Paint Strainer Bags?

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onipar

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I've read a number of threads about people using paint strainer bags from Home Depot for their BIAB. I *was* just going to get the one from Northern Brewer, but it's $6.99, and I found a two pack of "five gallon paint strainer bags" for $4.

I'm wondering if this mesh bag is the right one to use? Are there any problems using something like this? It's big enough, safe, etc?

Thanks.
 
thats what I and many others use for BIAB

im gonna make a bag out of Voile soon since its supposed to be a finer mesh and can be washed and reused more often but that will work just fine
 
thats what I and many others use for BIAB

im gonna make a bag out of Voile soon since its supposed to be a finer mesh and can be washed and reused more often but that will work just fine

Thanks! :mug:

Is the top opening large enough for a very wide 5 gallon pot? I know most use those tall stock pots, but mine is a "canner" pot, and it's shorter and wider. Definitely more than 1 foot wide.
 
not sure but it fits over my 20 and 30 qt pots just fine as well as stretches over the opening for my ale pail bucket as well
 
Just as an update for anyone who might stumble on this thread via the search bar:

The paint strainer bags from Home depot have a fairly narrow, elastic opening. If you're using a large 5 gallon enamel "canner", it won't fit around the entire opening without ripping it. Should fit most standard narrow, tall stock pots though.
 
perfect fit for 5 gal paint straining bag if you can find pot with a basket like that

_MG_3651.jpg
 
perfect fit for 5 gal paint straining bag if you can find pot with a basket like that

Oh, that'd work (and will also solve the problem of what to put at the bottom of the pot so the bag doesn't burn if I have to add the flame.) Now to see if I have anything around.

:mug:
 
Hmmm..... Is that pic just for teaching purposes? Doesn't one have to sanatize the bag before using? That one looks pretty dry.
 
Not a problem. I use the paint bags from Home Depot all the time, whether its BIAB, steeping or filtering. They work great and they last a long time, as long as you keep them clean.
 
I don't use the BIAB method but I do use those paint strainer bags quite often in brewing. I get mine from Lowe's for $2.98 a 2-pack and they easily fit around my 'ale pail' when I transfer my wort from my kettle.

When I make an IPA, or something with a lot of hops, i like to just pitch them right into the kettle, as opposed to bagging them up, and those bags make filtering them out a breeze :mug:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_126394-968-11583/12FF_0__?productId=1008387&Ntt=paint+strainer&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dpaint%2Bstrainer&facetInfo=
 
I don't use the BIAB method but I do use those paint strainer bags quite often in brewing. I get mine from Lowe's for $2.98 a 2-pack and they easily fit around my 'ale pail' when I transfer my wort from my kettle.

When I make an IPA, or something with a lot of hops, i like to just pitch them right into the kettle, as opposed to bagging them up, and those bags make filtering them out a breeze :mug:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_126394-968-11583/12FF_0__?productId=1008387&Ntt=paint+strainer&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dpaint%2Bstrainer&facetInfo=

I completely agree. I use the same method of transferring my wort to primary with one of these bags already in my primary bucket. I get out pretty much all hops/orange peel/etc with this method.
 
For the people who use paint strainer bags for filtering wort as you pour it into your primary, do you sanitize and re-use the bag for each batch? That's what I'd like to do.
 
I'm gearing up for my first all-grain beer, and going to use BIAB (also for the first time) -- in a week or two, when the hops I ordered get here. About 6 pounds of base and specialty malts, for a 4 gallon boil yielding about 3 gallons.

I bought a couple of those 5 gallon paint bags today at Home Depot. They look plenty big, except they are too narrow to fit around the top of any of my large pots. So what do you do if the bag opening is too small to fit over the pot? Just tie it shut with a piece of string, like a big ol' tea bag?

Thanks. (btw, is the convention here to resurrect old threads, or to start new duplicates? Every forum seems to treat that differently)
 
I got mine from the lhbs marketed by LD Carlson. My BK is shorter & wider than the usual pots & I have to stretch the nylon bag over the lip of the kettle. My problem is it's made to fit a 5 gallon bucket. My kettle is only about half the depth of a bucket. But it works OK just the same. If I could find one to fit a 2 1/2 gallon bucket it might be perfect.
 
I got the 5 gallon bags from Home Depot as well. I was not doing BIAB but was steeping grains that I followed with extract. I took a piece of kitchen twine and just tied the top of the bag shut, like a giant tea bag, and it worked great.
 
If it fits loosely around the lip of the kettle or basket, sure, that'd be great. I've even seen bungee cords used on the outside of kettles on youtube. Mine's a bit small, so a little stretch works to fit on the lip of the kettle, it's just too deep for my 5 gallon stock pot.
 
Best alternative for securing a bag to a kettle is using metal binder clips IME, as linked in the photo above by Seven.

Yep, binder clips rock.

In that picture it looks like the binder clips are being used to allow the bail of the basket to be used with the bag in place. The same method could be used for people with pots too wide to get the paint strainer bag all the way around.

Stretch the bag as far around the rim as possible and then use the clips to secure it in place. There will be a gap on one side but the top of the bag is still open for stirring and temperature readings.
 
I've been using them for a couple ears now and couldn't be happier. They're so cheap I just use and toss. I don't do BIAB anymore, but they make 1 gallon bags that are perfect for my hop spider. The only problem is they tend to float so it needs to be weighed down.
 
perfect fit for 5 gal paint straining bag if you can find pot with a basket like that

_MG_3651.jpg



That is setup is what I use, and if you look a the space around the edge of the colander and the kettle, that wall of water will make a great thermal barrier to mash in. Put a winter jacket over the kettle and you may only lose a .5 to 1 degree in your mash, depending on the outside ambient temperature. Also put a thermal barrier between the floor and the kettle, such as a foam mat or folded towel.

I take my colander out and put it in my bottle bucket, I use measuring cup to keep it up off the spigot and sparge like normal. Works like a charm and I have no extra cooler mash tun to store.
 
Where did you find a pail/colander like that? I don't think you drilled the holes yourself (no offense) because they are too even :) I have a pasta cooker that looks kind of like that -- I've lautered with it for partial mash brews -- but it's too small.

I need to drag all my stuff out this weekend and clean the dust off, take measurements, etc. I think I know where everything is except the little roller mill...
 
Where did you find a pail/colander like that? I don't think you drilled the holes yourself (no offense) because they are too even :) I have a pasta cooker that looks kind of like that -- I've lautered with it for partial mash brews -- but it's too small.

I need to drag all my stuff out this weekend and clean the dust off, take measurements, etc. I think I know where everything is except the little roller mill...

unless i'm mistaken, that is one of these, which i used for 6-8 years to brew beer before stepping up to 10 gallon batches

http://preview.tinyurl.com/l7tlpsn
 
I've done BIAB(with my Wilser bag) in my 8gal pot a few times. His BIAB bags are great.

I just brewed a 1 gal barleywine batch last night in a 2.5gal pot on the stove. I used the 5gal paint strainer bag from Lowes to mash in. I saved some of the grain to make dog biscuits, but then dumped the whole bag in the garbage. For the $1.50 bag cost, it's not worth it to me trying to get the grain bits out. The bags have a small elastic opening at the top and are not big enough to fit around the top of my small 2.5gal pot, let alone a bigger one.

I too used the trick of the metal clips to keep my hop and fruit bag(again from Wilser) from falling down into the boil. Warning, the clip could get hot so be careful.
 
I got the 5 gallon bags from Home Depot as well. I was not doing BIAB but was steeping grains that I followed with extract. I took a piece of kitchen twine and just tied the top of the bag shut, like a giant tea bag, and it worked great.

Please don't tie your bagshut, It reduces the amount of water that can circulate through your grains. Stretch the bag around the rim of the pot. When I did PM I put a 5 gallon paint strainer over my 7.5 gallon turkey cooker and it fit just fine. If the pot's too wide. binder clip it to the rim at 3 or 4 strategic points until you are able to get a larger bag.

When I finally went AG, i purchased a Voile slider panel from Walmart. It had rod pockets top and bottom. I cut it through the middle horizontally into 2 bags, stitched it together with a sewing machine (an absolute must) and got a length of cotton webbing for a drawstring. I slipped the drawstring through each rod pocket. The webbing is long enough to go completely around the brew pot and overlab about 6 inches or so. Sewed a loop into each end, and after I place the bag i the potwith the drawstring around the outside, I feed one loop through the other and secure the loose end to the pot handle with a binder clip.

Place the bag in the brew pot "inside out", IE with the rough side of the seams outward and the grain against what would be in a pillow case the finished edge. Lots less places for the grians to hide when it comes time to rinse the bag off. After i'm finished with the grains I remove the binder clip, close the drawstring and remove the bag with the grains to my sparge apparatus ( please, please, please ask me about my sparge apparatus :) )
 
Good points all, and thanks. But I was doing a grain steep for an extract brew with a 5 gallon paint strainer. Tying the very top of the bag together with twine in that application left a ton of room in the bag even considering expansion of the grain after it was soaking. If I was doing BIAB with a large gain bill it would be a different story. So I am doing a cooler mash ton with a manifold for my first all grain, which I hope to do soon. But for an extract brew with specialty grains just tying the top together worked great!
 
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