Bag For Biab

[Thirsty Boy]

hmmm - MVZOOM is obviously making it work, but I've seen two different brewers use a keg conversion like that and IMHO its not so great. Oh yeah, it works, but its messy. When you pull the bag, it "squeezes" out through the hole and a lot of wort spills down the sides. Its also not so easy to pull the bag out if you haven't rigged up a skyhook or something.

If it were my kettle - I'd be taking an angle grinder to it and cutting the top completely off so you have straight sides and a "full width" opening. I'm pretty sure this is mentioned a few times in the "BIAB Guide" thread. Knocking the top off will be a lot easier than cutting a hole anyway.

Keep the bit you cut off nice and neat, then it will sit on there with your lid on it anyway. A couple of tabs welded/riveted/screwed to the sides of the top bit will stop it sliding off

But hell, you have a conversion already - give it a whirl and see what you think before you go chopping it up again.

TB

 

[Cocko]

hmmm - MVZOOM is obviously making it work, but I've seen two different brewers use a keg conversion like that and IMHO its not so great. Oh yeah, it works, but its messy. When you pull the bag, it "squeezes" out through the hole and a lot of wort spills down the sides. Its also not so easy to pull the bag out if you haven't rigged up a skyhook or something.

If it were my kettle - I'd be taking an angle grinder to it and cutting the top completely off so you have straight sides and a "full width" opening. I'm pretty sure this is mentioned a few times in the "BIAB Guide" thread. Knocking the top off will be a lot easier than cutting a hole anyway.

Keep the bit you cut off nice and neat, then it will sit on there with your lid on it anyway. A couple of tabs welded/riveted/screwed to the sides of the top bit will stop it sliding off

But hell, you have a conversion already - give it a whirl and see what you think before you go chopping it up again.

TB

Thanks TB, I am thinking a string to one of the bottom corners to use to angle the bottom on lifting will be what I try first. And yes, Sky hook is fitted!

Yeah, the conversion is done, tap fitted and it took ALOT of cleaning and rinsing to get the metal fibres out the first time.... I hope I don't have to go through that again

I have another keg waiting to be my HLT in the future.... So if worse come to worse, I will start again with that and come in from side on the cut! Tap is weldless so a simple swap over there....

Any way, I'm going in - wish me luck!

Cheers again all

Cocko!

 

[mitto68]

Let me know how you go cocko, i have the exact same vessel and i am in the process of setting up a biab "system" at the moment. i'm going all electric and have just finished welding up my stand complete with swivelling hoist above my vessel.

cheers,
mick.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

You really will be better off with the fully open top - you might get away with the other, but its just not as good. If you have a welder, then knock the top off completely and just weld some little tabs on it and use it as a lid.

I am very interested in your stand though - love to see some pictures. Nice to see the occasional person going BiaB who obviously has the resources to go traditional, but chose the other option

 

[Cocko]

You really will be better off with the fully open top - you might get away with the other, but its just not as good. If you have a welder, then knock the top off completely and just weld some little tabs on it and use it as a lid.

I am very interested in your stand though - love to see some pictures. Nice to see the occasional person going BiaB who obviously has the resources to go traditional, but chose the other option

I don't have access to a welder at all, trust me I have asked everyone I know... even people I don't! :blink:

This is how I see it, I will give it a go as is; it may be a little painful to get the bag out safely but will be taking extreme precaution - bag is designed to help in lifting out of 'this vessel'!!

But what is it, a couple of minutes of pain to manoeuvre bag out through top. AS Opposed to another couple of hours and money, on cutting blades, to get the top open!!

So I will go with the couple of minutes first and if it fails go with the later....

Thanks again TB, your opinion is valued on the topic!! :icon_cheers:

Photos will come soon....

Cheers again all

Cocko!

 

[pbrosnan]

what does everyone use to make their BIAB bags?

I would prefer to just buy one straight out.

any suggestions? I only see hop bags.

Hi there,

I see Gryphon Brewing http://www.gryphonbrewing.com.au/store/index.php have a link on their front page that says they'll be stocking these as of Friday.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

This is how I see it, I will give it a go as is; it may be a little painful to get the bag out safely but will be taking extreme precaution - bag is designed to help in lifting out of 'this vessel'!!

But what is it, a couple of minutes of pain to manoeuvre bag out through top.

Cocko!

Don't sweat it Cocko , I did over 40 biab with a very similar vessel and a fair few of those were double batches , the bigist thing is having a strong sky hook so you can raise the bag till its up too the top , then let drain for a minute or two then raise up and out .. it takes stuff all too wiggly the bag out and i've never lost more than 100ml running down the side of the vessel ... Go for it buddy , your there now ..

Have fun , enjoy your brewday , and just wait till you taste the beer..

Cheers

 

[stowaway]

Hi there,

I see Gryphon Brewing http://www.gryphonbrewing.com.au/store/index.php have a link on their front page that says they'll be stocking these as of Friday.

Although it only cost me $10 to make my bag. I think if i need another one ill just buy it straight out.

spending 2 hours at your mother in-laws waiting for her to make a bag is not work $30 imo

 

[reviled]

Best of luck to you Cocko :icon_cheers: not that youll need it, its easy as :icon_drunk:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Don't sweat it Cocko , I did over 40 biab with a very similar vessel and a fair few of those were double batches , the bigist thing is having a strong sky hook so you can raise the bag till its up too the top , then let drain for a minute or two then raise up and out .. it takes stuff all too wiggly the bag out and i've never lost more than 100ml running down the side of the vessel ... Go for it buddy , your there now ..

Have fun , enjoy your brewday , and just wait till you taste the beer..

Cheers

I hereby shut my trap in the face of vastly superior experience - your converted keg will be just fine.

Bag - brew - enjoy

TB

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Ran out of time to edit - just realized on a re-read that my last post sounds sarcastic/cynical/pissed off or something. Its not - I actually think that if FNQBunyip says its fine, then I'm most probably barking up the wrong tree and it is fine... <_< must phrase more carefully, must phrase more carefully.

Thirsty removes foot from mouth and slinks away.....

 

[drtomc]

Thirsty removes foot from mouth and slinks away.....

They say "the closed mouth gathers no feet", but I say "toes have an interesting mouthfeel, and the nails are quite crunchy"

T.

 

[mitto68]

You really will be better off with the fully open top - you might get away with the other, but its just not as good. If you have a welder, then knock the top off completely and just weld some little tabs on it and use it as a lid.

I am very interested in your stand though - love to see some pictures. Nice to see the occasional person going BiaB who obviously has the resources to go traditional, but chose the other option

Yeah your probably right, I could have gone traditional but i have always liked the
kiss method of doing things. I have been keen to give a/g a go for a while but the
complexities and most importantly the time always put me off. Plus i'm inherently a lazy
bastard too. I'll post some pics of my stand when it has been cleaned up and painted.

cheers,
mick.

 

[MarkEinOz]

G'day,

I am about to launch into BIAB and thought I might make my bag out of garden "shadecloth". It is usually made out of heavy nylon. I use it now for my wine and cider press cloths to squeeze pulp with and it stands up to 10 tonne of pressure no worries.

It should sew OK too, and my intent is to essentially make a giant "eco" shopping bag, so I have some sturdy handles to latch a ratchet overhead winch to.

Any thoughts?

 

[Cocko]

My thoughts:

Swiss voile.

Cheers

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Good morning Biab folks and interested parties .....


I have been asked too put a linky up here for anyone interested in purchasing a bag for there Biab brewing purposes....


This looks like just the thing if you don't want too visit the mother in law...


Cheers and enjoy ...

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

G'day,

I am about to launch into BIAB and thought I might make my bag out of garden "shadecloth". It is usually made out of heavy nylon. I use it now for my wine and cider press cloths to squeeze pulp with and it stands up to 10 tonne of pressure no worries.

It should sew OK too, and my intent is to essentially make a giant "eco" shopping bag, so I have some sturdy handles to latch a ratchet overhead winch to.

Any thoughts?

I've thought about such a thing myself. I didn't progress the idea because I couldn't convince myself about the colourings staying in the plastic at mash temps. Otherwise, I guess that plastics is plastics? Why not give it a try on a pale beer, check for colour and then offer it to the in-laws for alpha-testing...

 

[MarkEinOz]

I've thought about such a thing myself. I didn't progress the idea because I couldn't convince myself about the colourings staying in the plastic at mash temps. Otherwise, I guess that plastics is plastics? Why not give it a try on a pale beer, check for colour and then offer it to the in-laws for alpha-testing...

Thanks for the comments, gents.

Pat has convinced me to keep the status quo, fall into line and use the swiss voile

At this point, I have realised that I have no experiece in the method so I will proceed the same as the rest of you and get my mojo working rightand repeatable results so I have a control to work from. Then I might just experiment out to other fabrics/mediums. Hell, if it all just works then whats the worry I spose!

I'm getting a touch excited to tell ya the truth. Seeing my missus is a sewing queen, she can do the needful!

 

[dr K]

Swiss Voile, as opposed to French Voile, English Net or German Unterlederhosengarben is crtical to BIAB. Pat has certainly put you on the correct course here, shadecloth would be but a shadow of the biabic wort bought forth by Swiss Voile, nylon might be nice for knickers but polyester is the pud that biab prizes.
Were my wort to be BIAB based I would not feel part of the team if Swiss Voile were not my fabric of choice.

K

 

[MVZOOM]

hmmm - MVZOOM is obviously making it work, but I've seen two different brewers use a keg conversion like that and IMHO its not so great. Oh yeah, it works, but its messy. When you pull the bag, it "squeezes" out through the hole and a lot of wort spills down the sides. Its also not so easy to pull the bag out if you haven't rigged up a skyhook or something.

TB

I don't know why, but I simply havn't had that problem - it was difficult when I had 9.5kgs of grain in it, hense why I'm trying something different for my 80L BIAB system (under construction this weekend).

My keggle/boiler is at waist hieght, I'm a paltry 78kg and 6' tall, so not exactly a monster. I pull the bag most of the way out, then I can quite easily hold the grain back above the kettle for a good while whilst the last of the wort drains out, and have a plastic container which I swing it into. It then gets hung off the brew rig and drains another 2L or so into another container which gets added to the pre-boil wort. It's not complicated or messy and works really well.

My 'rig' has the top cut out of it and is a standard sized keggle. I'm thinking of two bags for double batches and changing the shape of the bags to make it even easier - almost conical shaped.

Cheers - MIke