Clear Plastic Leaf garbage bags

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Chips

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Hello Everyone,

I was at my lhbs the other day and while waiting in line struck up a conversation with a couple of older home-brewers. They have sadly since moved from home brewing to in-store brewing (too heavy lifting fermenters i guess?). They said back in the day when they used to brew, instead of sanitizing their primary bucket fermenters, they'd just line the bucket with a brand new clear plastic leaf garbage bag. I guess their theory was that since it was made from liquid plastic it was sterile.

I've never heard of this before and have no idea about the 'food safety' of drinking beer made in a garbage bag. However...it is an interesting idea especially for new homebrewers as it saves the sanitizing step (if it works of course).

Anyways these guys said it worked great for them. Anyone else ever heard/tried anything like this before?

Just curious...
 
I use Reynolds 24lb Turkey Bags every time.

Not that garbage bags are an issue I just feel better using something intended for contact with foods being prepared to be eaten. I know for a fact that the Reynolds bags are pH tolerant and aside from this ever growing nub at the base of my spine, I have seen no ill effects from their use.

I do know a few who have had problems while filling the bags but, I have not had the issues and cannot vouch for why others have.

Regardless of what type of bag used I would NOT advise against sanitizing the liner. A simple spritz of StarSan to the inside is all that is needed. The main advantage to using the liners is that it signifigantly reduces the amount of cleaning needed for your bucket fermenters once the beer is racked off. All I do is pull the bag, rinse out the bucket, and invert it to dry. Easy Peasy. Rice and Cheesy.

Additionally, using the liners there is also no ligering fear of scratching the buckets thus harboring the evil microscopic gnomes. Meaning, I can stack my buckets and sleep peacefully at night knowing I have not smited any of the beer gods of plastic.

Cheers and good luck.
 
Ooooh!!! I had never heard of this, or even thought about it! hOW MUCH DO THOSE TURKEY BAGS RUN?

Sorry about the caps, I can't be bothered to go back and fix it. Dammit!!! I just realised it took me way longer to type this than fix the typo! ......Oh well. :(
 
Garbage bags are theoretically not food safe, unless they're labeled as such. Because of the plastics from which they're made, they could leach potentially harmful chemicals into food. This is a relatively common "catch" in food safety regulation (health inspector)... a restaurant will store bread or other food items in plastic garbage bags and it will be a violation of the food safety code.

Large food grade plastic bags are made for the restaurant industry. Unless it's labeled as food safe, I wouldn't use it.
 
Garbage bags are theoretically not food safe, unless they're labeled as such. Because of the plastics from which they're made, they could leach potentially harmful chemicals into food. This is a relatively common "catch" in food safety regulation (health inspector)... a restaurant will store bread or other food items in plastic garbage bags and it will be a violation of the food safety code.

Large food grade plastic bags are made for the restaurant industry. Unless it's labeled as food safe, I wouldn't use it.

Yeah, but I think we have officially moved this to the idea of these turkey bag things now. :)
 
I'd also be concerned about the permability of the trash bags. As we all know, not all plastic is created equal. Since this is also going into a bucket or other container, that's probably less of a concern. But still, I'd be afraid of fermenting beer in a plastic that isn't deemed "food safe." Sounds like the turkey bags, at a minimum, would solve those concerns.
 
Seriously, you guys hadn't heard about the whole turkey bag movement? Gila turned me on to those a few months ago. Screw having to clean buckets, just toss out the bag when you're done.
 
At about $1.00 a bag. They aren't cheap in comparison but, well worth the "expense" to not have to clean or worry about replacing buckets.

I have also noticed that the bags mitigate odor permeation and definitely thwart staining. So far, I have 5 brews "in the bag" and am definitely a convert.

Some of the converted had issues with keeping the bag on the bucket but, I think their sonbriety was ta question too.
 
Reynolds Kitchens: Products: Reynolds® Oven Bags

These really work? This would allow for a more rapid expansion of primaries as the food grade quality of the exterior bucket would become negligible with the turkey bag liner, no? Use a food grade lid with airlock and you should be good?

Yes. The 24lb bags used with a 6.5 ga bucket REALLY do work. The ONLY trick is keeping the bag from getting pulled in while filling the bucket. As I said, I have yet to have issue with this but some haven't figured out how that works. One guy even suggested he used a straw or racking cane as a pocket purge but it still ended in FAIL. Honestly, I think those who have failed with these have put too much thought into it.
 
I've never heard of Turkey-bags, but for $1/piece seems like a small price to pay for insurance of not having a scratched up bucket (/clogging the shower while cleaning out the yeast cake. Wives do not like this).

Thanks for all the great info! Now to try and find a turkey bag at the local grocery store.
 
ps - Do you think it would be possible to sterilize the bag by roasting it the oven for a while before filling it? It's already made to withstand the heat!
 
I'm thinking if you have some of your fill water, assuming one is not doing a full boil, you could have the bulk of the air purged from between the bag and bucket prior to filling the bag with the wort and make for a fairly seamless transition. Or am I just way off?
 
ps - Do you think it would be possible to sterilize the bag by roasting it the oven for a while before filling it? It's already made to withstand the heat!

Prolly could, just leave out the Turkey and trimmings. BTW, years of actual testing has proven it is not necessary to sterilize your fermenters (or fermenter liners). Sanitizing is effective enough. No heat necessary. Just spary it down with StarSan and move away from the bucket.
 
I'm thinking if you have some of your fill water, assuming one is not doing a full boil, you could have the bulk of the air purged from between the bag and bucket prior to filling the bag with the wort and make for a fairly seamless transition. Or am I just way off?

Huh?

Okay, it's REALLY simple. Don't think about it and it'll work.

D'ja ever toss some trash into a newly lined trash bin? What happenned?

The bag was all poofy and the trash laid on top. What'd you do?

You pulled the edge to allow air to escape thus allowing the trash to force the bag to line the can.

How about bagging leaves? How'd ya do that?

Why you wrapped the edge of the liner well over the lip of the can and allowed the weight to pull more liner as needed. Occasionally pulling on a lip to purge air.

It's exactly like that, only with beer and it didn't take a team of scientists to figure out the physics of THAT.
 
does the 24 lb turkey bag fit a 6 gal primary?


edit: didnt look above. sorry. answered my own question
 
Gila: You essentially repeated my thought. I'm not doing full boils. I can start with my top off water in the bag, and "burp" the bag until the air is gone or at least minimize the amount of air present between the bag and bucket prior to introducing the wort.
 
Gila: You essentially repeated my thought. I'm not doing full boils. I can start with my top off water in the bag, and "burp" the bag until the air is gone or at least minimize the amount of air present between the bag and bucket prior to introducing the wort.

Itsallguuud! :cross:
 
This is a really great idea, I will try this for my next brew day, I hate cleaning out buckets it is a PIA!

Do the bags overlap the lip of the buckets, so the lid keeps them in place?
 
Yes. But, I don't use an airlock. Instead I use the airlock hole for a thermowell dip tube and I leave the lid loose. I set my bucket inside a dish tub so if the fermenter blows over the dish tub catches the slop and I don't end up with a funky freezer.

It only gets hairy when you are filling the bag. I suppose, one could wet the inside of the bucket and use the moisture to keep the bag stuck to the inside walls thus making it easier to fill. Never tried it but, I think it's work.
 
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