Cheap Laundry Bags for BIAB

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

BtotheG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
45
Reaction score
0
Location
Kansas City
Hi all, I've been wanting to try out BIAB for a little while now, but haven't really wanted to put much effort or investment into making a bag for it. I also haven't seen a lot of recommendations out there for premade bags aside from the extra large coarse bag at Austin Homebrew, and the guy on here that makes really nice looking custom bags.

So, I bit the bullet and bought the following laundry bags off of Amazon just to see how coarse they were and how easily they would fit my Keggle:

Woolite Mesh Laundry Bag

This bag seems nearly perfect although they sent me hot pink instead of white :) I can fit the entire keg in there with room to spare and the mesh is very fine - similar to voile material that people use. It's made of "tear resistant" nylon. I can't imagine any husk material making its way through this bag, but I'll report back after I try it out.

Honey-Can-Do Mesh Laundry Bag

I haven't opened this one up yet to see if it will fit in my keg, but the mesh is much coarser than the Woolite bag. I would say it's a little coarser than a paint strainer bag and I'm hesitant of even testing it out. It is made of polyester.

I'm certainly no expert on the matter so if anyone else has any experience with these feel free to chime in. Anyway, just thought I'd pass it along :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Subscribed. I've been looking for a cheap bag to try this.... Let us know how it works out!
 
I'm curious, too. Please keep us up to date.

What are the seams like on these bags? Single sewn or double sewn?
 
Have you looked at a brew shop?

I actually just bought a 18"x32" nylon grain bag from my LHBS since I was an idiot and didnt look at which one I grabbed. It was only $8 though.

I''l just use it in my Igloo mash tun, cheaper than making a braided SS hose filter for batch sparge.


Edit-I would rather have an open top bag and use a binder clip to close the top if I need to, much easier to clean than anything with a zipper
 
I have eyed some of the laundry bags at retail places, and my guess is that they are likely a little coarse. Walmart sells a voile curtain panel that works very well that I make bags out of. 5 gallon paint strainers work well for 5 gallon tuns, and I think midwest sells a bigger bag but it may be a little coarse as well....polyester voile is the ticket.
 
spyder1911 said:
Have you looked at a brew shop?

I actually just bought a 18"x32" nylon grain bag from my LHBS since I was an idiot and didnt look at which one I grabbed. It was only $8 though.
Click to expand...

Every bag I have ever seen at an LHBS has been way too coarse for my liking. I am using the voile material now and prefer it due to how fine it is.

John
 
Here's a closeup of the stitching (I'm not sure I can post pictures). I don't know much about sewing, but I think that is probably what people are talking about in regards to double-stitching. Also, it is vibrantly pink. I think it'll really set off the dull shine of my old beer keg.

 
BtotheG said:
Here's a closeup of the stitching (I'm not sure I can post pictures). I don't know much about sewing, but I think that is probably what people are talking about in regards to double-stitching. Also, it is vibrantly pink. I think it'll really set off the dull shine of my old beer keg.
Click to expand...

Tough to tell from the pic just how fine the mesh is. Looks fairly close to what you need, but maybe too course.

Firstly though, I'd be concerned about the dye leeching into your beer.

Stitching looks good. It's whats known as an "overlock stitch" produced by a "serger sewing maching". Very strong!

Michael
 
datamike said:
Tough to tell from the pic just how fine the mesh is. Looks fairly close to what you need, but maybe too course.

Firstly though, I'd be concerned about the dye leeching into your beer.

Stitching looks good. It's whats known as an "overlock stitch" produced by a "serger sewing maching". Very strong!

Michael
Click to expand...

I also am concerned about that. The photo on amazon is white, and they don't appear to offer different colors. I may try to contact them and see if I can exchange it for a white one. I think it's made to be thrown in the wash, but definitely not used at the temperatures for mash/mash-out.
 
Color dyes would scare me away from using it. I'd suggest boiling to see if the color leaches out somewhat before making pink beer.

If you are looking for cheap, game bags from a hunting supply store are an alternative. I bought some but they were too small for my set up.
 
samc said:
Color dyes would scare me away from using it. I'd suggest boiling to see if the color leaches out somewhat before making pink beer.

If you are looking for cheap, game bags from a hunting supply store are an alternative. I bought some but they were too small for my set up.
Click to expand...

I'll have to check out game bags, I've heard them mentioned on here before. I'm really just looking for anything premade, that is big enough for a keg, and has fine enough mesh to be effective at containing all the grain husks. Since I don't have any experience with BIAB I'm hesitant to spend too much or put too much time into something I may not use. I only went with this one because it seemed to have everything I was looking for and I get free shipping from Amazon.

This is probably one of the first items I went looking on these forums for a recommendation on and didn't find a clear winner that everyone was using. So far it seems like the consensus is to make your own.
 
I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Home Depot/Lowes. $4.00 for two of them. I can reuse each bag about 2-3 times, so $4.00 for 4-6 batches, then I just go pick up some more.
 
I have eyed some of the laundry bags at retail places, and my guess is that they are likely a little coarse. Walmart sells a voile curtain panel that works very well that I make bags out of. 5 gallon paint strainers work well for 5 gallon tuns, and I think midwest sells a bigger bag but it may be a little coarse as well....polyester voile is the ticket.
Click to expand...

I've made my first 3 BIAB batches with the walmart voile material, and I'm not convinced that it's optimal. I didn't like the looks of the LHBS mesh because it was so course. The walmart material material is very fine mesh, but that means it takes a long time for the bag to drain, and I can't hold it over the kettle very long, plus when I do hold it up to drain, wort goes everywhere because I can't keep the bag entirely over the kettle. I bought some Home Depot paint strainer bags and they seem to be somewhere between walmart voile material and LHBS bags. I will try those next time I brew and see if they drain faster. I want to get a clear beer, but I think that the particles that cause beer cloudiness are plenty small enough to travel through even the walmart voile material and any extra solid material that slips out of the coarser material will easily settle during the cooling process. We shall see.
 
TopherM said:
I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Home Depot/Lowes. $4.00 for two of them. I can reuse each bag about 2-3 times, so $4.00 for 4-6 batches, then I just go pick up some more.
Click to expand...

That's the ticket. I get I think 3 in a package from Menard's. But the 5 gallon paint strainer bags are the way to go.
 
BetterSence, when my bags get a bit clogged up, I find that I can usually just "roll" the bag around and most of the liquid will then filter out. If that doesn't work, I just poke my mash paddle in there a bit and everything drains nicely.
 
How big of kettles do you all use? I've read that you're supposed to be able to fit your kettle inside the bag.
 
I got a pack of 5 gal paint strainer bags from Menard's and they didn't fit on my 24 qt stockpot...at least I didn't think so. I might have to go home and try to manhandle one on now.
 
5 gallon paint strainer bags from Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware all fit fine on my 44 qt pot that's 13.5" in diameter.
 
BetterSense said:
The walmart material material is very fine mesh, but that means it takes a long time for the bag to drain, and I can't hold it over the kettle very long, plus when I do hold it up to drain, wort goes everywhere because I can't keep the bag entirely over the kettle.
Click to expand...

I use a stainless turkey fryer with a fryer basket and the bag inside the fryer basket clipped to it. I have an over the sink collander that fits nicely on top of the turkey fryer pull the bag and let it drip then sparge it, let it drip, finally I mash it down lightly to squeeze the last little bit out.

Other than that, a hook above your brew pot and the inner pot if you use one hung from it and let it all drain.

But hey there's countless ways to get it done.
 

Similar threads

J
Height Needed for BIAB Hoist?
Replies
13
Views
524
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Ale-75-IT
trying to achieve a cheap CO2 storage system
2 3 4
Replies
123
Views
6K
beren
beren
DonH
For Sale SoCal - FULL 20gal BIAB /Keezer / Ferm Fridge
Replies
6
Views
841
DonH
DonH
M
Anyone have some pics demonstrating how to fasten to a Wilser Mesh BIAB bag for hoisting?
Replies
19
Views
4K
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
solsbrew
Cheap Homemade Fermentation Chamber - Food Delivery Bag.
Replies
1
Views
2K
3 Dawg Night
3 Dawg Night

Latest posts

Back
Top