Brewing an Irish red today. First brew in months and I guess I'm rusty. Well realized I didn't use a campden tablet in my strike water but remembered to use it in my sparge water. How screwed am I. Can I add it crushed to the mash?
Campden tablets can be used to drive off chlorine and related chemicals from municipal water treatment to prevent off flavors. Some say bandaid like chlorophenols.If these chemicals are in your water in high enough concentrations you may have issues.
I've been brewing for years and have never used a campden tablet. (I've never even bought any) You will be fine.
RDWHAHB.
^this. Also never used one in my life.
I have used and not used campden tablets and never noticed any difference.
Then maybe you each have very low chlorine/chloramine levels in your municipal water and it truly doesn't matter. Lucky you!
Not everyone's water is the same. If the OP has water with higher levels of chlorine or chloramine in it, then he/she may have an issue. Just because one person doesn't have problems with it doesn't mean the next person won't.
Good luck, Hayden!
My only experience with Campden was using it to stop fermentation in Cider. Given how it effects Cider fermentation, not sure why it would be used in a Beer Brew scenario. Can someone help me out here.
I've used it since I started brewing so I don't know the difference without it. Do you still "need" a campden tab with distilled water?
I've used it since I started brewing so I don't know the difference without it. Do you still "need" a campden tab with distilled water?
Nope. Distilled has no minerals in it so typically you need/want to add minerals to it.
You don't need to remove chlorines but you do still need to build the water profile to fit your target.
+1 for NO campden needed
Right. Thats why I wrote that you need to add the minerals back into it
Well I completely read that the wrong way the first time!!!!
Then maybe you each have very low chlorine/chloramine levels in your municipal water and it truly doesn't matter. Lucky you!
Not everyone's water is the same. If the OP has water with higher levels of chlorine or chloramine in it, then he/she may have an issue. Just because one person doesn't have problems with it doesn't mean the next person won't.
Good luck, Hayden!
Exactly. Too many people telling OP not to use them without knowing the levels of chlorine or chloramine. If others don't need to use campden tablets, that is great. Some people do and it is needed. Chlorine and chloramine can cause off flavors. Some people have very high levels of chlorine and chloramine in their water. A 50 cent tablet each brew is a very cheap fix for that.
It's been stated, but it's worth restating: the only thing that determines whether or not an additive is needed is a Water Report, and not someone else's arbitrary advice or personal experience. OP needs to get a report from his/her municipality and based upon that, determine for him/herself whether an additive is warranted.
However, the OP asked if he could salvage the beer (an Irish Red). The response was simply a campden tablet is not required to the mash to try to salvage. Water reports and chemistry is a much more detailed science than a beginners brew section needs to get involved in. For the sake of a beginner or a rusty brewer, water chemistry is not something that should be considered unless their own water is undrinkable as just brewing won't cover most off flavors.
It's brewing beer, you can be as detailed as you want, or as care free as you want. However, just because a campden tablet was not added is not going to ruin a beer.
Yooper answered the second part of the question with it can not be added to the mash.
Water chemistry has it's own section in the threads.
If your water is chlorinated, it can cause off flavors in beer. Not on my list of issues, as we are on a private well. These off flavors, according to Yooper and others, will NOT age out of the beer, as opposed to some other off flavors. Edit, as was said already chloramine is nasty in beer...
In cider, wine, etc, it is used to kill off unwanted yeasties and other bugs (acetobacteria for instance) before pitching yeast, and during aging. Edit: also to alleviate oxidation issues
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