Brewing an Irish red today. First brew in months and I guess I'm rusty. Well realized I didn't use a campden tablet in my strike water but remembered to use it in my sparge water. How screwed am I. Can I add it crushed to the mash?
Can I salvage this (urgent)
- Thread starter Hayden512
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landshark
HMFIC
I've been brewing for years and have never used a campden tablet. (I've never even bought any) 
You will be fine.
RDWHAHB.
You will be fine.RDWHAHB.
TexasDroughtBrewery
Well-Known Member
Yup, never. I would say save your money and stop buying them also.
bigdaddybrew
Well-Known Member
Campden tablets can be used to drive off chlorine and related chemicals from municipal water treatment to prevent off flavors. Some say bandaid like chlorophenols.If these chemicals are in your water in high enough concentrations you may have issues.
Right on. I always add 0.5 grains (not grams) of K-meta per gallon of tap water for de-chlorination. I figure it cant hurt.
Campden is so easy to use and so cheap, I wouldn't gamble by not using it. Many sources, including How to Brew, caution about off flavors. Since you forgot it on this one, just hope for the best.
Unfortunately, it's too late to add it after you mash because the reaction happens between the malt and the chlorine/chloramine pre-boil in the mash.
Hopefully, your chlorine level is very low, and you won't notice it too much. Let us know how it turns out for you.
Hopefully, your chlorine level is very low, and you won't notice it too much. Let us know how it turns out for you.
Brew_G
Well-Known Member
I've been brewing for years and have never used a campden tablet. (I've never even bought any)
RDWHAHB.
Then maybe you each have very low chlorine/chloramine levels in your municipal water and it truly doesn't matter. Lucky you!
Not everyone's water is the same. If the OP has water with higher levels of chlorine or chloramine in it, then he/she may have an issue. Just because one person doesn't have problems with it doesn't mean the next person won't.
Good luck, Hayden!
ryanryates
Well-Known Member
Agree^^^
It only makes a difference if you've got chlorine or chloramine you've had problems with in the past. If it hasn't been an issue so far, no big deal. If it's a problem, just remember for next time!
An engineer at our water department told me that chlorine evaporates out of water at fairly low temperature, 80f iirc. Chloramine is more stubborn. Check your water report.
stella_tigre
Queen of the Upper Mississippi
If your water is chlorinated, it can cause off flavors in beer. Not on my list of issues, as we are on a private well. These off flavors, according to Yooper and others, will NOT age out of the beer, as opposed to some other off flavors. Edit, as was said already chloramine is nasty in beer...
In cider, wine, etc, it is used to kill off unwanted yeasties and other bugs (acetobacteria for instance) before pitching yeast, and during aging. Edit: also to alleviate oxidation issues
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MizzouFermentationScience
Hanseniaspora ebrius
+1 for NO campden needed
stella_tigre
Queen of the Upper Mississippi
Pretty sure that's a big nope.
kev211
Well-Known Member
Nope. Distilled has no minerals in it so typically you need/want to add minerals to it.
You don't need to remove chlorines but you do still need to build the water profile to fit your target.
kev211
Well-Known Member
Right. Thats why I wrote that you need to add the minerals back into it
slym2none
"Lazy extract brewer."
Unless, as previously stated, there is a chlorine/chloramine issue with the tap water.
kev211
Well-Known Member
Well I completely read that the wrong way the first time!!!!
Ha! Its all good. I just read your comment and thought "whats this guy on? I said right there in my first post that you need to add minerals back in" haha
I believe certain yeasts are more likely to produce off-flavors in the presence of chlorine/chloramine than others. I have a low level of chloramine in my tap water, and I never noticed an issue for the first couple years I brewed. The first time I tried Brett, the beer tasted like a bandaid box. Researched, found campden, and I use it for everything now, regardless. I think Brett and probably some other POF+ strains are more likely to produce the off-flavores, while more "normal" strains are less likely. So, most likely the yeast you're using will be fine, but who knows. If your chlorine/chloramine levels are high, any yeast could probably produce those off-flavors.
Exactly. Too many people telling OP not to use them without knowing the levels of chlorine or chloramine. If others don't need to use campden tablets, that is great. Some people do and it is needed. Chlorine and chloramine can cause off flavors. Some people have very high levels of chlorine and chloramine in their water. A 50 cent tablet each brew is a very cheap fix for that.
I read somewhere that municipalities occasionally shoot a higher than normal amount of chlorine or chloramine in the water, to clean everything out good. So even if you haven't had problems, you could if you're unlucky.
GHBWNY
Well-Known Member
It's been stated, but it's worth restating: the only thing that determines whether or not an additive is needed is a Water Report, and not someone else's arbitrary advice or personal experience. OP needs to get a report from his/her municipality and based upon that, determine for him/herself whether an additive is warranted.
BeerEngineer15
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Never used them on beer, only on my meads.
landshark
HMFIC
However, the OP asked if he could salvage the beer (an Irish Red). The response was simply a campden tablet is not required to the mash to try to salvage. Water reports and chemistry is a much more detailed science than a beginners brew section needs to get involved in. For the sake of a beginner or a rusty brewer, water chemistry is not something that should be considered unless their own water is undrinkable as just brewing won't cover most off flavors.
It's brewing beer, you can be as detailed as you want, or as care free as you want. However, just because a campden tablet was not added is not going to ruin a beer.
Yooper answered the second part of the question with it can not be added to the mash.
Water chemistry has it's own section in the threads.
Here is your direct quote "I've been brewing for years and have never used a campden tablet. (I've never even bought any)
You will be fine."This does not mention anything about if he can or cannot salvage the beer. You are stating that you don't use campden tablets and he will be fine.
There was another post agreeing with yours and another post telling the OP to save his money and stop buying them.
In your latest post you said "The response was simply a campden tablet is not required to the mash to try to salvage". All 3 of those posts don't mention anything about if his current batch can be salvaged. They are all referencing him using campden tablets and to stop using them all together. This is what my original post was referring too. Just because you don't use them or don't need them, doesn't mean the OP will be fine. If the OP does have chlorine problems, there isn't anything to salvage the beer now. A campden tablet now won't help...BUT it will absolutely help before a brew day.
This has nothing to do with water chemistry. Anyone can use 1/2 a campden tablet even if you are using RO water. If you don't have a water report showing chlorine or chloramine but you think you have an issue, campden tablets are so cheap that it doesn't make sense not to use them. Hell, I know people on here that have never had an issue with chlorine but use 1/2 a tablet just for peace of mind. No harm in it. Half a tablet is 4 cents.
In terms of water chemistry, there is another section about this so I won't get into it here but I feel it is a very important part of brewing and is not that difficult to understand. I've been brewing for a while and just got into water chemistry. Once I found out how easy it was to understand the basics I was mad I didn't do it when I first started brewing. You don't need to know the why or how of it all, just what your water is, what you need it to be and what minerals to use to make it that way. A Ward Labs test and 5 minutes with Bru'n water will do that. Brewing an IPA with RO water, enter your grains, select IPA from the water profile and try to match the mineral additions to the target profile. Can't get any easier than that.
phendog
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Great info and thank you. I was genuinely interested in this and sensed there was more to the story.
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