Newest Threads

**bsdx** · 06-05-2010, 02:40 PM

I did find a 5 pack of turkey bags at a local Gordon Food Service store for $3.99, they said they were leftovers from Thanksgiving and not normally stocked. Also as of Monday I have two ferm pails making beer using bags I found at work that were meant for paper shredder waste. They are big enough for the larger 7.9 gal plastic pails but the plastic is somewhat thin in comparison to the turkey bags. The bottom is star shaped too so not all of the plastic lays flat on the bottom. I'll see how it comes out. I'm hoping the lid seal doesn't tear the plastic at the top.

I think I could convince myself to pay around $1/bag if it was food safe, big enough, and a sturdy thickness.. I wouldn't have to worry about scratches in the pail bottom and cleanup would be easy.

BlackTieBrewing · 06-05-2010, 04:37 PM

I found a place that has these FDA compliant poly liners if you don't mind buying a case of 250. They have a warehouse in Toronto for Canadians and a bunch of locations in the states. http://www.uline.ca/BL_6751/Uline-Industrial-Trash-Liners

**bsdx** · 06-05-2010, 04:59 PM

Thanks!! Seeing the FDA and the type of plastic was enough to convince me it should be worth buying for this. I ordered a box of the S-7000 "heavy" (1.5 mil) CLEAR 24x30 bags meant for 8-10 gal, wanted to make sure it would be tall enough for all my pails since the width looked ok. UPS ground from Illinois warehouse to michigan, should ship monday and arrive tuesday

fishnfever · 06-05-2010, 06:31 PM

Where do you see the FDA aproval.

BlackTieBrewing · 06-05-2010, 06:37 PM

You have to select an individual product and towards the bottom of the page there a tap that says more info or something like that and it says "meets FDA approval"

**bsdx** · 06-05-2010, 06:37 PM

if you goto
http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-7000/Trash-Liners/24-x-30-8-10-Gallon-15-mil-Clear-Trash-Liners
and click on "Additional Info" near the bottom,
it shows:
OTHER INFORMATION:
* FDA compliant for food industry use.
* Milky appearance-- not crystal clear.

MATERIAL: Polyethylene

MISCELLANEOUS:
* Bags are flat packed.
* Plastic twist ties not included.

**bsdx** · 06-10-2010, 04:09 AM

The bags I ordered came in yesterday. I am very pleased so far with the size I picked and the thickness. It leaves at least 6 inches to hang over the edge of a 7.9 gal plastic pail and the thickness is satisfactory. I have not used them to brew yet, only stuck one in a pail to inspect. I also stuck one in a cornie, adding liquid into the bag sucked it down near the beginning to about 2" hanging out the lid hole, I was able to insert the lid easily with the bag in but the dip tubes and posts would be useless without poking a hole in the bag which would make the bag almost useless. If you had a lower psi pressure relief or an airlock built into the lid, you could use the same bag as a liner for fermenting in a cornie it appears.

**bsdx** · 12-20-2012, 02:18 PM

I started using the liners in my 6gal carboys too. I have not used buckets since I went all-grain, but it is tempting for beers with lots of whole hops. I ordered another box of bags that are 3 inches longer to leave more hanging out of the carboy, making it easier to work with. I like that I can fill the liner with wort or beer then fold down the excess plastic to keep dust out before I am finished (fermcap, aerate, pre-fermentation additions, pitch yeast, airlock or blowoff). I found the metal lid ring from a non-wide mouth canning jar fits over the neck/bag easily to keep the bag folded shut.
S-13572 12-16GAL 1.5MIL CLR TR

For a while I tried going without the liners, but I was never completely pleased with how clean my carboys were coming out and spending a lot of time scrutinizing and re-cleaning. I went back to using the bags because I can pull it out in a minute, rinse the carboy with water and call it done.

I've found the liner makes it easy to remove a #10 bung which you can sink to be just below flush with the top of the carboy. Fits nicely, and because you can tug on the plastic to pull the bung out, you can do it with one hand. This makes things easier when getting ready to rack since I can be holding my racking cane in the other hand.

The backpressure outside of the bags but inside the carboy was reducing my headspace so I actually drilled a hole in the shoulders of my plastic carboys, allowing the bag to fully inflate when the yeast get going. This has added advantages, for example I don't have a suckback problem because the bag can deflate, and if I remove the bung to take a sample, I can blow air into the shoulder hole to deflate the bag, pushing out a good portion of air that may have entered when I took a sample. The shoulder hole also makes it easier to remove the bag because I can use backpressure to push the bag out. Alternatively, pierce the bottom of the bag with something long and sharp like a racking cane.

I've been using the bags for lots of stuff, like containing spills if a bottle broke while shipping it, lining my grain buckets, and even as a trash bag in my brewery

hausofstrauss · 02-26-2013, 06:06 PM

I had been thinking about this for a while and was glad to see someone here had done it. I just tried the uline liners on 3 different batches.

I was already fermenting in plastic buckets due to the lower cost and easier cleanup. This was hopefully a way to make cleanup even easier and to open up possibilities for alternative fermentation vessels. I'm looking to experiment with a 10 gallon plastic trash can for larger batches. The choices for a fermentation vessel are now opened up dramatically.

I got the next size up liners too (S-13572):
http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-13572/Trash-Liners/24-x-33-12-16-Gallon-15-Mil-Clear-Trash-Liners

Results:
Munich Helles
One would think if there was leaching of anything into the beer, it would show up in this one. I kegged a few weeks ago and it tastes great.
Tried on two other ales (for secondary only), no problems there either.

I double bagged for this first round of testing to be safe, but there was no leaking to be found. The lids for the buckets sealed just fine, even over two layers of bag.

The best part is the cleanup. Just siphon the beer, pull the liner out, tie it shut and throw it in the trash. No bucket to clean, just a lid.

I also wanted to decrease the permanent modification of any equipment, so I skipped the vent hole in the side of the bucket and everything went just fine. As of now, I think this will be my new method. Bulk cost puts them at about $0.20 / bag. Completely worth it in my opinion. 250 bags will last me a long time, but I suppose one could go in with a few people and split a package.

**wilserbrewer** · 02-27-2013, 10:28 AM

My LHBS is also a brew on premise, they use large bags to line a 15 gallon HDPE closed head drum for primary fermentation, 12 gal batches.