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Desperate Measures: Rinsing and Sparging Bottles
Hi All,
I have been searching through endless forums and websites for more information on this but can’t seem to find a conclusion so am hoping to get some insights here. Apologies in advance if it sounds silly but I have not been able to find some clear answers on this.
For us, all our new bottles must to be cleaned as they really get quite dusty over time. It seems rinsing with liquid is the cleanest way to flush out all the dust and particles (blasting with air alone moves the dust around but it doesn’t get flushed out), however it does come with its problems:
Using sanitizer to rinse: The liquid left in the bottles will affect the final proof of the spirit unless you have the time and space (and racks) to let your bottles dry overnight (we don’t).Using neutral spirit to rinse: This feels a little unnatural/wasteful to me, but do I need to change my opinion…? Bottling different proof spirits would also mean I have to use different proof neutral spirit for rinsing so as not to affect the final abv.
Using product to rinse: I’ve also read that some people use their own products to rinse in a closed loop system which sounds even more unnatural to me, as surely the aeration would affect the abv and also I’m a little uncomfortable to use my own product as a cleanser, but please correct me if I need to change my way of thinking.
Sparging/drying after rinse: I have not tried this, but is blasting filtered/ionized air into drained wet bottles efficient enough to dry the bottles completely for bottling right away?
So I’m curious… how does everyone else do it? Thanks guys and really appreciate any advice. I have a head full of questions.
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