BIAB grain bag

I am trying to transition from extract to all grain brewing. I figured a nice place to start would be the BIAB method before investing in some new equipment. I recently bought a 15 gallon mega pot and was wondering what size grain bag do people use and where do they find them online? This would be for 5 gallon batches.

Any help would be appreciated

I use a large bag, a bit bigger that a pillow case. It fills a keg brew pot and has a bit of room to spare. I would go big so you have room to work with, such as hanging the bag or squezeing the grain.

i usually use 5 gal paint strainers. their max is ~10#, for a larger grain bill, i get the large nylon mesh bags at the LHBS. they're a bit more expensive, but they how a lot more grain.

It's recommended that your grain bag is large enough that you can fit your brewpot inside of it. I have a 8 gallon pot and has mashed up to 14.5# in it. I bought some voile curtains from Kohls ($11) and that gave me enough to make 3 bags. I just brought it over to my mom and had her sew them up for me. My first BIAB I just used a large grain bag from my LHBS, but some grain did squeeze through. The voile is a much finer mesh and produces a very clean wort in my experience.

What is the diameter of your pot? Is it close to a 5 gallon bucket, or is it short and fat? If it is 5 gal bucket size, the 5 gallon paint strainers will hook around the rim perfectly.

I used those, but switched to the finer voile material you can buy as curtains and loose fabric at Wal-Mart, etc.

If you only have access to the paint strainers now, you can always rubberband a piece of the voile material to your autosiphon/cane when you transfer to bottling bucket/keg.

You'll likely need to make one from voile with that size pot...of course, if you're doing 5 gallon batches, I'd guess the large pot is just your brew kettle, not used for mashing, right? I'd mash in something closer to 6 gallons (a cooler, smaller pot, etc.) that way you can use smaller bag or just drape the voile cloth into it (that's what I do).

What are you mashing in?

I don't know how big a mega pot is, but I'll second the 5 gal paint strainer bags from (Lowes/Home Depot). You can get a 12# grist in, but the bag wears faster. If that's not large enough, try a home goods (or fabric store). The curtains idea is fabulous.

This is large enough.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_403&products_id=1058

thanks guys for the help here never thought of making my own bags

the pot is 19" in diameter. I keep searching online and can't seem to find anything big enough. looks like a trip to wal-mart is in my future. Gotta try and remember how to sow too

gray7103 said:

This is large enough.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_403&products_id=1058

Click to expand...

awesome find! I think this is exactly what i was looking for

I made my own to fit my pot (also 15 gal)...wasn't really that hard to do. It's been through probably 6 batches or so...one with a grain bill over 20lb.

I bought a square yard of voile from a fabric store. I didn't even make it into a bag, just put it in the pot so that the extra hangs out. I use a bungee cord to make sure the bag doesn't hang too far down and burn.

BTW, I use a 10 gallon pot.

Make your own! Here is a picture of mine on my 10 gallon Megapot. You will be much happier with a bag made with the correct material and size for your pot.

you guys rock :rockin:

now that i have flipped back a couple of times i think i am going to make my own. How did you guys go about choosing what to sow with and is there any sowing techniques you would recommend. I have not sowed anything since 8th grade home ec class. i am just worried about the bag ripping under the weight of the grain. my best guess would be to just double stitch everything

Check this site out. The guy makes bags for BIAB and they are of good quality. They are $35 dollars including shipping. He takes the measurments of your kettle and walla you have a nice brew bag for your next batch. Money well spent if you dont like or know how to sew.

http://http://brewinabag.weebly.com/brewing-in-a-bag.html

Hojo3322 said:

you guys rock :rockin:

now that i have flipped back a couple of times i think i am going to make my own. How did you guys go about choosing what to sow with and is there any sowing techniques you would recommend. I have not sowed anything since 8th grade home ec class. i am just worried about the bag ripping under the weight of the grain. my best guess would be to just double stitch everything

Click to expand...

I would double or triple up the material at the seam, and probably use a double stitch as well.

Check out this post. This is a good shape/style to make. It is what I'm going to get sewn up for me.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/index2.html#post3537774

TaylorBrewed said:

Check this site out. The guy makes bags for BIAB and they are of good quality. They are $35 dollars including shipping. He takes the measurments of your kettle and walla you have a nice brew bag for your next batch. Money well spent if you dont like or know how to sew.

http://http://brewinabag.weebly.com/brewing-in-a-bag.html

Click to expand...

brewinabag.weebly.com points to a vacuum site now

If you are interested in a bag, you can see my updated site by going to bagbrewer.com