Acid cleaning etc ?

[Phantom]

Ok, I have some rather old glassware (actually they're half gallon demi-johns). Originally used for selling commercially made cider.

Some of them have what looks like white water marks where any rain/cider dregs has dried out/evaporated away.

Most cleaning materials available are base/alkaline, but commercial cleaners can be either base/alkaline or acidic (I'm familiar with "hot running acid" as used in the dairy industry).

I'm just doing a spirits run in the smart still and needed a container for the distillate before letting it down and carbon filtering. It occurred to me that maybe as it can be used to clean most stuff, vinegar might work. So I've just given one of the half gallon DJ's a rinse and brush, before a soap and water rinse.

But it gave me an idea..............

Could I just still some vinegar myself to increase the strength/acetic acid content ? Only because I managed to scrounge the dregs of a phosphoric acid cleaner from a works customer to try (30% phosphoric acid). It worked well on whatever I was trying to clean at the time but it's rather expensive (over £100 per 5 litres) and distilling some vinegar to increase the strength to more than the 2 to 5% acetic acid of vinegar to maybe 10 to 20% might remove the water marks if they are somehow derived from minerals.

Anyone know if this is a practical idea, as I wouldn't like to just try it out and find that it's knackered the smart still........

[Easydrinker]

I am not seeing distilling vinegar would threaten a Smart Stills integrity, but TBH the only time that I have ever used it, to clean a home built copper column and condenser it certainly was beneficial.

Robert.

[Curmudgeon]

My admittedly crap memory says a homemade vinegar cleaning run is cheaper than a homemade alcohol run but that either and preferably both is fine.

Homebrew or baby bottle steriliser will work fine too.

edit : if you only need a few litres, coca cola will be cost effective.

[Mash]

I have often wondered if you could distill vinegar.

I make my own red wine vinegar.
The Acetobacter gets it to 8-10% and use can taste the strength.

But we also use a lot of commercial white vinegar for cleaning.

[Easydrinker]

When I have run vinegar through a still or condenser, for cleaning purposes, it has certainly hit the nose, prolly more so than any spirit.
I guess that I am still saying that I don't know Phantom, but can't see vinegar buggering a Smart Still.
Don't quote me on that.
Don't try and sue me on that

Robert.