Campden Tablets - Science or Fiction

Jmattioli · Nov 3, 2003

I am now on my fifth book on Meads or Winemaking and I have repeatedly read such statements:
ref: Country Wines by Pattie Vargas & Rich Gulling P14
"When you add a Campden tablet to your must, you'll eliminate all bacteria and yeasts from it, but the effect lasts for just 24 hours."
Surfing the MLD and responses here on the forum, my understanding is that the Campden tablet either just destroys certain wild yeasts that are not tolerant to sulfer dioxide for up to 24 hours. Yet many of the books including the one referenced above indicate that not only does it kill yeasts but all bacteria and in some books they call to mix it up in stronger doses and use it for a sanitizer. Come-on! ;D Whose giving the science and whose giving the fiction? And what is your source? ???

Dan McFeeley · Nov 3, 2003

Jmattioli said:
. . . Surfing the MLD and responses here on the forum, my understanding is that the Campden tablet either just destroys certain wild yeasts that are not tolerant to sulfer dioxide for up to 24 hours. Yet many of the books including the one referenced above indicate that not only does it kill yeasts but all bacteria and in some books they call to mix it up in stronger doses and use it for a sanitizer. Come-on! ;D Whose giving the science and whose giving the fiction? And what is your source? ???

You'll find a good web article on the use of sulfites at:

http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/SO2.htm

This might be more helpful.

-- Dan M.

Jmattioli · Nov 4, 2003

Dan Wrote

You'll find a good web article on the use of sulfites at:
http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/SO2.htm
This might be more helpful.

Excellent modern article on sulfites! Answered more than I needed to know. Thanks for sharing. Hope everyone making mead takes the time to check it out. Even if they don't get past the properties table.

Oskaar · Aug 25, 2004

I just saved that article down to disk for reading under leisure at a later time. GREAT LINK!

The discussion of SO2 and SO3 brings to mind a poem which tecnically should be in the poetry section but because it deals with . . . wel you'll see:

Ode to a Meadmaker

Alas my good friend Willie,
He'll not make mead no more,
for what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

Oskaar

yabb_unknown_usr · Sep 3, 2004

Well the use of Camden tablets would be advised if you do not boil the living hell out of your equipment, and keep it sanitized. Personally I have had no bacteriological problems in any meades I have made with straight honey. and for those meades I have never used camden tablets of any sulfites. That being said I once tried to brew a watermellon wine w/o sulfites; the entire batch was tossed on account of the horribly bad smell that permeated my appartment upon opening the drum. Honey has anti-bacteriolgical properties and so meade does not usually need sulfites. However if you are going to try a fruit wine or fruit meade you may want to consider it as an extra precaution.

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Campden Tablets - Science or Fiction

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