Paint strainer usage for biab

[Grinnan5150]

For BIAB is there a particular size of paint strainer to use or are they all the same size? Also, do they have a tendenancy to tear when you lift it out of the wort or are they pretty durable?

 

[kh54s10]

AFAIK, paint strainer bags only come in cardboard cones for 1 gallon, 1 gallon bags and 5 gallon bags. The 5 gallon ones are what most people use for BIAB.

I have done 3 BIAB with the 5 gallon bag. There is no sign that there is any weakening. I am not afraid that it will tear or split open.

 

[BlakeL]

I used a 5 gallon strainer on a 10qt pot for a 1 gallon batch and it worked great. I think they're pretty durable but I guess that depends on the amount of grains you're using. One thing i'm not sure if I need to worry about is if it will burn from touching the bottom of the pot.

 

[InLimbo]

Not trying to pee in anyone's Cheerios.. but paint strainer bags aren't even close to being food-grade. I'd shop around for a food-grade grain bag. I don't know if I'm allowed to link items here, so I won't. But there are food-grade grain bags sold by many reputable beer supply websites.

 

[sfrisby]

Used paint strainer bags for biab for years. They work fine. And yes, if they get scorched, they're Swiss cheese. Don't ask how I know.

 

[befus]

Not trying to pee in anyone's Cheerios.. but paint strainer bags aren't even close to being food-grade. I'd shop around for a food-grade grain bag. I don't know if I'm allowed to link items here, so I won't. But there are food-grade grain bags sold by many reputable beer supply websites.

C'mon man, most BIAB's are paint strainer bags, or voile curtain cloth from Walmart. Think curtains are "food grade"?

 

[whitehause]

The 5 gal bag is a little small in a 10 gal pot. It will work, and I've used one many times, but make sure you have some kind of clips to help hold it to the rim of the pot. I Have one that's on it's 10th batch with no signs of weakening. I'm getting(or making) a bigger one so the grain isn't as compressed in the bag when making bigger beers with a 13Lb + grain bill.

 

[zheol]

i got a couple pack of those 5 gallon strainer bags from HD im having my cousin cut the seams on 2 of the bags and sew them together to form a bigger bag so i can do my frist biab ^^ wish me luck will only be my 2nd batch

 

[Voodoo_Child]

I picked up two 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Lowe's for around $3, anyone have any idea how much gain they can handle? I'm thinking of brewing Edworts Robust Porter which is at just about 14 lbs.

Long term I would go with voile material or a curtain, not even sowing it, just clipping to my 9 gallon Bayou Classic.

 

[InLimbo]

C'mon man, most BIAB's are paint strainer bags, or voile curtain cloth from Walmart. Think curtains are "food grade"?

Course not. That's one of the many reasons I don't BIAB : P

 

[Voodoo_Child]

Course not. That's one of the many reasons I don't BIAB : P

What could a curtain possibly harbor that wouldn't be destroyed in a 60 min boil?

 

[Cape Brewing]

I have been using paint strainer bags for years for hops in my boil and rarely do shorter than a 75 minute boil. I'm not buying the "food-grade" argument at all. If someone doesn't want to use them out of personal preference, I'm not going to tell them otherwise but they are used by a huge number of folks and I've never had a problem or heard of anyone having a problem with them.

 

[Stauffbier]

I use paint strainer bags for my hops as well. The only concern I have is that the elastic band in them would start to break down when they get old, so I intend to replace mine soon. I don't worry about them being food grade. As far as BIAB goes I ordered a huge grain bag from Austin, and it's basically the same as the paint strainers. It's great for BIAB, since it's big enough to go in an 11 gal kettle.

 

[tre9er]

Somewhat OT, anyone BIAB in keggles/large kettles? If I get my hands on a sanke or megapot I want to do full volume BIAB so I don't need 3 new vessels.

 

[Euphist]

I BIAB exclusively and am using a 60 qt commercial stock pot. I made my bag out of a couple of yards of voile. Dozens of batches later (some with 20+ lb grain bills) it shows no signs of weakening.

 

[befus]

I BIAB exclusively and am using a 60 qt commercial stock pot. I made my bag out of a couple of yards of voile. Dozens of batches later (some with 20+ lb grain bills) it shows no signs of weakening.

Are you sure your stock pot is food grade?


JK, giving Kali boy a hard time.

 

[tre9er]

I BIAB exclusively and am using a 60 qt commercial stock pot. I made my bag out of a couple of yards of voile. Dozens of batches later (some with 20+ lb grain bills) it shows no signs of weakening.

A single layer, or doubled-up? I think the material is pretty strong, but I often wonder about doubling it up and making a really heavy-duty bag.

 

[Airplanedoc]

Somewhat OT, anyone BIAB in keggles/large kettles? If I get my hands on a sanke or megapot I want to do full volume BIAB so I don't need 3 new vessels.

Im about to, just finished building mine

 

[tre9er]

Im about to, just finished building mine

Cheers!
I'm looking for ways to easily do a larger batch, be it double batch and use HLT to do second boil (probably wouldn't save much time, 2nd mash time=1st boil time) or get a larger vessel to heat wort.

 

[Stauffbier]

Somewhat OT, anyone BIAB in keggles/large kettles? If I get my hands on a sanke or megapot I want to do full volume BIAB so I don't need 3 new vessels.

I've done a few BIAB batches in my 15.5 gal sanke with the grain bag I mentioned a few posts earlier. I have an insulation jacket I made with reflectix to keep the heat in during the mash. I don't do this very often, though. I usually mash in my Coleman cooler.. If I do BIAB it's usually a small batch (say 3.5 gal more or less) and I use one of my smaller kettles...

 

[tre9er]

I've done a few BIAB batches in my 15.5 gal sanke with the grain bag I mentioned a few posts earlier. I have an insulation jacket I made with reflectix to keep the heat in during the mash. I don't do this very often, though. I usually mash in my Coleman cooler.. If I do BIAB it's usually a small batch (say 3.5 gal more or less) and I use one of my smaller kettles...

The other option for me is 2-vessel brewing, what I did for quite some time. I either used BIAB in the cooler to hold the mash, pull bag, dunk in sparge volume (in BK) and then squeeze, pour runnings into BK from cooler.

Or use the BK as the HLT and collect sparge runnings in a bucket until kettle is emptied of it's sparge water...which is really 3 vessels but only one needs to heat liquid.

I'm electric in the basement right now. If I get a keggle I don't have power for 220v. I could try two 110 elements but the boil would be dreadfully slow and the investment of money (even though not huge) isn't in the books. Cheaper to borrow neighbor's turkey burner for use with keggle and get a craigslist cooler for mash/sparging...or just get a big grain bag.

 

[zacster]

I use a 5 gallon bag from the LHBS that looks like a paint strainer bag to me. In any case, 14 pounds sounds like a lot for a 5 gallon bag. The grains won't stay submerged and will be hard to stir them. I made 2 batches of 9 lbs that I ended up with 85+% efficiency, and then a 14 lb batch that was at 60%. I had a hard time handling all that grain in the small bag.

 

[Euphist]

A single layer, or doubled-up? I think the material is pretty strong, but I often wonder about doubling it up and making a really heavy-duty bag.

Single layer, though I did double stitch all the seams. one pass zig-zag, and one pass straight.

 

[Stauffbier]

I'm electric in the basement right now. If I get a keggle I don't have power for 220v. I could try two 110 elements but the boil would be dreadfully slow and the investment of money (even though not huge) isn't in the books. Cheaper to borrow neighbor's turkey burner for use with keggle and get a craigslist cooler for mash/sparging...or just get a big grain bag.

If you could borrrow a neighbors burner and get a large (cheap) bag then that would be the cheapest option, I would think. You could just mash in the keggle with the large bag and throw some blankets on it to hold the temps. I used to set my keggle in the sun so it wouldn't lose temp as fast.

As far as electric goes.. I'm a bit of a redneck, and I hard-wire my wood floor sander to two 110 circuits in breaker panels in real old homes that don't have 220v. I would probably do that at home if I had a 220v element until I could afford to wire up and build control boxes. I don't recommend that you try this at home, though. I'm just crazy like that!

 

[ghpeel]

I've started doubling-up my paint strainer bags during the mash, and it seems to help wort clarity. I still run the mash runoff throw a filter, but it seems like most times, having the two bags seems to filter the mash pretty much on its own.

 

[Horseballs]

I picked up two 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Lowe's for around $3, anyone have any idea how much gain they can handle? I'm thinking of brewing Edworts Robust Porter which is at just about 14 lbs.

Long term I would go with voile material or a curtain, not even sowing it, just clipping to my 9 gallon Bayou Classic.

I just did two BIAB with those bags, an ESB and a Hefeweizen each with an 11 lb grain bill. I think I could have used one bag to handle it, but I wussed out and did a 50/50 split between two bags for the mash, stirring each bag every 10 minutes or so during the boil. Worked fine, hit my numbers exactly.

 

[Stauffbier]

I've considered putting a paint strainer bag over my SS braid to see if I get a cleaner wort. I already get a very clear wort as it is, but there is always room for improvement!

 

[Stauffbier]

I just did two BIAB with those bags, an ESB and a Hefeweizen each with an 11 lb grain bill. I think I could have used one bag to handle it, but I wussed out and did a 50/50 split between two bags for the mash, stirring each bag every 10 minutes or so during the boil. Worked fine, hit my numbers exactly.

In your case the 2 bags was probably the better choice, anyway. It gives the grain enzymes the ability to swim around more and get the job done, so you didn't wuss out IMO..

EDIT: Looking back and reading again, did you boil the grain? Or did you mean you stirred every 10 minutes during the mash?

 

[tnsen]

horseballs....did you have both bags in the pot at the same time?...or do 2 differant boils...just trying to learn a bit b4 I plung....Tom

 

[ArcLight]

Would a pillow case be any good as a bag for BIAB?