Steeping without a grain bag

[kdvansciver]

I received a kit in the mail yesterday, but the grain bag was missing. There's no homebrew store in town, and if I don't brew this weekend I won't have another opportunity for about 10 days. Is there a way to steep the grains without a bag?

I thought about just dumping the grains in the water and straining them out with a fine mesh strainer. Any downsides to this, other than being a pain in the butt?

 

[Pappers_]

That could work. If you go to your hardware store, you could also buy a paint strainer bag, which would also work.

 

[ArizonaDB]

I would go to your local home improvement store (Home Dept, Lowes, Ace Hardware, etc) and ask for a nylon paint strainer bag. They are really cheap (about $5-$7) and can be used over and over. I would get the biggest one you can so you can use it later if you start doing stove top PMs or AGs. It was a VERY good investment for me.

Straining out the grains would probably work but it would be a pain in the a$$ and you would never be able to get them all out so you would boil at least some which could cause some bad flavors (eg tannins). Just a guess tho.

In the end it's your call. Good luck.

 

[thedidey]

You should have no problem doing that KD. You might try using the strainer and then pouring it throw a thin dish towel/sheet/pillow/cheese cloth to get the really fine stuff out. But I think you'll be ok with just the strainer too.

 

[Yooper]

Nylon stockings work, too. Clean panty hose type, I mean. For small amounts of grain, knee-hi's would be fine.

Any kind of muslin bag, thick cheesecloth, even a thin pillowcase, should work.