Oh no! I forgot the camden tab!

[Jolum]

In wine making they've been using Campden tablets for years to kill off wild yeast in the must and as a (very) mild disinfectant to keep bacteria at bay. As far as I can recall there was never any mention of using Campden tablets to get rid of the Chlorine in the tap water, we just used to boil it or let it stand over night but then again, the last fruit wine I made must have been over 10 years ago so maybe things have changed.
When were these boil resistant Chloramines first added to the water supply anyway? Perhaps that's why they were never an issue in my wine making days

[BarnsleyBrewer]

there are consequences if it is grossly overdone. It is cheap and effortless if, perhaps, unnecessary.

What are there are consequences??
I might be wrong on this but don't some fruit winemakers use around 2 campdens in 1 gallon? I use around 2 in 10 gallon, surely the chemical as been diluted to a safer level?
I'd be more worried if I had to add more CRS per litre like some brewers do.

I'm no chemistry expert, am I right in my thinking?
BB

[Graham]

One persons chemical flavour could be another persons plaster or tcp flavour etc etc.

But there are half a dozen 'medicinal' type tastes/odours that frequently occur that have half-a-dozen different causes; most of which are bacteriological. Admittedly identifying them can be a problem.

The use of betadine, iodophor etc is another possibility given that people seem to have this inbuilt belief that if a little is good, a lot is better and it's not uncommon to find people have been being a little over generous with their iodophor solutions. Whether 12.5ppm-25ppm is genuinely effective, who can say without testing it but we have to assume that it is given that it is a figure that has been around for sometime now and is included in published texts such as books which cover disinfecting in dairys and not just articles written by enthusiastic homebrewers.

Iodophor is funny stuff in that it is highly sensitive to pH and concentration; both have to be balanced for it to be effective. Increasing concentration above say 50 or 100 ppm can actually make it less effective. So more can in fact be worse. Nobody seems to know why.

The only time I have seen 12.5ppm advocated, outside of enthusiastic amateurs, is in the American BTF (Bar Tender's Friend) documentation where they recommend that concentration to stop nasties growing in the final rinse water of pub glass-washing machines. These high duty machines partly recycle the rinse water which provides opportunities for things to grow. 12ppm of the proper type of iodophor is adequate for water disinfection, for a while at least. I am not convinced that 12.5 ppm of even the proper iodophor is good enough for surface disinfection. Anyway, it was this damn BTF stuff that started it all off.

Any more than 12.5-25ppm though and there is a real possibility that it will taint brewing liquor, especially if not allowed to drip dry.

Yep 'iodoform' is official off-flavour number 505 in the EBC / international list of beer flavours.

I'm aware that sodium metabisulphite is an antifermentative (although a poor one I have read), hence potassium sorbate being the prefered antifermentative among those in the know - i'm told. The use of sodium or potassium metabisulphite in the mash tun to reduce oxidation is not something that I believe in myself, appart from the theory of HSA be massively over done, if nothing else it just passes on the potential for oxidation further down the line.

Brewers' yeast if fairly immune to metabisulphite, as are about half the bug species.

I believe sulphites, even when over done can dissapate over time allowing fermentation to restart (something along those lines anyway) but considering it is used at a rate of 1 tablet per gallon by winos, you have to go some way to over do it. (whether the boil accelerates dissapation i'm unsure - I suspect it may do).

One of the issues with overdoing it is that the yeast can turn it into hydrogen sulphide giving a rotten eggs character. Lager yeasts seem to be particularly good at this, and there was a recent post by an ale brewer on here that seems to have suffered that problem. It is very common with the wine makers and cider makers on here, because supermarket fruit juices are stabilised with metabisulphite. My guess is that it dissipates in time, but it has caused some cidermakers to ditch the batch. It doesn't happen if you have got a bit of copper in your system, according to Charles Bamforth, because the copper catalyses it into something else that the yeast can't get at, but it still provides the anti-oxidant effect.

[micmacmoc]

I'd better let you know that I'm drinking that wheat and its doing the job. World cup wit. well the cheats are (mostly) out. so thats good.

er....too many too .....good. hic.
pickled egg too.
Er, how do I explain?
Ah heres it in musical form:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAkOhXI ... re=related

so don't worry, beer always wins.

[Mattypower]

Would the chlorine dissipate itself if you leave the water in a container for 24 hours prior to use??????

[Aleman]

Would the chlorine dissipate itself if you leave the water in a container for 24 hours prior to use??????

Not really the half life for chlorine dispersal when standing is something like 36 Hours, With Aeration (using an aquarium pump) its something like 6 hours, boiling is around 20 minutes, and a campden tablet it is something like 30-60 seconds

[Mattypower]

Fair enough!!!!