Campden tablets - open to air

[nik2]

I'm making my first blackberry wine, and it's been steeping for a couple of days and now I'm going add a Campden tablet. I've just read that I should leave the FV lid off during the 24 hours the tablet is doing its job (so the sulphur dioxide can dissipate).

So I'm fine with that, but was wondering what I should be doing at the storage stage. I'm going to store the wine in a bag in box, and assume I should add a Campden tablet at that point in the same way as bottling. However, is it add the tablet and then straight into the box, or does it need leaving open to the air in the same way as pre-fermentation (nobody talks about waiting 24 hours, so I assume not, but what about that sulphur dioxide?)

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi nik2 - and welcome -
The Campden tabs you add to the fruit is to kill wild yeast and bacteria. That suggests that if you pitch (add) your yeast while there is still a great deal of sulfur dioxide (the gas that the tablets produce) this will hobble your added yeast (It may or may not as you are adding BILLIONS of yeast cells and not a few dozen or hundreds). So you want to allow the SO2 to evaporate off after it has eliminated any competing cultures.
The Campden tabs you add when racking or before bottling are not going to impinge on the yeast because that yeast has done its job. In fact the reason for adding Campden tabs now is to add free SO2 to inhibit any uptake of oxygen which will oxidize your wine. The last thing you want to do is encourage air (O2) to mix with your finished wine.

 

[nik2]

Great, that makes sense (thanks for the explanation too, it's good to understand the whys!)

Nik

 

[bernardsmith]

In my opinion the answer should rarely , if ever be a what you should do, and always "here are the whys and the wherefores..." When you understand the underlying principles (and science) then you can better understand what you can do..