All in one Brew in Bag.

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watHop

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Hi All. Just thought this was interesting and if anyone else has had a go at one of these all in one through away brew bags. It’s has all the principles of all the expensive gear you can buy but in a bag. There is a few photos of the setup and fermentation/carbonation below. I have not tried it yet but will update when I crack it open. Could not pass this up as it was also on sale.
 

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So you just add water, yeast and let it go? Is the idea that it carbonates in the bag as well so it’s ready to serve at the end of fermentation? What’s actually inside the bag?
 
Yes the wort is in the bag so I think I added 11L water, yeast and then let it go. It recommends about 30 days before chilling then just serve out of bag.
 
How much $?
I might put my mate onto that.......I can't drink another of his Coopers powdered beers.
 
Haha true. Yes I’m not sure how good this is yet but will crack it in a few weeks. I picked it up at a local smokemart. It was a little random but it got my attention when walking past as it was only $10.
 
Interested to see how it turns out keep us posted. For $10 id give it a crack, I just need to find a smoke mart near me.

awesome! quick search and found a smokemart near me
 
I will keep use posted it’s a couple weeks off it’s got to sit for 30+days. Apparently
 
How much $?
I might put my mate onto that.......I can't drink another of his Coopers powdered beers.
I fell like a coopers kit is going to be way above a $10 smokin’ salt and hops product.
 
I will keep use posted it’s a couple weeks off it’s got to sit for 30+days. Apparently

They only recommend that it has to "sit for 30 days" to accommodate for the lowest common denominator who knows nothing about fermentation temp, etc.
If you're fermenting it at a controlled temp, then it should be ready to go in less than 2 weeks, especially as it will have naturally carbed in the bag already.

I would just be really suspect as to the quality of what you will get - who knows how long it has been sitting in the shop, and if the supplied yeast can deal with the pressure that they would eventually be fermenting under once that bag gets a decent whack of CO2 sitting in it from the active fermentation
 
Yes for sure it’s been done for weeks and like you said this set up is for the once off brewers and anyone looking for a quick brew. I’m just giving it it’s best chance and letting it sit for a while. For $10 I don’t have high expectations but you never know. The concept is cool. The beer taste might be something else but you never know. I do think the carbonation level will be low.
 
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Frankly I think its a pretty F**ked concept!
Apart from the mystery bag nature (something I don't want from my brewing) there are a couple of other problems that come to mind.
Carbonation, how much pressure do you think a plastic bag is going to hold? The industry standard I can find is a 95kPa burst pressure. Have to assume that the bag has some sort of pressure relief vent otherwise it would go well past that.
95kPa would give reasonable carbonation at say 4oC (typical fridge temperature) but what sort of yeast are you using. If you fermented at say 20oC and the pressure was 95kPa, then you put it in the fridge the pressure is going to drop, you would be lucky to get carbonation suitable for UK hand pull beer (around 3.2g/L).
Might be able to get a bit better condition if you used a Lager yeast (or a mixed yeast), have to be careful to cool slowly or even Lager would go dormant.
Recommending you leave the beer on the yeast for 30+ days shows a pretty poor knowledge of basic brewing. Over that sort of time frame you will get some yeast bite (autolysis) you will get some release of Protease A which will degrade the head on the beer as well as breaking up most of the other protein that provides a lot of the body in beer.
Every brewing textbook I have seen says after 14 days (at controlled Lager fermentation temperatures) there will be measurable harm. A commercial brewer making Lager in a CCV (unitank) would have within 28 days done at least 4 yeast/trub drops as standard practice.

I have a sample of a commercial Real Ale BIB (Bag In Box) on the back seat of my car, (see Jigsaw) it is designed to have either fully conditioned Real Ale racked into the BIB then kept cool <12oC or conditioned in the BIB (see FAQ in link) but either way its very much aimed at Real Ale and the very low pressure involved.

Mind you at $10 I can see why you would give one a go, Looks like they are made by Muntons (who make great Kits, LME & DME) note the price 24.95 GBP ($45.79 today) for 12L of beer.
Doesn't mean I haven't got my concerns, especially about contact time with the primary yeast.
Mark
 
Well come on, don't keep us waiting.......what's the verdict?
 
Well I love to give my verdict but I’m not home for a few weeks. Just to answer your question it does have a way to release pressure it’s through that yellow cap. At what pressure that happens know idea. This product does have some floors but i let use know what it taste like. the Jigsaw product interesting never heard of that before.
 
Haha true. Yes I’m not sure how good this is yet but will crack it in a few weeks. I picked it up at a local smokemart. It was a little random but it got my attention when walking past as it was only $10.
That's a rather interesting idea especially for people that don't have any other gear (yet). And for $10 it sounds quite affordable. Hence I went to the smokemart in Ashville today and they were out of stock, the girls didn't know if or when they would get them back in, but referred me to their webpage. Only it's gone from there as well. It looks like the $10 sale for those bags has all been swiped up? Ay other sources in Oz?
 
Hi All

Finally cracked the Brew in a Bag last night and it was ok. I can’t break a beer down like beer judge but it has a low roast taste no bad off flavours, but also no real taste if that makes sense. The only problem and it was a big one for me it was flat as a tack and with no real head retention as you can see in the photo like flat coke and there is something about pouring your beer out of the “wine” like bag does not sit right. I do like the idea of a throw away fermentation bag for people with no gear or you are just getting into home brew it’s a good idea but to make it your home brew setup might be stretching it.

Now not sure if this would fix it but after fermentation was finished the bag let to much pressure out resulting in flat beer. Maybe it would have helped if I tightened yellow cap when I thought fermentation was complete trapping co2. I only noticed this when it was to late so if you get one it might help. This cap is there to release pressure and it did during fermentation but it let out to much.



Let me know if anyone gives one a go.
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Thanks for the update, mate! It's a shame that it's flat, unless you're used to Guiness.. did the instructions say anything about closing the valve at some point?
To save your batch I would keg and then pressurize it.
 
Hi Huey nothing in the instructions about closing valve only instructions about not over tightening cap. I might drop it in a few bottles try and carb it up and see what happens.
 
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