quater of a campden in the bottle?
 

Hi Folks

I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there any
problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle prior to
corking?

Thanks
Paul

"Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Folks
>
> I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there any
> problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle prior to
> corking?

I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting the
wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry. Let
all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown stuff
drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite, the
wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
grapes.

Tom S

"Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Folks
>
> I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there any
> problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle prior to
> corking?

I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting the
wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry. Let
all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown stuff
drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite, the
wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
grapes.

Tom S

"Tom S" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi Folks
> >
> > I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there
any
> > problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle
prior to
> > corking?
>
> I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting
the
> wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry.
Let
> all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown
stuff
> drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite,
the
> wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
> grapes.

That seems to fly in the face of everything I've read!

"Tom S" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi Folks
> >
> > I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there
any
> > problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle
prior to
> > corking?
>
> I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting
the
> wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry.
Let
> all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown
stuff
> drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite,
the
> wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
> grapes.

That seems to fly in the face of everything I've read!

Paul, you should be using Campden (or the unadulterated potassium
metabisulfite) during the entire winemaking process. Apple juice
sucks up oxygen readily, so protecting it at the outset is very
important.

Still, protecting it before bottling is better than not protecting it
at all. But I would add the Campden to the bulk wine and then bottle
it. The tablet needs to be crushed very finely (like flour) and then
thoroughly dissolved in the wine. This takes a lot of stirring (best
to dissolve the powder in a little warm water, do most of the stirring
there, and add that to the wine) and you would only want to do that
once (in bulk) as opposed to doing it X number of times for X bottles
of wine.

Jack Keller, "The Winemaking Home Page"
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

Paul, you should be using Campden (or the unadulterated potassium
metabisulfite) during the entire winemaking process. Apple juice
sucks up oxygen readily, so protecting it at the outset is very
important.

Still, protecting it before bottling is better than not protecting it
at all. But I would add the Campden to the bulk wine and then bottle
it. The tablet needs to be crushed very finely (like flour) and then
thoroughly dissolved in the wine. This takes a lot of stirring (best
to dissolve the powder in a little warm water, do most of the stirring
there, and add that to the wine) and you would only want to do that
once (in bulk) as opposed to doing it X number of times for X bottles
of wine.

Jack Keller, "The Winemaking Home Page"
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

"News" > wrote in message
...
> "Tom S" > wrote in message
> . ..
> >
> > "Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Hi Folks
> > >
> > > I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there
> any
> > > problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle
> prior to
> > > corking?
> >
> > I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting
> the
> > wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry.
> Let
> > all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown
> stuff
> > drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite,
> the
> > wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
> > grapes.
>
> That seems to fly in the face of everything I've read!

Yeah, I know, but it works with grapes. (Notice my disclaimer at the end.)
What would it cost you to try it though? Apple juice is pretty cheap, and
so are sugar and yeast. Spend $5 on an experiment and see what happens. Be
sure to post the results. :^)

Tom S

"News" > wrote in message
...
> "Tom S" > wrote in message
> . ..
> >
> > "Dr Paul Dowrick" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Hi Folks
> > >
> > > I have had a lot of problems with oxidation in apple wine. Is there
> any
> > > problem with putting a quater of a campden tablet in each bottle
> prior to
> > > corking?
> >
> > I suspect you've been using too much sulfite, too early. Try sulfiting
> the
> > wine for the first time _after_ fermentation, when the wine goes dry.
> Let
> > all the browning that's going to happen, happen _early_. The brown
> stuff
> > drops out with the spent yeast, and when you finally do add sulfite,
> the
> > wine turns a pale greenish-yellow. At least that's what happens with
> > grapes.
>
> That seems to fly in the face of everything I've read!

Yeah, I know, but it works with grapes. (Notice my disclaimer at the end.)
What would it cost you to try it though? Apple juice is pretty cheap, and
so are sugar and yeast. Spend $5 on an experiment and see what happens. Be
sure to post the results. :^)

Tom S