💊 Campden Tablets for Home Brewing

Campden tablets are one of the most commonly used additives in home brewing. Despite their small size, they play a big role in ensuring your wine, cider, beer, or mead stays safe, stable, and free from unwanted microbes. Understanding what they are, why they’re used, and how to dose them correctly is essential for any home brewer.

🧪 What Are Campden Tablets?

Campden tablets are a convenient form of sodium or potassium metabisulfite, a chemical that releases sulphites when dissolved in liquid. These sulphites act as a powerful antimicrobial and antioxidant agent, helping to kill wild yeast, bacteria, and other contaminants that could spoil your brew. They’re used both in juice preparation and during bottling to maintain flavour stability.

🔄 Why Use Campden Tablets?

Campden tablets serve multiple purposes:

Kill wild yeast and bacteria – Ensures that only your chosen brewing yeast ferments the beverage.
Prevent oxidation – Sulphites act as antioxidants, protecting colour and flavour during storage.
Stabilise juice before fermentation – Especially important for fruit wines or cider, which may contain wild yeasts.

Using Campden tablets reduces the risk of off-flavours, cloudiness, or spoilage, giving you more consistent results.

⚖️ Dosing Guidelines

Proper dosing is essential. Too little will be ineffective, while too much can negatively affect flavour. A general guide:

1 Campden tablet per gallon (~4.5L) of juice or must.
Crushing tablets: Campden tablets must be crushed to dissolve effectively. The easiest method is to place a tablet between two dessert spoons and grind and press the spoons together until the tablet turns into a fine powder. This ensures even distribution and rapid action when added to your batch.
Dissolve the crushed tablet thoroughly in a small amount of water before adding to your batch.
After adding, wait at least 24 hours before pitching yeast. This ensures the sulphites have neutralised unwanted microbes without harming your brewing yeast.

Always check the manufacturer’s instructions as strength may vary slightly depending on sodium or potassium metabisulfite tablets.

🛡 Safety Considerations

Campden tablets release sulphites, which some people are sensitive to. Handle carefully and avoid inhaling dust.
Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight container to preserve potency.
Keep out of reach of children and pets.
Do not exceed recommended doses, as excessive sulphites can lead to off-flavours or reduce fermentation efficiency.

💡 Practical Tips for Beginners

Use Campden tablets when preparing fruit juice to stop wild fermentation.
Crush tablets carefully to ensure even dissolving in juice or must.
Add them before racking or bottling to prevent contamination.
If using potassium metabisulfite instead of sodium, be aware it’s slightly less salty but works the same.
Combine with potassium sorbate if you intend to stabilise a batch and prevent secondary fermentation.

🛒 Recommended Campden Tablets

Campden tablets are inexpensive, compact, and easy to store. Every home brewer should have a supply on hand for juice preparation, fermentation, and bottling.

👉 Browse a selection of Campden tablets for home brewing on Amazon here: Shop Campden Tablets on Amazon

🍷 Beginner Alcohol Brewing Equipment

This post is part of a comprehensive guide to home wine, cider, beer, and mead equipment. It covers one specific topic, but there are many other essential tools and additives you may need to create successful, clear, and tasty brews. For a full overview, visit our Wine & Brewing Equipment Page.

Here’s a quick list of all the posts in this series: