TEST CASE - BREWERY CLEANING EFFICACY
Baked on Sweet Wort in 316 Stainless Brew Pot
Situation:
316 Food Grade Stainless Steel 3 Gallon Brew Pot. Brew Pot was purposely filled with sweet wort solution (no hops) and allowed to bake until crystallized on brew pot surface. Test is to determine effectiveness of ZT Pro Cleaner in a brewing environment where sweet wort has baked, burned and crystallized on stainless surface.
Testing Goal:
Determine if ZT Pro Cleaner (8oz solution) can loosen and facilitate removal of crystallized sweet wort on 316 Food Grade Stainless Steel. This test is a precursor to a ‘closed loop’ cleaning system test on a pilot system in a local brewery. Test is to determine ZT Pro’s ability to effectively clean food grade stainless steel while not harming the substrate.
Conditions:
- Location: Western North Carolina
- Siting: Indoors
- Substrate: 316 Food Grade Stainless Steel, 3 Gallon Brew Pot
- Ambient Air Temperature: 70 degrees F
- Ambient Water Temperature: Not Applicable, rinse water not used in this test.
- Sunlight Status: No sunlight, indoors.
Application:
- Product: ZT Pro Cleaner (Food Grade)
- Application Method: Pumped 12oz RTU (ready to use) solution directly into brew pot so that crystallized deposit is completely immersed in solution on horizontal bottom surface of brew pot and moistened with cleaner on all vertical surfaces.
- Application psi: Negligible
- Pre-Soak: 5 minutes (soaked)
- Agitation: Nylon scrub pad by hand on soaked surface for approximately 4 minutes.
- Rinse: No water rinse, residue removed by dry paper towel wipe.
- Surface condition at application: Crystallized Sweet Wort ranging from 1mil on vertical surfaces, up to 2mm on the horizontal bottom of brew pot. Some caked material, some carbonized material, all hardened and smooth to touch with consistency of hard candy.
- Surface condition after application: Clean with no damage
Results:
Test reflected that ZT Pro effectively cleaned dried, caked-on, crystallized sweet wort on both horizontal and vertical surfaces of a 316 grade stainless steel brew pot. Method included a surface immersion, 5 minutes’ dwell time, light hand-applied mechanical scrubbing, followed by dry paper towel wipe to remove loosened material. The 316 Food Grade Stainless Steel substrate was not harmed during cleaning by scratching, nor did pitting emerge after cleaning, despite no water rinse, which would occur in the commercial brewing environment.
Note:
ZT Pro has been determined to be safe for plastic, silicon, rubber and leather seals in a separate battery of immersion tests. Test was performed by submersing seals and washers of various materials for two weeks in pure ZT Pro concentrate.
CONTACT ZOLATERRA ABOUT A CUSTOM ZT PRO SOLUTION FOR YOUR SPECIFIC APPLICATION!