Heavily brown stained BIAB bag

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

After around 60 mashes the bag is very dark brown stained. Will it or does it adversely affect beer quality . I brew 3.8% smash beers (but with pale crystal malt. Thanks.

 

[jtratcliff]

Probably not enough to be detectable.... If you're worried, give it a fews hours soak in some hot water with oxiclean free (or PBW). That'll take most (but probably not all) of the staining away.

 

[Sammy86]

I'm going to go with no as well...after seeing some of the bags posted in the BIAB forum over the years I think you're safe...and everything gets boiled anyway right?

 

[BongoYodeler]

At the end of a brew day I spray all the grainicles off with the hose, hang it to dry, and then put it away until next brew day. It looks as used and well worn as my favorite pair of jeans.

 

[Kickass]

It looks as used and well worn as my favorite pair of jeans.

Mine is brown with a small tear, like my favorite pair of underwear, err I mean jeans.

 

[day_trippr]

Heck, as long as the bags still act as mesh bags keep on keeping on!

I don't know what the mesh size of a BIAB bag is but back when I used 300 micron nylon pellet bags in the kettle they'd transition from white through yellow through deep brown (once they got the chocolate stout experience ) but I'd just wash them in the laundry and kept using them...until they virtually stopped draining! The mesh tightened with every use and eventually they were useless for kettle hops. Pretty weird to lift a bag full of wort out of the boil and see it refuse to drain. Finally caused me to go commando and incorporate a Hop Stopper in my brewing process...

Cheers!

 

[hotbeer]

Try some Oxyclean when you wash it or even just soak it in a buck with a solution of that. The main bleaching agent in it is sodium percarbonate which also is a component in PBW.

Sodium percarbonate in water breaks down to sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. So if you have some hydrogen peroxide, you might also try that too.

I wouldn't worry about the stain though if you are cleaning the bag well. I just toss them the washing machine with kitchen towels and rags and they come out plenty clean.

Sanitation wise, everything you are doing with the bag is before the boil isn't it?

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

washing machine ? I would never allow soap ANYWHERE in my brewing process including glasses and drying cloths......

 

[BongoYodeler]

Same here. In fact if I even carry my bag past the washing machine I make sure it's in a brown paper bag. I don't want it even seeing a washing machine.

 

[Miraculix]

Soak it in unscented oxyclean. That does the job without ruining the foam of your next batches!

 

[hotbeer]

washing machine ? I would never allow soap ANYWHERE in my brewing process including glasses and drying cloths......

I think you are being overly cautious and that's okay. I just run the bags through the rinse cycle an additional time.

Haven't had any issue that I can detect.

 

[hotbeer]

Soak it in unscented oxyclean. That does the job without ruining the foam of your next batches!

Yeah, I keep forgetting that. My wife hates scented laundry soaps and detergent. So we always have the scent free version of all that stuff.

 

[NSMikeD]

too easy to use oxi (or PBW or One Step) on the bag and the hop bags etc with some hot water. Don't dump your one step or PBW bucket on brew day and drop them in over night and they come out snowy white.

 

[Miraculix]

Yeah, I keep forgetting that. My wife hates scented laundry soaps so we always have the scent free version of all that stuff.

Make sure it is free of soap and any detergent. Just the pure oxystuff.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I guess I don't get the allure of the white bag. Of course, I don't wear tighty whities either.

 

[belgabrewing]

too easy to use oxi (or PBW or One Step) on the bag and the hop bags etc with some hot water. Don't dump your one step or PBW bucket on brew day and drop them in over night and they come out snowy white.

Wash them inside out

 

[IslandLizard]

I don't do BIAB, but do HIAB (H=Hops) in the boil kettle, using large, fine-mesh nylon bags.
Those bags get brown too.

I boil/soak them in a pot with some (homemade) PBW (or just generic Oxiclean). After a few rinses, they get stored submerged in a small bucket with "used" Starsan until the next brew session. The Starsan gets a bit brownish and the bags 2 or 3 tints lighter.

 

[pvtpublic]

So long as your underwear isn't heavily stained brown, I'd say the bag is fine. I always throw it in with my laundry inside out. We dont use anything scented in our house. If it bothers you, just replace it. They don't cost too much.

 

[Protos]

Simple. One pair can last four weeks. One week you go front, another go back. Then you go inside-out, and front and back again.
When I was using snow-white brewing bags it was a source of many worries. It just looked "dirty" after some Baltic Porters and English Stouts.
So, I made me a new Brewing Bag of a tan-coloured mesh.
Bingo. It's never "dirty" again. It's just TAN!