While this may seem like a trivial distinction to make different wine making resources will use these terms interchangeably and it can get confusing.
Cleaning
Simply put, cleaning wine making equipment is to remove dirt and debris. This can be done by using warm water and your hands or a sponge to remove the big stuff. You don’t want to use soaps or detergents as these can leave behind a residue of their own.
What cleaning does not do is remove any micro-organisms. Cleaning by itself is not enough to ensure that you won’t have any undesirable tastes due to rogue micro-organisms. Continue reading “The Differences Between Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Sterilizing”