Campden-Will you please clarify??

[CyderSilverblade]

Ok so Im an newby but Ive read enough and made several batches of both mead and hard cider to know what Im doing..or so I thought.

Campden is to kill off wild yeast/bacteria and to be added BEFORE the yeast (waiting 24 hrs inbetween).

On the leeners website they have mead recipes that say to add the campden after the first fermentation when transferring into a carboy.

Wouldnt it be better to stick with adding it in the beginning before the yeast?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

"Prepare Must

Crush Campden tablets (to suppress bacteria or wild yeast) and dissolve them in 1 cup of cool water. Stir in pectic enzyme to prevent haze in the finished cider, yeast nutrient to provide for complete fermentation and acid blend for balance. Add the solution to the sanitized primary fermenting pail."

It is misleading but, I think you've also misread.

They do only list 5 campden tablets in the recipe but they also describe two separate additions. One in primary 24 hour prior to pitching yeast at an undiscribed rate of crushed tablet per gallon, and then again at secondary at a rate of 1 tablet, crushed, per gallon.

 

[Bandit-brewer]

I've only ever used campden to remove chlorine and chloramine from my water. K-meta is what you want for killing off yeast.

 

[CyderSilverblade]

From Leeners
Peach Melomel

Combine honey with one gallon of water in a stock pot and heat to 180 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim any white film off of the surface. Do not boil.

Remove pot from the heat and place it in a sink of cold water to reduce its temperature. Stir every 10 minutes and change the sink water, do this two or three times.

Add 1 gallon of water, acid blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and grape tannin. Stir well.

Pour the peach puree into the kettle and stir well.

Clean and sanitize your fermenter pail, lid and airlock.

Open the packet of wine yeast and pour it into the fermenter pail. Pour the must into the fermenter. Add water to make a full 3 gallons.

Close the fermenter pail, attach the airlock and ferment at room temperature for 3 weeks.

1st Racking: Racking mead should be done by gently siphoning. We do not recommend using wine pumps or filters. Mead is very susceptible to oxidation. Move the fermenter pail into racking position at least 2 days before actually transferring the mead. This will allow time for the sediment to settle.

Clean and sanitize a 3 gallon carboy, stopper, air lock and siphon set up.

Crush 3 Campden Tablets and place them into the carboy. Gently siphon the peach melomel into the carboy. Be careful not to disturb the sediment.

Add water to bring the level of the mead up to the bottom of the carboy neck.

Close the carboy with an air lock and ferment in a dark place for at least 30 days but not more than 45 days.

 

[Yooper]

I've only ever used campden to remove chlorine and chloramine from my water. K-meta is what you want for killing off yeast.

K-meta IS the same thing as Campden tablets. Campden tablets are a convenient tablet form of potassium metabisulfite. It certainly does not kill wine yeast, at least not in 'normal' doses. In order for campden (k-meta) to kill yeast, you'd have to use so much of it as to render the beverage undrinkable.

 

[Yooper]

Campden (k-meta) is commonly used by winemakers as an antioxidant. It works by binding with the liquid so that oxygen cannot. It dissipates with time, so it is commonly re-added at intervals.

A good basic sulfite level is 50 ppm. It's enough to prevent oxidation and help control bacterial growth, but below the taste threshold. If you don't have an So2 meter, a good guestimate for maintaining +/- 50 ppm of sulfites is one campden tablet per gallon, crushed and dissolved, at every other racking and at bottling.

Six campden tablets is generally equal to 1/4 teaspoon of the powdered K-meta.

 

[CyderSilverblade]

Thank you for the clarification!!!