water (chloramines) or even the cleaning fluid.

I can't believe that with all that mashing effort it tasted not that much better than a kit. Just clearer and maltier.

Anyway. Last time I did a boil for 30 mins on the water I used to brew / sparge.

This time I'm going to use a Campden tablet. Does it matter if I use this as well? Should I then add some salts? I live in Devon with pretty soft water.

Thanks - Nick

you can definitely treat the water for chloramines with campden tablets. 1 tablet is good for 20 gallons to remove chloramine and chlorine...I ususally split one tablet between two 5 gallon jugs of 'brewing tap water'.

That said, make sure you treat your yeast like a queen. I've tasted phenomenal extract kit beers, and I think the 'newbie twang' we often taste can many times be traced to yeast pitching and fermentation temps (optimal pitch rates and optimal temperatures) giving the best beers.

So I call it newbie twang not extract twang

Campden tabs are great, I do the same thing as malkore to treat my water. Do you have a water profile for your tap water? My hoppy beers didn't come out right until I found out my water profile and adjusted with gypsum, out of the tap my water is well suited for super malty beers.