Cleaning considerations for 3 different cider operations - DYI, Farm Winery and Production with Stormalong Cider.
(l-r) Ben Roberts-Sano, Bright McConnell, Shannon Edgar
DIY - Home Cidermaking
It is soak and scrub for the DIYers.
Soak
- carboys
- parts
- nylon bags
- airlocks
- all threaded parts
Rinse with copious amounts of water thoroughly and sanitize. Boil with hot water, if possible.
Drainage and setup are a major consideration
- Due to the common lack of pumps/ floor drains.
- Effluent should not affect your septic, if you brew a batch or 2 per year.
Biggest maker hang ups
- Using low quality materials which can't stand the cleaning
- Not scrubbing enough
- Not disassembling/boiling threaded or other non sanitary parts
Farm winery set up
- Have some sort of floor drain, and some sort of pump capable of driving a spray ball.
- Rinse by pumping into a spray ball
- Drain to floor when rinsing tanks
- Always pump the water from a fully clean and neutralized tank, to the tank being cleaned
- Spray gross soils in the tanks out before starting to clean
- Tanks must be vented during cleaning, and all parts should be removed. Any areas under manways or probes that might obstruct the spray must manually be scrubbed.
- Take off and clean manway gaskets, and ensure sight lines are cleaned
- Clean and sanitize throughly racking arms and carb stones for best results
Biggest hangups for Farm Winery
- Not Enough hot water
- Not having adequate drainage and wastewater handling
Some small cideries with no wastewater handling will skip all of this in lieu of a steam or hot water pressure washer. They spray the tanks to remove soils, then partially close them up and allow the metal to reach 170-180 degrees to sanitize, then purge out any air with nitrogen argon or CO2.
Commercial scale Set Up
- Automation and verification, regular inspection and replacement of parts
- Rubber parts and hoses that become cracked can no longer be adequately cleaned and must be thrown out. Even steel parts can become too scratched to be cleaned properly.
- Chemicals are tested for potency to determine if they are depleted by cleaning, and to insure adequate rinsing
- The inside of the tank may be tested for microbial action by plating or ATP test
Commercial Plants at this scale invest in better
- Jet or rotating spray balls
- Dedicated cleaning tanks / pumps, caustic recovery, re heat, and re use
- More, and hotter water for cleaning
To sanitize commercial cider makers may use plant steam/ PAA with a dosatron or CLO2 to kill remaining microbes
Biggest hang ups for Commercial operators
- Not inspecting enough
- Not rinsing enough
- Trying to be too efficient
Mentions in this Chat
- Listen to initial Season 1 recording with Stormalong - 36 Shannon Edgar and Ben Roberts-Sano | Stormalong Cider, MA
- Cidermaking Series
- Part 1 - How to Make Cider at Home
- Part 2 - Maker Tips for Growth and Cleanliness
- Part 3 - Cidery Sanitation Tips
Contact info for Stormalong
- Website https://www.stormalong.com/
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