This is Part 3 featuring chemistry safety tips for cidermakers!
Part 1 – How to Make Cider at home, provides a recipe for making a 1 gallon jug of cider
Part 2 – Makers Tips for Growth and Cleanliness was the first part of a conversation with the Cider Team at Stormalong Cider in Leominster, Massachusetts.
In Part 3 we continue our conversation focusing on
- Caustic chemicals to use
- Managing chemicals
- Acids
Stormalong Head Cidermaker, Ben Robert-Sano begins with an overview of these 3 components and then Operations Manager Bright McConnell discusses recommended sanitizers to use in cidermaking.
Chemicals
Caustics
For cleaning fermentation soils, I recommend gluconated caustic at 1%, or PBW for those of you with aluminum parts. These are dangerous chemicals so wear a dust mask(pbw ) , long gloves and eye goggles when working with the chemicals
- Cleaning chemicals are most dangerous before dilution, so don’t spill.
- Even a few drips of pure caustic will take gallons of water to wash off , and the residue can transfer, say from your shoes to your hands.
Take extra care when handling chemical concentrates and keep a gallon of white vinegar (or hard cider) and a box of baking soda handy for neutralizing, should it get on your skin or clothing.1-1.5 oz per gallon
Acids
Cleaning also kills bacteria which live in biofilms. In order to maximize this kill, Ben recommends:
- treating hard water buildup
- rejuvenate the surface of your stainless steel parts with occasional acid cleaning
- use strong citric, or Methanesulfonic acid for acid cleaning.
- nitric/ phosphoric are also effective, but have more environmental impact if on a septic sysytem
- 1-1.5 oz per gallon
Sanitizers
For sanitizing the Stormalong Cider team recommends:
- Iodophor.
- It is easy to see when it is active.
- It is effective, requires no rinse, and has minimal flavor impact when properly diluted
- DO NOT USE STAR SAN it is not an EPA registered cleaner. The Five Star brand makes an iodophor if you prefer their products.
Use 1 ounce of Iodophor per 5 gallons, not 1 oz per gallon like the other cleaners
CAUTION:
Idophor can cause blindness if it contacts your eye. Wear glasses when used.
PAA, Sulfites, and CL02 are very effective but are only to be used by commercial scale cideries. spraying or handling these chemicals can cause immediate respiratory or eye damage if used incorrectly. You should always dose these chemicals directly into water, never remove the concentrates from the barrel using a drum pump.
Dousatron – for eye dousing set ups in production facility.
Mentions in this Chat
- Cockrell Cider – Puyallup, Washington
- Listen to Season 1 recording with Stormalong – 36 Shannon Edgar and Ben Roberts-Sano | Stormalong Cider, MA
Contact info for Stormalong
- Website https://www.stormalong.com/
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