campden tablets

[eddie hitler]

i know how to use them before fermentation, but how do i go about using them to 'clean' the juice ect before i start brewing?

is it still one per gallon?
and how long does it need to be left before i start?


many thanks EH

 

[Moley]

Country wines typically start out either with fruit/flowers/leaves etc. and cold water in a bucket, in which case you crush in one CT per gallon and usually pitch your yeast after 24 hours, or with fruit/veg and boiling water, in which case you pitch the yeast when it has cooled sufficiently and don't use CTs.

I don't really understand what you mean by “cleaning the juice”, if you are using carton juices then the yeast goes in straight away and you don't need to use CTs.

 

[eddie hitler]

cheers,

im wanting to prevent anything untoward growing in my birch wine this year, last year i lost half of it to infection


many thanks EH

 

[Moley]

Understood now :thumb:

I don't generally use CTs, I make a stock solution of 2.5 tsps of sodium metabisulphite powder in 250ml of cooled, boiled water and keep that in an old finings bottle. One teaspoonful of SodMet is supposed to be equivalent to 10 CTs, so I use 10ml of that solution in place of 1 CT.

However, if using a level half tsp of SodMet powder in a 5 gallon must I have found it has ‘cleaned’ the juice to the extent that I've had a pig of a job getting it to ferment, even after a few days, unless I've used a vigorous yeast starter.

It's also significantly cheaper than the tablets.