Question for BIAB brewers

[Adeering]

Im thinking of adding a lining to my mash tun to make removal of the grains easier (and a second filter to prevent pump clogging as my false bottom has a little too big holes)

1. Does anyone buy cheap bags and dispose of them every brew? I know this adds to the cost, but there are cheap bags that work that are only a few bucks

2. If you dont dispose, how do you clean them? When I BIAB I absolutely hated cleaning the bags and took forever to get all the stuff out of them

 

[evrose]

I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Home Depot. They fit a turkey fryer kettle perfectly (also bought from HD). They come in 2 packs for about $4. I sometimes try to rinse them out, but often just pitch them if it's getting late and I'm feeling lazy.

When I do try to clean them, I just turn them inside out, and hose them down outside as much as possible, then hang them in the garage to dry. Never really tried using them more than 2-3 times... the seams don't seem very strong and I don't want to have a wet grain explosion in to hot wort.

 

[kh54s10]

I don't often BIAB and then in 3 gallon batches. I have 4 of the HD paint strainer bags and use them to contain my hops during the boil. I have been using the same ones for 2 years. Turn them inside out and hose off in the back yard. Shake them both right side and inside out before reuse and the small amount dried up hop dust left flies off.

 

[opusx11]

I use Jimmy's custom BIAB bags (biab-brewing.com) . Cleaning these is super easy, I rinse it over a bath tub and then just hang it up to dry. Most of the grain that didn't rinse off usually just falls/shakes right off when it is dry.

 

[HDIr0n]

I also use Jimmy's bags, I agree that cleaning them is really easy. I just turn it inside out and draped on top of a couple 5 gallon buckets and hit it with the hose.

 

[Tutsbrew]

Boom! Your description of lining the mash tun is exactly what I've been contemplating.

I'm moving to all grain as well after having done 5 extract batches. I've even made a cooler mash tun, but started reading about the simplicity of BIAB brewing. I wanted to sparge some of the grain-retained goodness however rather than using only one vessel so I thought I'd "BIAB" mash in the cooler tun then sparge in the BK. Then, I realized i'm not doing BIAB but just lining the mash tun. So be it. I'll make clean up a snap, be able to lift out the grain if there is any kind of 'terrible' mash issue AND sparge some additional sugars from the grain!

My recipe that I'll use is at Brewersfriend.com, called "Odeaux Brodeaux Amber Ale".

Anyway, good luck with your brewing! ...BTW, I think I've learned more at this forum than from any of the 3 brewing 'how to' books I have.