Pasteurization? Food safety?

[doctorcosmonaut]

Does a professional cidery, or at least person who wants to sell their hard cider have to pasteurize at any stage? What are the laws/regulations? Do breweries, wineries, cideries, have food safety standards? I'm from Oregon, any specific to here?

 

[slow_boat]

In Oregon, cider is classified as a fruit wine. It does not have to be pasteurized at any point during the process. All breweries etc. have to have a food safety licence from the OLCC. To sell hard cider you must have approval from TTB and OLCC. See http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/pages/index.aspx and http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/alf.shtml

 

[daft]

i used to buy non past farmer cider in vt and often got ill on it. I dont recall if my fermented versions made me ill, but they often tasted terrible. Now i have fermented past cider with greater success.

The above was probably due to animal germs, especially common when ground apples are snuck in to the press. This was a period when unpast milk and cheese was starting in local production, and many people reported violent illness from it. So dont let unsanitation clobber your unpast. customers.

 

[doctorcosmonaut]

In Oregon, cider is classified as a fruit wine. It does not have to be pasteurized at any point during the process. All breweries etc. have to have a food safety licence from the OLCC. To sell hard cider you must have approval from TTB and OLCC. See http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/pages/index.aspx and http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/alf.shtml

So what all does the OLCC food safety regulations entail? For e.g. having washable walls or certain types of sinks (like food manufacturers/restaurants)? Happen to have a direct link to a OLCC list of what must be done/how a facility must be built?

 

[bdjohns1]

You would be safe to assume the sanitary design standards for a commercial nano/micro/macro-brewery would be comparable to any food manufacturing plant, including separate sinks for hand washing and parts cleaning, non-porous, washable walls and floors, adequate floor drainage (to prevent standing water). Plus, all applicable sanitary design standards for your brewing equipment need to be met as well.

From a sanitary design perspective, you're better off referring to FDA and or USDA standards if the product is distributed outside of Oregon.