​Best Practices—Container Rinsing with Water

MBAA TQ https://doi.org/10.1094/TQ-56-3-0730-01 | VIEW ARTICLE
 
Eric J. Samp (1), Ben Bailey (2), Tim Lozen (3), Dave Duff (4), and Heather Muzzy Caron (5). 1. MillerCoors, Golden, CO, U.S.A. 2. Troegs Brewery, Hersey, PA, U.S.A. 3. Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI, U.S.A. 4. BW Integrated Systems, Clayton, MO, U.S.A. 5. Allagash Brewing Co, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
 
Abstract
Container rinsing prior to filling is a critical step for ensuring the safety and quality of packaged beer for consumers. Properly rinsed containers are devoid of physical, chemical, and microbiological contaminants, and thus no negative impacts will occur regarding the quality of product inside the container. Appropriate equipment design, control system logic, and quality assurance checks are imperative to guarantee these objectives are met. A summary of best practices compiled by industry experts on water rinsers is presented. The key topics covered within are rinse water quality, rinser design, the concepts of validation, verification, and fail-safe mechanisms (and how they apply to safe rinsing operations), what quality checks are required to verify proper operation, and rinser system cleaning requirements.