Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/101495
WINEMAKING An effective means of delivering heat View video in the Wines & Vines Digital Edition. Idroeletrika, an Italian company that produces steam equipment, demonstrates its steamcleaning device for barrels. When a bung is inserted after the steam treatment, it creates a near vacuum that dissipates with a rush of air once the bung is removed. Today, McClain Ozone has distributors on every major wineproducing continent. Wine still accounts for half his total business, but breweries are becoming more interested in ozone, and Southwest Airlines purchased 80 of McClain���s generators to sanitize the drinking water system and other equipment on their planes. He says his generators, which start at $5,900, can put out a range of 2-10 ppm ozone. A more powerful system is going to cost more, but McClain says they���re still popular with smaller wineries because a more potent ozone dose means shorter rinse times and using less water. Because it���s such a robust oxidizer, ozone can���t be used with some materials like rubber, so it may not work with a winery���s barrel-washing equipment. One winemaker in the Central Coast worked with McClain and Gamajet Cleaning Systems Inc. to build a custom spray nozzle that shoots ozone at high pressure, enabling the winemaker to clean and sanitize simultaneously. McClain���s generators can be equipped to produce gaseous ozone, which McClain says isn���t any more dangerous than sulfur dioxide. He says ozone gas is more effective for barrel storage than sulfur dioxide. While sulfur is effective at preventing microbial growth, ozone flat out kills critters. Sulfur dioxide also lingers inside a barrel, McClain says, while ozone gas degrades to pure oxygen. When asked about a hypothetical winemaker on the fence between ozone and steam, McClain���as one might guess��� doesn���t see much room for debate. He says that when he started, winemakers were wrestling with Brett despite ���steaming the hell out of everything.��� Wood is hard to penetrate with heat, he says, and the steam can release the wood���s volatile flavor compounds. IDL_Dir11 11/18/10 4:21 PM Page 1 ���Steam is very hard on oak,��� he adds. IDL Iv��n D. Lessner Process Solutions Inc. Process & Product Development Alcoholic & Non Alcoholic Beverage Industry Equipment Sales ��� R. WAGNER: Rapid SO2, TA ��� ERBSLOEH: Fining & Treatment Agents, Yeasts, Enzymes, CelluFluxx (D.E. Replacement) ��� TRUST: Quality Hungarian Oak Barrels & Chips ��� EMD: Reflectoquant Analyzer & Kits 1164 Lee Street, White Rock, B.C. V4B 4P4 Canada Phone: (604) 538-2713 Fax: (604) 538-4517 www.idlconsulting.com SEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #1207 60 W in es & V i ne s JANUARY 20 13 Not so, says Glenn Caster, sales manager with ARS and the Pressure Washer Co. ARS���s standard model runs around $5,000 not including accessories. Caster says the dry, saturated steam condenses so quickly it doesn���t volatize any oak compounds. Caster says steam is a ���vehicle that delivers��� heat and does its job quite efficiently, penetrating into the pores on the inside of a barrel. ���It deposits the heat right there where you want it to be.��� Once it comes into contact with the wood, the steam quickly condenses, melting tartrate crystals and displacing any residual wine, Caster says. The rapid condensation also draws a vacuum effect. ���The heads of a barrel actually go concave during that process,��� Caster says. ���We���re sucking water, wine, dead bacteria, tartrates���all being pulled to an imaginary center of the barrel��� and then we do a final rinse and get all that gunk out.��� It���s the vacuum and penetrative capabilities that make steam a better choice for cleaning and sanitizing, Caster contends. He recommends wineries opt for a warm water rinse to clean out as much loose material as possible, followed by a steam treatment. The steam vacuum comes with the added perk of providing a simple leak test. If a barrel won���t draw a vacuum, it���s unsound��� and likely a leaker. He says ozone, while an effective killer, is only as good as where it can reach. ���The problem with ozone is a practical problem,��� he says. ���It���s delivered with water, and it only goes where the water goes.��� And if a winemaker is using a system that can���t clean out the tartrates from a barrel, the ozone can���t be effective. ���If they���re not completely removed, the ozone never touches the Brett,��� he says. For washing, Caster says he sells equipment from pressure washers that range from 3,000 to 4,000 psi to the Bitard or ���Bordeaux barrel rinser.��� Caster says the Bitard is usually mounted in the ground, and workers roll barrels onto the nozzle for a hot water rinse or steam as well. After a barrel is treated with steam, a worker can roll it off the Bitard and bung it. ���To me, it���s the entry-level tool for cleaning a barrel,��� he says. ElectroSteam_June08 (Continued on page 62.) 4/8/08 2:40 PM Page 1