Campden Tablet Usage - Didn't add before

[Farrec54]

Hi all,
I am VERY new to wine making. It was a past time that my great grandmother loved and I recently inherited her recipes and equipment. I have made a carrot wine but used water which would have chlorine in it. Having read up on Campden Tablets I now realise I should have added one to the must before fermentation, or is it just to the water that I was using to make the must?

Also, my fermentation has been going on 14 days and when checking the specific gravity today it seemed to still be fizzing so I'm assuming it needs more time. The percentage is currently 9.9% so I'm planning on checking it over the next couple of weeks to see if the specific gravity changes. So far though, it tastes great - very shocked by this!

Any information on whether my batch will be ruined by the lack of campden tablet to start with would be much appreciated!

Also there is small bits of fruit still suspended I the mixture and it is cloudy, I know the campden may clear the cloudiness but I'm wondering what do people use to filter out the fruit residue?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[cmac62]

I don't make wine, but I do sometimes do mead. As for the camden, this is generally used to remove the chlorine, Chloramines from the tap water. I think it something like 1/2 tab for 10 gals of water. Taste will tell you if you messed up leaving it out. For fermentation, some of the fizziness may be CO2 in solution, the only way to tell for sure is take measurements and when you get two or three at the same SG you know the ferment is done. I made a carrot wine once using apple, orange and carrot juices and I bottles it cloudy and let it settle in the fridge. It poured perfectly clear, but there was a bit of sediment in the bottle so pour carefully. I hop this helps.

 

[Farrec54]

Thanks so much cmac62, really appreciate the information. It still tastes a bit sweet so will definitely take the SG a few times over the next while to see if it varies.

I've read online to use a campden tablet after fermentation before bottling to prevent oxidation when being bottled as it is easy to accidentally introduce the air into the solution when pouring etc. Would you advise this? Many thanks.

 

[cmac62]

camden can also be used for that, but be careful with the amount as it can lead to sulfur smell if the camden is not all used up with the o2. I will typically use 1/8 tsp Ascorbic Acid instead. I'm not sure if this is as effective but they are both o2 scrubbers.

 

[Farrec54]

Great info thank you, I only have powdered citric acid on hand at the moment, would this work too?

 

[cmac62]

I think it should work also. Something like an 1/8 of a tsp should not effect flavor.

 

[Farrec54]

Thanks a million, take care.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Farrec54 and welcome to this forum. Always better to look for chlorine-free spring water (bottled water) but if your municipality adds chlorine I would add the equivalent of 1 campden tablet to every gallon of water to help neutralize the chlorine . You may also want to boil the water to help evaporate off the chlorine and perhaps leave the contents of the container exposed to the air for the same reason: campden tabs will prevent any microbial activity from gaining any toehold.
However, if your city or town adds chloramine in place of chlorine this they do specifically to prevent the equivalent of the chlorine from evaporating: chloramine does not evaporate off in the way that chlorine does and SO2 (campden tabs) cannot neutralize that compound).
Wine makers tend to add SO2 (whether in the form of campden tabs - premeasured, or as potassium metabisulphite) to kill indigenous yeast and/or to inhibit oxidation but if you are fermenting commercially produced carrot juice (or any fruit juice sold commercially) in the US of A there is really no need to add K -meta as the juice you will buy has been pasteurized to prevent spoilage and yeast cannot survive at such temperatures. If you are extracting the juices yourself then you may want to add K-meta but that said, when you pitch (add) an active and large yeast colony that colony is going to create an environment that suits itself and which leaves all competing fungi and bacteria in a very unfavorable world.

 

[Farrec54]

Thanks so much Bernard Smith, the way I made the wine was by boiling carrots, lemon juice and ginger. All directly from the veg and fruit. I'm sure there are more efficient ways but wanted to follow the recipe seeing as it was a family one. Thanks for all the information, really appreciate it. I have access to water from a well with nothing added so will use this in future. I am from Ireland and the town/city water would have added chlorine I believe but would need to check that it isn't chloramine. Thanks again!

 

[bernardsmith]

You might also see if you can juice raw carrots. I suspect , but am not certain that that might provide a very different carrot flavor profile. Have no idea what might be available in your local supermarkets but here in the USA , we can buy carrot juice sold as a healthy drink and that juice made by pressing raw carrots is in and of itself very tasty.

 

[Farrec54]

I'm sure carrot juice is available here just not as readily as other fruit juices. It's not something I've looked for before. I'm going to try elderberry and then sloe when they ripen in the trees next. Fingers crossed it will work out well will definitely use campden tablet in this before fermentation as I have heard yeast can live on this fruit naturally so best to use one to be safe. However, I have the sodium one and not potassium, have heard it can impact on taste a little but I will check package and add correct amount.

 

[cmac62]

I would add the equivalent of 1 campden tablet to every gallon of water to help neutralize the chlorine . You may also want to boil the water to help evaporate off the chlorine and perhaps leave the contents of the container exposed to the air for the same reason: campden tabs will prevent any microbial activity from gaining any toehold.
However, if your city or town adds chloramine in place of chlorine this they do specifically to prevent the equivalent of the chlorine from evaporating: chloramine does not evaporate off in the way that chlorine does and SO2 (campden tabs) cannot neutralize that compound).

I tab per gallon is to stabilize with Ksorbate, not for chlorine/Chloramine for chlorine/chloramine removal it is recommended on tab per 20 gals, and it does remove both chlorine and chloramine.