Page 14 - GrapevineMarApr 2022

In The Winery
In The Winery

stand-alone cleaning station to sanitize two barrels Specialty Chemicals Can
simultaneously. For more extensive facilities, the Harbor Hidden Expense
Optima can be paired with an automatic barrel
washer line and loading system to clean and san- Some sanitation methods for barrels require the
itize four barrels at a time. Maintenance largely use of specialty chemicals. One of the most popular
depends on the facility’s water quality. Softened chemicals for barrel sanitation is a Sodium Bisulfite
water is a must, meaning water treatment may be solution mixed with a specific recommended
necessary for some instances. Steamericas sells amount of citric acid solution. It’s added to a barrel
and services their equipment through local distrib- with water, sealed tightly, and then agitated, so the
utors, but the machines come with display screens solution comes in contact with all interior surfaces.
for real-time communication, so remote service is Next, the barrel is drained, thoroughly rinsed, filled
available if needed. with fresh, clean water and left to soak overnight.
Several more rinses are needed before the barrels
The Hot Water Treatment are ready for use, so the time and labor required
for this method may be a deterrent as a standard
Hot water treatments using water heated to 85 sanitation method.
degrees Celsius for at least 20 minutes have prov-
en to effectively clean oak barrels and remove the Aggressive Sanitation Methods
acetic acid bacteria, Brettanomyces and yeast from Include Barrel Deconstruction
the wood surface down to a depth of five to nine
millimeters. The disadvantage of using hot water Dry ice blasting and shaving of the inner surface
exclusively is the amount of time spent filling the area of the barrel can be effective but require at
barrels, the amount of water used and the resulting least partial deconstruction of the barrel, resulting
amount of wastewater produced. in a time-consuming, expensive process. These

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