Cheap BIAB bags?

[StevieDS]

Thought I'd repost this under a different title cos I didn't get a response.

Has anyone tried using a paint strainer bag for biab? It seems the Americans do this a fair bit.
Have a look at this link, works out about £2.40 per bag.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-GALLON-PAIN ... 4d0c68895e

 

[Jeltz]

I like my BIAB bags to have a draw string, it makes them easy to secure in the boiler and hoist out after mashing. If you can work ayround those issues, these than that seem good value.

 

[Duxuk]

I bought enough net curtain (nylon voile) for £8 from Ebay to make 3 bags. I just cut it into squares and secure it around the mash tun with a strap. You could just use a cord for chaepness. The same cord tied in a slip knot is enough to slip around the gathered sheet and suspend it to drain. See my "BITS brewing" thread in How To guides, if you like.

 

[artyb]

I bought enough net curtain (nylon voile) for £8 from Ebay to make 3 bags. I just cut it into squares and secure it around the mash tun with a strap. You could just use a cord for chaepness. The same cord tied in a slip knot is enough to slip around the gathered sheet and suspend it to drain. See my "BITS brewing" thread in How To guides, if you like.

+1 ...simples

 

[Bribie]

Paint strainer bags make great hop socks but are far too stretchy and weak to handle a grain bill.
I just bought a big square of voile, put my electric urn in the middle, drew a big circle then cut it out and used SWMBOs sewing machine, under supervision, to hem it.

Been doing me well for nearly 2 years and I got another spare made up by a lady friend who is a better machine operator than me.

On hoisting the "bag" I just throttle it with a hangman's noose and use my two block pulley. Actually it's far easier to clean than a bag bag, I take it over to the garden bed, undo the noose, grab a couple of edges and shake, job done. Rinse out in a bucket and hang out to dry.

 

[Duxuk]

I'm brewing as we speak :thumb:
It's an IPA with northern brewer for bittering and citra thereafter. I've added some wheat malt to see what it's like.
Hoisting my sheet was very easy and I just tipped the grain into a trug to be dealt with later. I'll use a second sheet as a hop filter. If there was one piece of advice I'd give to anyone doing BIAB it would be to use Irish Moss or a similar finings. In my first AG I didn't because I'd forgotten to buy any. Big mistake. After 3 weeks it's still showing no real signs of clearing, whilst my subsequent brews are spot on.

 

[warnie]

The big square of voile I imagine is fine if you have a big pot to brew in. But in my 19ltr pot with a 4.5kg grain bill it got very messy and my efficiency was way down as a result. The problem was when I pulled the bag the grain, the wort came out the sides as much as the bottom which meant a lot spilled over the side and all over my cooker which didn't impress her indoors

I ended up buying a ready made bag for £8.75, which had a coarse bottom. This worked great as all the wort came out the bottom, therefor no mess! well worth the money especially with the amount of sparging Maxi-biab involves..

 

[Duxuk]

Maybe the thickness of the voile is important???
I have no idea what weight of voile I have, only that it works a treat . I have done 4.3kg in my 32l pot. The problem there was that there was no room left at the top for a bit of sloshing around to occur as I carried the heavy pot around. I heat in the kitchen but drain in the garage in case of accidents. My AG#4 is now cooling and I'll add the rehydrated yeast tonight.
My total time from start to finish was 7 hours but I went to do some work for nearly 2 and a half hours whilst it mashed. Then I left again for an hour and a half whilst the pan came up to a boil. What I'm trying to say is that you don't need to tie yourself up all day to do AG. I strongly recommend it as a brewing method compared to extract which costs much more. I will now be able to learn about malts just as I perfected my hopping with extract. (to my taste, at least.) :

 

[warnie]

Lets face it with biab, the only time you need to pay close attention is during the boil to make sure you have no boil overs and to put the hops in at the right time. Even then I just pop into the kitchen every 1/4 hour to check, so no big deal.

I know this is going off the subject but the comment duxuk made about waiting an hour and a half for the boil to start made me think. Now I know the ingredients for an average 23ltr AG brew comes to say between £8 and £10. But how much are we spending on heating up the big pots weather it's by electric or gas hob?

My 19ltr pot takes about 20mins to get to strike temp, then another 20-25 to get the boil going on my gas hob. Then there's another 90 mins on top for the boil itself. Has anyone any idea what the cost may be on top of the ingredients?

 

[StevieDS]

I have a bag which I made from a sheet of muslin but I have the same problem as a previous poster with wort pouring out the sides. It's also extremely difficult to do temp stepped mashes cos the heat doesn't transfer into the bag very well. I think the material is too fine. The paint strainer bags seem very popular in the US.

 

[artyb]

one sheet of voile as a bag, :party:






set up in the pot, by weighting down with a dinner plate, [2'' from the base of the pot] while suspended by the bungee straps,

i did manage to singe a bit of the cloth while doing a mash out...

 

[SLC88]

I ended up buying a ready made bag for £8.75, which had a coarse bottom. This worked great as all the wort came out the bottom, therefor no mess! well worth the money especially with the amount of sparging Maxi-biab involves..

I need a bag like this, would you be able to tell me where you bought yours, i cant seen to find any online.

 

[bunkerbrewer]

I know this is going off the subject but the comment duxuk made about waiting an hour and a half for the boil to start made me think. Now I know the ingredients for an average 23ltr AG brew comes to say between £8 and £10. But how much are we spending on heating up the big pots weather it's by electric or gas hob?

I'm all electric, and don't worry about it too much :)

My 40L boiler draws 2.8kW. I once worked out with a 90 minute mash, 90 minute boil and lag times getting up to temperature, the energy cost is about £1 per brew (at 12p/kWH I think).

I typically brew 25L into the FV, so that's about 2p per bottle in electricity costs. That's not total energy of course, I run a brewfridge and probably draw off quite a few litres of hot water from our combi boiler for cleaning fermenters etc. I might work out the total cost one day.

SWMBO is perfectly happy and supportive of my brewing, but once casually asked about energy costs. I restrained from pointing out that the amount of energy and water for a single hot bath far outweighs what I use for a brew - and she has more hot baths than I have brewdays :)

 

[warnie]

I ended up buying a ready made bag for £8.75, which had a coarse bottom. This worked great as all the wort came out the bottom, therefor no mess! well worth the money especially with the amount of sparging Maxi-biab involves..

I need a bag like this, would you be able to tell me where you bought yours, i cant seen to find any online.

Here you go

http://www.shop4homebrew.co.uk/index1.html

 

[anthonyUK]

I used the largest bag they had in The Homebrew Shop

It is a tight fit on a 40l Buffalo which is 40cm wide.
It works well for £6

This is it with 5kg of grain