Campden tablets and Chlorine...

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dsgordo

Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by dsgordo » Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:00 pm

Hi all,

I'm slowly but surely getting my dad into brewing and ages ago set myself a little project to make a bag in box style rig, around 50L so more or less a keg, and make it as easy as possible for him.

So far I've got it so he gets a bag of syrup from me and all he needs to do is put it in the temp. controlled box that I made him, add the water and yeast and then leave it for a few days. He can then pull it through the chiller, carbonate it in-line from the bag to the tap as and he when he pulls it through the line.

However, the ciders/beers sometimes have an off taste that I know is from the chlorine and chloramines in the tap water as I've had the problem before.

I'm looking into using a carbon filter from the tap to the bag but as an alternative... I wanted to know if anyone's gotten around this issue by adding Campden tablets to the brew and how well it works?

It would be perfect if, after my dad as added the water to the syrup, I could give him a sachet of yeast and ground up Campden tablets that he could add at the same time and then just leave it. Would this work?

Would really appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks!

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Jim
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Re: Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by Jim » Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:25 pm

I've only ever added campden tablets to the water before mixing, and that does work very well. Not sure if adding it after mixing with the wort would reduce its effectiveness at removing the chlorine, but it can't harm anything as far as I can see (as long as it's allowed to disperse and react fully before you add any yeast).

There's an article on the chemistry of chlorine removal with campden here - http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water_chlorine.htm
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richard080561
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Re: Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by richard080561 » Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:42 pm

Would it be better to add the Campden tablet first and then add the yeast a day later?
Campden tablets are used in wine and cider making to kill off wild yeasts before fermentation and to kill of any remaining yeast at the end of fermentation.
If you add them at the same time as adding yeast you may kill off some of your yeast
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bigchris
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Re: Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by bigchris » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:42 pm

If you add the camden tablet at the same time as the yeast, it will likely just kill off the yeast. Much better would be to add the camden table to the plain water the day before, or even boil the water the day before, just for 1 minute at boiling would drive off any chlorine.

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vacant
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Re: Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by vacant » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:59 pm

Leave the water to stand 24 hours to let the Chlorine disperse - no campden tablet needed.

In 2015 nine water companies used Chloramine, and not in all their sources. Contact your company. If your source has Chloramine then a campden tablet will do the job.

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Kev888
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Re: Campden tablets and Chlorine...

Post by Kev888 » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:45 pm

The off flavours caused by chlorine arise not so much from directly tasting the chlorine itself, but from a reaction between it and the malt. So it is best to remove the chlorine or chloramines in the water before it meets the malt. Inline treatment of tap water is tricky, so most people prepare the brewing 'liquor' in a clean, disinfected fermenter/vessel instead. (TBH my knowledge is based on malted grains, so i'm just assuming that malt extract/syrup would be similar.)

However, unless you have evidence of the cause, it may be worth a test or two to make sure the chlorine is truly behind it. For many people, chlorine in the tap water isn't sufficiently strong to need treating, and there are other things that can cause off flavours.
Kev

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