Andy Spragg wrote in message ...

...(Campden tablets)


First the query. I ... have almost never found a use
for Campden tablets ...

Thanks to everyone for the advice and offers of help!
I have learned many valuable things from this exercise. Here are two
of them:
(i)if you ask staff in our local supermarkets for 'campden tablets',
they look at you like you've grown an extra head
(ii) every recipe and set of instructions for home wine making
contradicts every other one. I think I'm going to enjoy this game...

....Wilkinson's sell Campden tablets...
They certainly do! Thank you, I now have a fully-functioning set of
campden tablets in my kitchen drawer. Where they might stay...

all the best
Paul

In article , Paul Richards
writes
Any home-brewers out there?

We have just decided to have a go at making some homemade wine for the
first time. All the recipes we have found include the instructions
'add X campden tablets' and I dimly remember the same from when my
mother made the stuff 20+ years ago. The problem is, where do you
obtain these magical tablets? 'In the olden days' we would buy them
(and other related paraphernalia) from Boots but these days they've
never heard of the things. Can anyone suggest where we might look for
them? We live in SE London.

Campden tablets are a convenient but expensive way of using sodium
metabisulphite. Better to buy the chemical in powder form and use a very small
pinch in place of a tablet. Despite what Frere Jacques says elsewhere, sodium
metabisulphite is very useful stuff. The sulphur dioxide it provides is the
only preservative allowed in British beer and cider. It is useful for killing
off wild yeasts, and some commercial cider makers use it for that purpose
before fermenting with a wine yeast. It is even useful to add small quantities
to a wine or cider even if you are fermenting with the natural yeast, as it
tends to kill off the weaker yeasts and promote a healthier fermentation.

Sodium metabisulphite is useful in that, if you have cleaned and sterilised a
container with caustic soda and/or domestic bleach, the sod met will neutralise
the last traces of these chemicals. Leaving a small amount of a strong solution
in an empty vessel will keep it sweet-smelling and sterile. No one involved in
fermenting anything to produce alcohol should be without sodium metabisulphite.
Forget about all other cleaner/sterilisers other than these three.

A list of excellent home brew shops is available on the brupaks.com web site,
or you can buy sodium metabisulphite in larger quantities from Vigo Supplies
www.vigoltd.com.
--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.

"Paul Richards" wrote in message
...
Any home-brewers out there?

We have just decided to have a go at making some homemade wine for the
first time. All the recipes we have found include the instructions
'add X campden tablets' and I dimly remember the same from when my
mother made the stuff 20+ years ago. The problem is, where do you
obtain these magical tablets? 'In the olden days' we would buy them
(and other related paraphernalia) from Boots but these days they've
never heard of the things. Can anyone suggest where we might look for
them? We live in SE London.

TIA

Sheila Richards

Nobody seems to want to mention that the Sodium Metabisulphite stuff can
bring on asthma attacks, and is nasty stuff to use if you suffer arny
breathing difficulties, make sure you're in a well ventilated area would be
my advice.
Strangely enough this is the same reason why many Asthmatics should avoid
some red wines, and orange juices, since they use the same suplhur dioxide
preservatives, and these are well known to trigger the lungs.
Duncan

The message
from "Druss" contains these words:

Nobody seems to want to mention that the Sodium Metabisulphite stuff can
bring on asthma attacks, and is nasty stuff to use if you suffer arny
breathing difficulties, make sure you're in a well ventilated area would be
my advice.
/snip/

No danger from inhalation - all the sulphur dioxide is bound up in the
salt, and only appears as ions in the wine in any case.

Still, these ions can cause all sorts of problems if you are susceptible.

--
Rusty Hinge
No m'lud, it wasn't a sneg. My joints creak.

In article , Jaques d'Altrades writes:
| The message
| from "Druss" contains these words:
|
| Nobody seems to want to mention that the Sodium Metabisulphite stuff can
| bring on asthma attacks, and is nasty stuff to use if you suffer arny
| breathing difficulties, make sure you're in a well ventilated area would be
| my advice.
|
| No danger from inhalation - all the sulphur dioxide is bound up in the
| salt, and only appears as ions in the wine in any case.

I am sorry, but that isn't true. His advice is good. The reason is
that a small amount of sulphur oxides is released during use, and
even that small amount can cause trouble. I certainly had difficulty
using the stuff, and my breathing is worse now (not asthma). Yes, it
really did cause enough damage to take me a day to recover fully.

| Still, these ions can cause all sorts of problems if you are susceptible.

That is the other problem he was referring to. Not my problem.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Jaques d'Altrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Druss" contains these words:

Nobody seems to want to mention that the Sodium Metabisulphite
stuff can
bring on asthma attacks, and is nasty stuff to use if you suffer
arny
breathing difficulties, make sure you're in a well ventilated area
would be
my advice.
/snip/

I found Sodium Metabisulphate very unpleasant to use as a steriliser
and just based on the caustic stink of it I certainly wouldnt want to
add it to sth I intended to drink, whether its "safe" or not. It also
removes the plasticiser from certain plastics used in wine and beer
making causing the plastic to rot.

However.... I dont make wine anymore, only full mash beer so my wort
is sterilised by boiling.

JBH

I definitely give Ray @ Spencers homebrew the thumbs up.

Given me plenty of help over the last few years.

Eric.
"Andy Spragg" wrote in message
...
"Pickle" pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Thu, 11 Sep 2003 17:39:03 +0100, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ "Kay Easton" wrote in message
^ ...

^ In article , Paul Richards
^ writes

^ Any home-brewers out there?

(Campden tablets)

^ You might be able to find them in your local supermarket. I notice
ours
^ (Morrisons) has home winemaking cans and other stuff, but I haven't
^ looked closely enough to see if they have camden tablets.

^ I do wine-making so if you need any help e-mail me. You can get campden
^ tablets from any home brew shop. There are several who do online
ordering eg
^ www.art-of-brewing.co.uk or just look in your local yellow pages. 100
^ campden tabs will cost you a couple of quid. The group
rec.crafts.winemaking
^ is a very friendly NG if there is anything you need to know.

From my POV, a timely query indeed, and an interesting response.

First the query. I too do winemaking and have almost never found a use
for Campden tablets. But I don't use recipes. The only time I use them
is if I am making a 5-gallon batch and it is taking several days to
get it together. Then I will add a couple if I am using very ripe
fruit. But it's a double-edged sword - I've more than once had a batch
that I just could not get going, even having waited several days
(presumably because the sulphur dioxide was complexed with the fruit
pulp?). In fact, I am in that situation right now, and would welcome
an opportunity to discuss the matter. But not here. I digress ...

Wilkinson's sell Campden tablets, if you have a Wilkinson's nearby.
There is a great homebrew place in Essex, not to bad for you if you
are in London, and they also do online and phone orders - now I can't
rermember the name, damn ... hold on ... ah, here we are. Spencer's
Homebrew, www.spencershomebrew.com, 020 8868 8405. He is Ray, can't
remember her name. Ultra-friendly and helpful.

Now, to rec.crafts.winemaking. Just a few days ago, I was looking for
the most suitable forum to post a home-made wine question. Best I
could do was alt.homebrewing, and it isn't working out very helpful so
far. I just searched for rcw in my ISP's list and it wasn't there. I
did find rec.crafts.meadmaking in the New Groups list, but that was
it. Aha! Time to refresh the groups list ...and there it was. It
doesn't sound like a group that would have taken until recently to
come into existence, but apparently so. Thanks for the info, I shall
post my query there right now.

Andy

--
sparge at globalnet point co point uk

If you interrogate your data for long enough,
she will tell you almost anything.
Simon Singh