Hi everyone. I had to use my grain Bag from another kit when I was brewing my smashing pumpkin due to using real pumpkin during the boil so I was wondering what other people have used as a replacement as I don’t have a HB store close and don’t want to pay shipping charges on a 1$ item. I was thinking a pair of my wife’s nylons but didn’t know If the dye would seep into the mash or anything.
I think a lot of folks use a large paint strainer bag, from the home improvement stores.
Get a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from Lowe’s or Home Depot. They come in a 2-pack for $2.50 last I checked. I use these for BIAB and as a hop sack.
Just be careful you don’t let the nylon bag hangout on the bottom of your kettle, it could possibly melt the bag. Tie the bag up to the handle, or put a metal steam basket upside down in the kettle. Better safe than sorry.
Slainte!!
Thank you both a ton
[quote=“The Fhunt”]Just be careful you don’t let the nylon bag hangout on the bottom of your kettle, it could possibly melt the bag. Tie the bag up to the handle, or put a metal steam basket upside down in the kettle. Better safe than sorry.
Slainte!![/quote]
Omg, this brings back traumatizing memories. I used to use a homemade viole bag for BIAB. I made it from a $4 curtain, basically just cutout a big circle and stitched a drawstring around the edge. It worked great, except this resulted in a lot of redundant material around the rim of the pot that I had to clamp up. One day I forgot to clamp it, and when I fired the burner to step up the mash the entire rim of the bag got scorched so the drawstring was no longer attached. I quickly grabbed the edges, so didn’t spill any grains in the kettle, but G.D. that bag was hot!
I’ve been using the paint strainer bags ever since. Less redundant material = less hands scalded.
I may be wrong, but it looks like the OP was looking for a small grain bag to steep rather than a BIAB setup. May be the wrong time of year, but I’ve found a Turkey stuffing bag at Wallyworld works pretty good. Also at Walmart I found rolls of Cheesecloth in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ area, and made steeping bags out of that.
I agree, OP’s looking for a steeping bag; I was pointing him toward the paint strainer bag b/c they’re versatile for steeping, hops, and even BIAB… and then I got off topic with bad memories…
It was an entertaining story!! :cheers:
