A Hail Mary - How to clean a large ceramic jug once used to make wine.

I have a large ceramic jug that my grandfather used in the 1920s and 1930s to make kosher wine in Canada when it was difficult to get kosher wine from the US. Here is a picture I found on the internet of such a jug:
Jug.JPG
It is about 2 feet tall. I do not have an endoscope to look inside. :slight_smile: I have had the jug for about 40 years and I would like to clean the inside. The purpose is to joint venture some creative moonshine production with a third generation Tennessee moonshiner who now lives in New York and who has his grandfather’s moonshine recipe. Due to special rules in NY, he can produce a significant amount without licensing or taxation in NY so long as he uses only corn, grain and other stuff produced in NY, which is what he has been doing. The moonshine I tasted over the weekend was astoundingly smooth and approachable despite the fact that it was only a few weeks old. Obviously, in order for the jug to be food safe, “clean” means very, very clean and sterilized, not just washed with soap and water. I know that there is a process for cleaning the inside of scuba tanks with a spinning chain, but that might be too violent. Any ideas?

AND if anyone knows where I can get a small used wood quarter-barrel, I would like to hear about that too. Also for experimentation with moonshine.

Two suggestions Jay.

Denture cleaning tablets.

A visit to a home brewing/wine making shop could have some answers for you.

Good Luck!

Nothing will live in moonshine. I’m not sure why sterilization would be necessary rather than really clean

Oxiclean and hot water.

Yep. Proxyclean is what I use in winery for cleaning amphoras etc. It’s the same Oxiclean. It should normally be followed by a citric acid rinse.

Denture cleaner. Let it soak for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Thank me later.

Hillbillies might.

Do the cheap lead test, too.

They should have them at your local hardware store.

1 Like