Hi there people... I just joined the forum as of today. My name is Manuel and I am studying to become a master brewer... I am currently carrying (or trying to at least) an efficiency optimization project at a medium sized brewery. My question here is regarding food grade sterilization or rinsing practices of hoses and pipe lines. In two different breweries besides the one at hand, I have come across the case in which they use hot water (@ hot water tank SP temperature) to "sterilize" hoses and lines pre and post wort transfer from the boiling kettle to the fermentation tank. I wouldn't go as far as to call it "sterilization" because there is no real calculation in any of the cases that I have been given supporting these practices but that is, I now realize, quite a common practice I assume in craft and medium sized breweries at least.
What I am trying to challenge here is the amount of water and residence time so as to be able to generate some savings from hot water use in rinsing... I wanted to have some sort of sterilization or pasteurization calculation background to justify the amount of hot water used and temperature as well, but have not come across anything yet.
SO... in conclusion... can any of you point into some direction / literature where I might find something or have you by yourselves done some calculations so as to determine the optimal amount of boiling/hot water to use?
What I am trying to challenge here is the amount of water and residence time so as to be able to generate some savings from hot water use in rinsing... I wanted to have some sort of sterilization or pasteurization calculation background to justify the amount of hot water used and temperature as well, but have not come across anything yet.
SO... in conclusion... can any of you point into some direction / literature where I might find something or have you by yourselves done some calculations so as to determine the optimal amount of boiling/hot water to use?