# Fermenter Liner Bags



## Brewjohno (12/9/13)

Does anybody have any experience with plastic bags for lining fermenters? 

I've noticed some microbreweries use them as well as those brew or you type places. 

Interested in pros cons and potential sources cost etc


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## robbo5253 (12/9/13)

Guessing its like a Condom... less chance of infection but doesn't feel as good...


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## woodwormm (12/9/13)

theyve been mentioned before.... pretty certain Ross sells them


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## snoozer (12/9/13)

We used them all the time at the BOP shop I worked at in Wooloongabba. It saved a lot of time on fermenter cleaning, we'd just pull the used bag out, line with a new bag, resanitize by spraying down the inside of the bag with no-rinse sanitizer and refill. I was always concerned the bags may not be completely sanitized but we had very few infections. Actually, I don't think we could have operated without them given the amount of time and chemical needed to prepare clean fermenters, it would have been economically unfeasible.


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## woodwormm (13/9/13)

Brew on premise place I visit still hoses out fermenter and sanitises lid ... most likely they're a readily avail liner you'd jjst need size and um thickness to source from packaging places .


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## Greg.L (13/9/13)

http://entapack.com.au/aseptic-packaging

This place sells them, give them a ring for local distributors.


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## Bribie G (13/9/13)

You need to syphon out of them, so your tap becomes redundant. If you don't mind doing that (and for kegging I guess it's not a huge inconvenience) they would cut out a lot of work. When I visited Bacchus, as I was frequently wont to do :super: I got the impression that they actually _pump _the beer out of them for bottling / filtering / kegging. I expect a floating syphon-end device would be useful as well.

<historical note> back in the early 1970s in the UK, the original Tom Caxton kits came with a plastic bag and a twisty tie - this really lifted the state of the craft in those days as most brewing was done in plastic dustbins (which always seemed to be orange like everything back then). Modern FVs weren't _quite _available, although the buckets came in a couple of years later. The bin liner idea certainly improved the standard for beginners.


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## Greg.L (13/9/13)

There are bags with 2 openings - top fill bottom empty, very easy to use but last time I bought bags these weren't available. It isn't too hard to empty them from the top. I only use the bags once, I don't think you can clean them very well, though I have heard of people re-using them.


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## woodwormm (13/9/13)

somethimg like this would probably do


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## Mr. No-Tip (13/9/13)

I wonder if there's a home market for 'tapped liners', kinda like a goon bag or cask olive oil...sell a purpose built fermenter that the tap slots into...bingo...

There you go, you get that idea for free.


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## dent (13/9/13)

I wonder if you could just use a garbage bag - remove your fermenter tap and poke a corner of the bag out of the hole, and pull it out a little before you fill it. Then when you want to decant to keg or whatever, simply cut the corner off from the outside of the fermenter and let it out the small hole in the bag.


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## Greg.L (14/9/13)

Mr. No-Tip said:


> I wonder if there's a home market for 'tapped liners', kinda like a goon bag or cask olive oil...sell a purpose built fermenter that the tap slots into...bingo...
> 
> There you go, you get that idea for free.


They are called bag in box, look on that link I posted though they only sell by the carton.


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## Ross (14/9/13)

Greg.L said:


> http://entapack.com.au/aseptic-packaging
> 
> This place sells them, give them a ring for local distributors.


Greg, I can't see anywhere that they do 20L / 50L fermenter liners. Can you link to them, I'm always keen to research new suppliers.


Cheers Ross


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## Greg.L (14/9/13)

The bag in box is the smaller packaging.

http://entapack.com.au/products/bag-in-box-packaging

I haven't looked into this side of things. The website won't be very up-to-date, you have to ring them if you want details.


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## Ross (14/9/13)

Bag in a box are sealed foil bags with a tap. Fermenter liners are just a big plastic bag used to line your fermenter, 2 very different products, but thanks for the link.


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## Greg.L (14/9/13)

They actually call the big 1000L bags IBC liners, which are generally used as fermenter bags. If you are googling for suppliers of fermenter bags you google "IBC liners". There are some in china now who will ship anywhere around the world but who knows how reliable they are. The best bags are the metallised barrier bags which keep out most but not all oxygen. I think flextank sell some bags which are almost impermeable but they are fairly expensive. Most suppliers will supply a range of sizes with a range of fittings, both top and bottom empty.

The "bag in box" can be hot fill pasteurised but obviously this for after fermentation and not carbonated pressurised liquids. They are mainly intended for dispensing drinks so you don't get a headspace, but you could use them for fermenting although this isn't their purpose. There may be other liner bag systems for beer that I don't know about.


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## woodwormm (14/9/13)

1000L ibc fermenting... bit bigger scale than most of us using 60L barrell. essentially theyre just a plastic bag. i'm guessing around 50um and around 800 long and 600 wide,,,, any packaging place could provide, most likely gotta buy a sleeve of 100 at a cost of around 50 -80 bucks....


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## pixlmonky (9/2/15)

Has anyone used liners for fermentors and would like to discuss? I would imagine that it could potentially cut down on infections, especially for older fermentors that may be harder to clean (scratches, etc..).

thoughts?


pixlmonky


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## DJ_L3ThAL (9/2/15)

How does it work with your tap? Or do you need to use a siphon? How do the u-brew-it places get their brews our of the FV and into their carbonation keg?

Edit. Bribie answered above, carry on!


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## pixlmonky (9/2/15)

The question was not a technical one. It was more about wanting to know, from anyone who has used them, what are your opinions. Has it made the fermentor aspects easier/quicker? Have you noticed less infections?



Thanks
Pixlmonky


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## DJ_L3ThAL (9/2/15)

If infections are often enough for you to notice a reduction but still experience them I would suggest something else is more seriously wrong in your processes.

Definitely worth a try as is everything but I don't think a plastic barrier would be enough to completely eliminate infections from an infected fermenter.

Also I think Bribie explained the usage impacts on process pretty well in his above post.


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## claypot (9/2/15)

Sounds like a great idea, however taking S.G readings may be a pain in the arse. I'm all for cutting down brew / cleaning time.


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## Bribie G (9/2/15)

Lethal makes a good point. For example out of maybe 300 AG brews so far I've only had to toss two due to infection, that doesn't count three cubes that got chucked as well but that was _before _fermentation.

I'd speculate that using a liner might introduce other avenues for infection, for example having to open up the top and put a device down into the beer .. syphon hose or pump tube, whatever.

There's also the problem of getting a good clean sample of slurry from the bottom of the bag if you are into saving slurry, as many do.

In the case of Brew on Premises operations they would save a heck of a lot on time and wages, simply pull out and discard. However from my point of view at home, cleaning and sanitising the fermenter isn't too big a deal, using perc it more or less does itself overnight.


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