Ask The Brewmasters

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Hello! I am having trouble cleaning Brite Vessels after filling them with an RTD beverage, and then going back to beer in the same tank. The beer picked up a fruity flavour from the previous RTD. 

We have tried cleaning with a chlorine based sanitizer and a PAA sanitizer, thinking that they would act as better deodorizers and work better at de-flavoring over a caustic wash. The RTD has almost no soils, just flavour, vodka and water (no sugar). We have tried soaking the BV with the chlorine based sanitizer as well for several hours, but after leaving water in the bottom overnight you can still taste a fruity flavour in the water the next day. It is like it is leaching out of the tank lining over time. We will be trying a caustic wash next. 

Does anyone have a good system for stripping fruity flavours from tanks?

Thank you!

The easiest solution is to DAW rinse the tank until no flavors are present, assuming you have a daw skid that makes clean DAW

Otherwise we have had good success doing Acid/Sani CIPs under pressure to prevent having to re-purge the brite. If you could be more specific in what types of flavorings I could comment on other solutions (Oils, NFs, etc)

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Shane Bird
Brewing Supervisor
JuneShine
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Two thoughts:
1) I always clean fermentation tanks and brite tanks with an alkaline wash first, followed by a rinse with water until the discharge reaches a neutral pH, followed by an acid wash.
I clean beerstone/calcium oxalate build up in brewing vessels by inverting than process; I clean using an acid wash, then — without rinsing — immediately use the alkaline cleaner. The Birko chemical site has a detailed description of this procedure.
2) Unless I’m using purée, I flavor our RTDs inline while kegging. It’s a pain, sure. If you are canning, perhaps you could fill cans from kegs.
Or maybe use a fermenter as a unitank dedicated to RTDs!
I hope this helps.
Rob Weaver
The Laird Arcade Brewery

Sent from my iPad

We have had success using an unscented automatic dishwasher type liquid to remove flavor and odors from Brite Tanks.  The other benefit is that since the cleaner is no caustic in the cleaner, it can be used under CO2 conditions.  Please contact me if you would like more information on it.

Dana

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Dana Johnson He/Him
Sector Specialist, Craft Brewing
Diversey - A Solenis Company
Henderson, CO
800.233.1000
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We don't produce RTDs, but we do use flavors fairly consistently. 

Our process is a caustic/acid cycle after emptying, then sani. This would include a changeout of all soft goods prior to caustic, as well. 

To decrease the amount of full break downs, you can always dedicate a tank to RTDs which would allow you to skip the caustic and CO2 evacuation - assuming your flavors are compatible sensory-wise. 

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Alexander Nham
QA Manager
Goose Island Beer Co.
Chicago IL
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Hello,

I assume the tank is constructed of stainless steel?.....but you mention the tank has a lining....? What is the lining material? 

Caustic should handle any kind of flavoring/essence in a stainless steel tank. I have seen flavors/essences taint elastomers so you may want to try replacing these or soaking them (manway/ sample valve gaskets, seals, etc).

Another thing to consider is inspecting for possible leak(s)/ crack(s) in the tank inner wall. Would want to seek the help of a stainless steel fabricator/welder..

Best,

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Phil Leinhart
First Key Consulting
Cooperstown NY
(607) 237-4468
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I used to work at a brewery that did beer and RTD.  Typically we would keep them segregated, but in the event we need to share tanks due to a scheduling conflict, it would be a full soft gasket swap prior to CIP (you can reuse them and just have them stored as your "RTD" and "beer" seal sets when not in use).  Otherwise a caustic wash would do the trick, you can use PAA for sani after if you'd like.  We hardly used acid to clean RTD tanks because of the typically acidic nature of the product itself.

Original Message:
Sent: 07-01-2024 14:05
From: Phil Leinhart
Subject: Flavour carryover from RTDs

Hello,

I assume the tank is constructed of stainless steel?.....but you mention the tank has a lining....? What is the lining material? 

Caustic should handle any kind of flavoring/essence in a stainless steel tank. I have seen flavors/essences taint elastomers so you may want to try replacing these or soaking them (manway/ sample valve gaskets, seals, etc).

Another thing to consider is inspecting for possible leak(s)/ crack(s) in the tank inner wall. Would want to seek the help of a stainless steel fabricator/welder..

Best,

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Phil Leinhart
First Key Consulting
Cooperstown NY
(607) 237-4468
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