SWASH™ BarrelScope™ Gearing Up Production
Paramount, Calif., April 4, 2017: The SWASH Sanitizing Equipment division of ARS ENTERPRISES, Inc. displayed and demonstrated for the first time publicly its new BarrelScope™ inspection device at the Unified Symposium in Sacramento, CA where it as one of the top ten new products. It was recently displayed at the Eastern Winery Expo to rave reviews and will be on display April 11-13, 2017, at the Craft Brewer’s Conference in Washington, DC. “Over the last twenty years of developing and marketing various techniques for cleaning, sanitizing and rejuvenating oak barrels, I have watched countless winemakers and brewers struggle to look through the bunghole with a flashlight to see just how clean their barrel has gotten”, said Glenn Caster, President, CEO of ARS. Caster went on to say, “Recently I had that aha moment and thought, ‘what if we could make a miniature periscope with a light source which would permit a 360° view of the inside of a barrel?'”
With the help of a career optical engineer, the BarrelScope™ inspection device was born. “One of the biggest challenges was finding a compact light source that was bright enough to illuminate the inside of the barrel sufficiently so that you could actually see the surface of the barrel through the lenses and mirrors”, said Caster.
The SWASH™ BarrelScope™ inspection device incorporates a 200 lumen LED light source that produces a light bright enough to be seen from over 200 meters. Powered by 3-AAA batteries, the light source has a continuous operating run time of nearly 7 hours. “In order to truly see the surface of the barrel, we incorporated extremely high quality lenses and mirrors producing a slightly magnified image with a focusing eye piece that allows adjustment for the differing distances when observing the staves versus the heads of the barrel”, Caster said.
In addition to inspecting used barrels, coopers who have seen the device were overwhelmingly positive about the value of the product for inspecting new barrels. Several commented that they would be very pleased to be able to show a customer the inside their barrels to demonstrate the quality of construction and condition of the new oak. Mr. Caster also pointed out that the device would be useful to distillers and to brewmasters who are increasingly employing used barrels in producing their craft beers and spirits. Wesley Parker, owner and brewmaster of BottleLogic in Anaheim, CA, which was a beta site in the development of the BarrelScope™ inspection device, is looking forward to getting his own. “Used barrels that we buy are highly variable in condition. This device will greatly assist in our ability to control the barrel aging process by knowing the condition of the inside of the barrel when we get them, and having a better idea of how to treat them prior to use”, Parker said.
ARS/SWASH is currently bringing the device into full production with availability throughout North America estimated to be June, 2017. The product will be packaged in a foam lined hard case. A belt “holster” is also in development. The list price of the device is set at $795.00.
For more information or to request a formal proposal, contact the company at 800-RELY-ARS [735-9277] ext. 32, or by email at info@arsenterprises.com.
ARS/SWASH Sanitizing Equipment, an operating division of ARS ENTERPRISES, is the leading provider of sanitization and sterilization equipment for the wine, craft brew, and craft distiller industries. Product lines include SWASH™ and Electro-Steam steam generators, SWASH™ pressure washers, ClearWater Tech ozone generators, SWASH™ stemware and growler washers, Moog high pressure barrel and tank washing appliances, Bitard low pressure barrel rinsers, Biomist spray alcohol sanitizers, and Fogmaster foggers/sprayers for application of chemicals and for barrel room humidification.
