Leave chlorine to "dissipate"?

[NickW]

Hey guys,

I'm just starting up my 28-day wine kit, and looking at the instructions.

It says...

"Most mucicipal water supplies are chlorinated, which can intefere with yeast, leading to an incomplete fermentation. It is strongly recommended that tap water be drawn off the day before use and allowed to sit overnight at room temperature to allow chlorine to dissipate"

Of course I'm going to do this because its strongly recommended!! - But would this apply to beer and cider brewing too?

I just thaught I'd mention it, as no-ones ever spoke about it. Its never said this on any other wine or cider kits I've used.

Cheers guys :

 

[EskiBrew]

It's a good idea as it allows the Chlorine to come out of solution and disperse. Some supplies are more heavily chlorinated than others - some you can put a glass from the tap and it almost smells like you are at the swimming pool :shock:

Failing that, you can add half a campden tablet to the water before you use it to get the same effect (which is what I do).
The campden table has the added bonus that it will neutralise Chloramine which some water companies use as well. :thumb:

 

[NickW]

Ah!

How long will a campden tablet take to work? Is it instant? - And its just as good as leaving the water for 24hours? - I jsut want to clarify, as I may use a campden tablet - but I dont want to ruin my wine in the longrun!

Cheers :

 

[BrewStew]

i've used campden moments before using the water to make a brew... never had a TCP flavour yet

 

[Vossy1]

How long will a campden tablet take to work? Is it instant? - And its just as good as leaving the water for 24hours? - I jsut want to clarify, as I may use a campden tablet - but I dont want to ruin my wine in the longrun!

Yep almost instant, better than just leaving the water due to chloramines remining in 'just left' water, and campden tablets are routinely used in wine making to kill off wild yeast on fruits prior to yeast addition :thumb:

 

[A T]

I always add the campden tab just before i turn on the HLT and i've never had any problems

 

[MEB]

Go for the campden tab. Only chlorine dissapates in contact with air. Chloramine doesn't.

 

[percival]

i've only just started using campden tablets, and hadn't noticed any problems previously. My guess is that it really doesnt matter if chrlorine and chloramine are removed instantly. I suspect its a chemical reaction, rather than a physical process such as filtering. The small concentrations and large volumes means that there will have to be some contact time. Chances are that the chlorine/chloramine is dealt with while the yeast is waking up and then multiplying. Also its quite normal in wine making to use plenty of hot water for extraction and then there is a period of hours of waiting for the temperature to drop before adding yeast. In this time, and at these temperatures, the campden tablets can probably do most, if not all, of their job.

Boiling water (or any significant rise in temperature) will also drive off chlorine. It probably doesn't do anything to deal with chloramine tho.

 

[Aleman]

Following a comment on another forum, I have been researching the 'Campden tablet myth'. Experimental evidence shows us that the half life of chlorine (its its various forms) is as follows

From this it is fairly obvious that using a campden tablet is a quick way of driving of chlorine . . . one tablet will dissipate 3mg of chloramine in to US Gallons (71L) (A worst case scenario) . . .The easiest way to 'measure' for a smaller qty of water is to dissolve the tablet in 100ml of water then to treat 25L you add ( (25/71 * 100) ) ~ 35ml of liquid.

I could say more but want to save it for a brewers contact article

 

[percival]

brilliant table! that settles it then :thumb: