Cleaning and Sanitation

Several materials are available from home winemaker suppliers for cleaning and sanitizing winemaking surfaces. Rinsing bottles before they are allowed to dry will make them much easier to clean. Bottles and glass carboys can be sanitized by rinsing with a solution of 200 mg/L SO2 and enough citric acid to lower the pH of the solution to 3.0 or slightly less (a pH meter or pH test paper will help determine water pH). Winery equipment should be cleaned and sanitized after a 1 to 2 hour delay in processing because microorganiMissouri State can readily increase in number in grape juice (contamination on equipment) and dilute grape juice (after partial cleaning).