Bag in Box

[pizzaman]

5 gallon food grade mylar water bags are cheap, durable, reusable, water and air tight. Figure out a way to seal the bag around a compression fitting to be connected to a schrader valve and you're in business.

 

[pizzaman]

Or get something like this 1 gallon stainless steel cooler($20):

Attach this 1 gallon mylar bag to a schrader valve installed in the screw-on lid($3):

I'd imagine you could prime in there, and as long as you have a bike pump with a built in psi gauge($15), you would never need to purchase anything else.

 

[Bobby_M]

So 1 gallon batches then?

I don't know if that cooler could withstand 12psi and not blow up or leak. You'd also need a way to put a longer serving line on that spigot or you'd blow all the Co2 out of solution in the pour.

 

[pizzaman]

They also make larger sizes of both. The 5+ gallon mylar bags run about $5, the 5 gallon bubba-kegs are about $50. Serving line to which spigot? The spigot connected to the bag filled with air, or the spigot on the cooler? There wouldn't be any CO2 in the bag, and I assume the CO2 in the cooler would remain at the top of the liquid with the mylar bag, as co2 is lighter than beer...

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't mind playing around with these ideas but I'm getting the impression that you don't fully understand how carbonation works. I don't mean to be insulting.

If the basic idea you're going for is to fill the bubba keg with beer and carbonate via sugar priming, the thing has got to hold up to about 25psi without leaking any CO2 that is produced in that process (just like in a 12oz bottle). If the bubba keg can handle that, you're on your way.

While the beer was carbing in that manor, I'd assume the mylar bag was installed with the fill through the lid somehow but not inflated at all. When you're ready to dispense, you'd incrementally top off the mylar bag with compressed air (bike pump or whatever). Still, the bubba would have to hold at least 12 psi at that point.

Once you get into paying $50 for a 5 gallon bubba keg, you're back to saving money on a $20 corny keg which could be used in the exact same configuration only you KNOW it's meant to hold pressure. The only catch is that you'd need a mylar bag that could inflate enough to almost fill the keg completely to dispace the beer.

 

[pizzaman]

Corney kegs are fine, and there's really no reason not to use one for the setup, thinking more about trying to use a cooler type setup with a gravity-fed bottom spout would probably cause oxidation issues due to backflow when liquid is released anyway. They do make 5 gallon mylar bags which measure 26" x 36", last time I checked a corney keg is about 2 feet tall(thats 24 inches). So for your $20 corney keg, a $5 mylar bag, and the fittings to attach the bag to the corney, you've got an air-powered keg.

 

[User Name]

Why not just go with a 5 gallon Sanke or pony keg and a keg tap?
You would need to remove the spear for each cleaning – Oxiclean soak and rinse.
I’m sure you could find a great deal on CL.

Another idea: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/5-5-gallon-corny-kegs-sanke-couplers-welded-84332/

 

[Bobby_M]

Why not just go with a 5 gallon Sanke or pony keg and a keg tap?
You would need to remove the spear for each cleaning – Oxiclean soak and rinse.
I’m sure you could find a great deal on CL.

Another idea: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/5-5-gallon-corny-kegs-sanke-couplers-welded-84332/

Because you'd oxidize the beer in a matter of hours by using a hand pump.

 

[pizzaman]

Would the hand pump be hooked up to the air bladder? If so that would be pretty nifty...

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

My God. It's not that pricey to keg beer. Co2 lasts a long time. I rent a 20lb tank and it lasts me a year and I was brewing a LOT and also using to push filter. The rental tank is on a swap system, I run out, I swap for fresh one. Just pay for the gas which isn't much.

There's very little in maintenance (ie parts) required other than the occasional seal on the cornies (cheap).

Bite the bullet and get a corny system. You can pick up regulators for cheap. Contact a beverage place (the ones who supply bars) and you can get a lot of things used for fairly cheap!

 

[pizzaman]

I am actually in the process of pricing cornies at lhbs, and trying to get one off my brother. As I've stated before I really have nothing against cornies, CO2, or any of the current tried and true methods of kegging. Basically I'm just an engineer with waaay too much time on his hands and can't seem to stop thinking about this. This thread is more for a discussion of random ideas than trying to re-invent any wheels. One day when I've got as much money as I currently have time, I'll end up sitting around my shop tinkering around with things like this just for fun. You could say this point in my life while finishing up school is an R&D time....

 

[User Name]

Wish I had the time and tools to tinker with some of my ideas.

I saw this CL ad and thought of your project: Broken kegerator for $50 OBO -Sold

It's not much but the price isn't bad either. If you want I can get this for you and strip the parts you could use and ship them to you. I could probably unload the kegs to cover my time and shipping.

Hit me with a PM if interested. I may just get this for myself.

Edit: The kegerator has been sold. The two kegs alone were worth the asking price. Too bad.

 

[pizzaman]

For future reference, if anyone wants to buy something and ship the parts to me, please feel free to do so. I promise I'll build something cool and take lots of pics.

 

[ellenbrewer]

I have several pallets of mylar bags with a spigot. I believe they hold about 2.2 gallons. If anyone is interested I would be glad to let some go for cheap (3 for $1 plus shipping). I have looked around online and I see lots of mylar bags; many of them are very shiny. These are not so shiny; just a square mylar bag with all the edges sealed with a water-tight removable twist-to-use spigot.

I use them for emergency water storage (our pump on the well goes out often) and I have filled hundreds of them over time. Out of all the bags I have filled I had a problem with one of them leaking near the base of the plastic spigot - NOT the bag itself.

As an experiment, I filled one near capacity and stood on it. The spigot did not pop off and the bag didn't break. I was very, very careful getting on and off of it though. I wouldn't recommend doing this indoors either.

Anyway, if anyone wants bags, I have LOTS. Shipping will be ASAP in crude (cheap) packaging with at the cheapest shipping rates unless otherwise specified. I will determine the shipping on an order-by-order basis. I will also always add one additional bag per order (or per 100 on large orders) in case there is a faulty spigot. This will add to the shipping very slightly but will cover any inconvenience. I doubt anyone would see this problem in 500 bags, but I don't want anyone ticked off!

Thanks,

Ellen Brewer

Yes, this is my REAL last name.

 

[conpewter]

I have several pallets of mylar bags with a spigot. I believe they hold about 2.2 gallons. If anyone is interested I would be glad to let some go for cheap (3 for $1 plus shipping). I have looked around online and I see lots of mylar bags; many of them are very shiny. These are not so shiny; just a square mylar bag with all the edges sealed with a water-tight removable twist-to-use spigot.

I use them for emergency water storage (our pump on the well goes out often) and I have filled hundreds of them over time. Out of all the bags I have filled I had a problem with one of them leaking near the base of the plastic spigot - NOT the bag itself.

As an experiment, I filled one near capacity and stood on it. The spigot did not pop off and the bag didn't break. I was very, very careful getting on and off of it though. I wouldn't recommend doing this indoors either.

Anyway, if anyone wants bags, I have LOTS. Shipping will be ASAP in crude (cheap) packaging with at the cheapest shipping rates unless otherwise specified. I will determine the shipping on an order-by-order basis. I will also always add one additional bag per order (or per 100 on large orders) in case there is a faulty spigot. This will add to the shipping very slightly but will cover any inconvenience. I doubt anyone would see this problem in 500 bags, but I don't want anyone ticked off!

Thanks,

Ellen Brewer

Yes, this is my REAL last name.

Any idea if these will hold any amount of pressure? If it could hold 12PSI then the whole idea might work

 

[pizzaman]

Not sure if I'd wanna send any money to a brand-spankin-new member with only 1 post....though it is a cool last name...(not as cool as mine though)

 

[conpewter]

True, but if you wanted to try it out, you are risking probably $3 to do so. I have a kegging setup so I don't plan to (plenty of projects to do already) but I agree with your general sentiments. That is why most beer swaps are between paying members, more easily tracked and accountable.

 

[pizzaman]

Beer swaps eh? I might just have to become a paying member sooner than I planned....

 

[Bobby_M]

Note to pizzaman, paying member or not, do not send me beer in a mylar bag in a beer swap.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

In the end you will just go out and by a cornie keg, regulator etc. You might as well do it now rather than later. You'll be glad you did. I was.

 

[Homercidal]

Not sure about the mylar bag option. The pressure of carbed beer is pretty high. You'd need to keep it in contact with the surrounding area to keep it from bulging and bursting. Also, you'd need a pressure-capable container to put it in, so you can pressurize it to keep the beer from going flat.

Or, you'd need to put mechanical pressure on the bag. In this instance, the pressure plate would have to do it's job without pinching the bag in any way.

Also, the bag would have to be capable of preventing O2 from entering. Not sure how good a mylar bag would be for this, under pressure.

Frankly, I think it would be easier to fill up 1 L bottles with a pressure cap, but then you are adding a CO2 system to the equation, so then why not buy 1 or 2 used cornies for $20 each?

 

[kornkob]

Soda kegs dispensed concentrated syrup and we managed to re-purpose those.

That being said, there is an endless supply of cheap soda kegs that are easy to fill and clean and fit like a glove in refrigerators and freezers. I cannot conceive of an advantage to bag in a box for homebrewers.

Well -- most commonly they were used (and still are used-- I go to a convention that still gets corney kegs of coke products on tap) for ready to drink, carbonated sodas.