First cider kit. Question.

[Nash]

Doing a Brewers best cider house kit. If I use tap water do I need to use a campden tablet? Crush it up into a cup of hot water to dissolve, then put in my fermenter with the juice and water? Thanks.

 

[Rish]

Never used a cider kit; cider is just apple juice, nutrient and yeast so don't know why you would use water. If it's apple juice concentrate I'd use campden for tap water if your water has chlorine or chloramines. Or you could use store bought spring water.

 

[Nash]

Never used a cider kit; cider is just apple juice, nutrient and yeast so don't know why you would use water. If it's apple juice concentrate I'd use campden for tap water if your water has chlorine or chloramines. Or you could use store bought spring water.

Thanks. The kit comes with concentrated juice.

 

[Fixerman]

I don't know the answer to this, but what about distilled water or 5-stage Reverse Osmosis water? Seems like those would be safe options too w/out campden.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

I crush it up and mix it in right at the start. I usually add pectic enzyme at the same time. Then I wait 24 hrs before adding the yeast to give the pectic enzyme a head start as I had read the presence of alcohol reduces its effectiveness.

 

[Chalkyt]

Basically, the idea of adding campden tablets is the modern equivalent of burning a sulphur wick inside a barrel in order to kill off any nasties.

Each tablet is a dose of 50ppm per gallon of potassium metabisulphite (or you can just add sodium or potassium metabisulphite powder). It fills a multitude of roles, sanitising, killing off random unwanted yeasts and pathogens on equipment or in the juice, binding with O2 to reduce the opportunity of oxidation etc. It dissipates quite quickly after doing its job.

Although a tablet can be difficult to crush and dissolve, it is a convenient method which avoids having to use powder or a solution which is quite corrosive (I make up a stocksolution made from powder).

A "normal" dose is 50ppm but is somewhat dependent on the acid level of the juice (less acidic = more sulphite needed... if you want to be very precise there are tables for this). As a matter of routine, I will add an initial 50ppm dose to my juice 24 hours before adding the yeast of choice, as "insurance just to clean things up" since usually I am using juice pressed from my apples (which can have yeasts, pathogens, etc that I don't want).

However, it probably isn't essential given that most equipment is glass, stainless steel etc, well cleaned and water supplies are pretty healthy these days. Besides, some people claim to be sensitive to sulphites although I haven't had that problem with my cider.

It is a matter of balancing the issues and making your own decision.

 

[Nash]

I don't know the answer to this, but what about distilled water or 5-stage Reverse Osmosis water? Seems like those would be safe options too w/out campden.

Thanks. I will just buy some spring or distilled water to be safe. Will probably taste better too.

 

[Raptor99]

Yeast need trace minerals, which are not present in distilled water. So if you want to buy water, get some spring water.

 

[Nash]

Yeast need trace minerals, which are not present in distilled water. So if you want to buy water, get some spring water.

I did. Thanks.

 

[Nash]

I did the kit on Saturday night, getting some bubbles today, Monday. Not alot but it's going. My OG was 1.051. The kit calls for 6 gallons of water with an OG of 1.041-1.044. I used 5 gallons instead.

 

[sodamhwf]

Doing a Brewers best cider house kit. If I use tap water do I need to use a campden tablet? Crush it up into a cup of hot water to dissolve, then put in my fermenter with the juice and water? Thanks.

I would just to kill anything that was in there plus it helps get rid of the chlorine in the water

 

[beren]

Yeast need trace minerals, which are not present in distilled water. So if you want to buy water, get some spring water.

That’s solved by adding the right nutrients more so than worrying about tap water chemistry. Enzymes for the mash do prefer certain salts in the water but it seems a little bit less important for cider and country wine as long as nutrients are added