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Anyone experience Glass "Bloom"


Classick

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Hey All,

Just wondering if anyone has experienced a milky haze (tested via lab as calcium carbonate) suspended in their product after bottling, described in the link below, and if so, what you did about it.

A client we produce for (but do not dilute or bottle) recently experienced this and we're trying to offer them solutions.

In my 16 years of distilling, we have never once come across this. Any thoughts?

http://www.qorpak.com/pages/glass-weatherization

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I'd be willing to wager on their proofing water was not purified, or there was a problem in their process.

My tap water is extremely hard (over 600ppm), and if I don't use RO it gets milky and will almost appear to "etch" the glass so that it looks frosted.  Are they a new company?

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New to spirits bottling, but have a long record of bottling other products.

I believe they've had their water tested, and it passed muster. Im reasonably satisfied that the information contained in the link above is the culprit, I was just curious if any other small batch distillers had experienced anything similar.

Seems like the main factor would be storage of glass bulk glass either at the manufacturer, or in transit... not sure if glass order size (custom vs stock glass, etc) would be a significant variable.

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2 hours ago, Classick said:

Seems like the main factor would be storage of glass bulk glass either at the manufacturer, or in transit... not sure if glass order size (custom vs stock glass, etc) would be a significant variable.

That reminds me...This summer I did have an issue of a few pallets of hazy bottles that I bought from a company that had over estimated their sales and the pallets had been in cold storage for a year or so.  The top few layers of the bottles on the pallets had some sort of hazy residue on/in them.  The supplier I purchased from came out and took some samples, sent them to a lab and it came back with something like atmospheric residue, likely due to the cold/warm with dust and humidity up here in the North.  I refused the hazed bottles so I don't know much beyond that.

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the main problem thats being faced is its impossible to tell if the bottles are afflicted ( its a frosted bottle... of course) until the product has already been bottled.

per that link above, the glass can be treated with fluorine gas or something, but im not sure if the manufacturer can offer that option.

i was just curious how common this was... I had never even heard about it until this happened, and had never seen it mentioned here. Perhaps there are others that have experienced it.

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We purchased bulk stock that had bloom on them because they were offered at a reduced price. Rinsed with spirit prior to bottling and never had a haze precipitate out. I've been told using distilled water will remove bloom as well. 

 

In any case, seems to require a little more cleaning, but otherwise harmless if you can get it out. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

That's what I was going to ask...pre-rinse or sparge can do this. 

When in doubt, sparge with filtered product in the loop. 

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  • 3 months later...

Although I have been a member since 2011, I haven't been looking at the forums the way I should be.

If you are experiencing bloom the glass likely was not treated.  Most of the larger glass houses treat as SOP.  It is part of their operations and has little impact on the overall cost when so integrated.  Ware not from the main suppliers treat when requested, but may not have treatments against blooming as standard.

Washing doesn't always solve the problem.  Running it through the annealing process again often works, which is good to know if you are going to silk screen your deco and know it will be going through a Lehr again before filling.

Since this is an aging condition, if the bottles are good when you get them in, fill them as soon as you can.  Once filled you won't have an issue.  Storing empty for any length of time in hot, humid conditions is your greatest concern.

If you receive bottles with blooming, reject them for replacement.  No one should be selling you bloomed glass.

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