What’s the best way to clean the hop and grain bags? Used them for the first time yesterday. Rinsed and squeezed them out real well but didn’t use soap/PBW/star san because wasn’t fire about affect on material and soap is a pain to get out of stuff.
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
What are they made of? How big?
I just empty the bags into the trash, then rinse out the bags with plain water.
No issues after 13 years.
They are the nylon kind made by BSG. Size, not sure but enough to do mini mash or pretty significant amount of pellets or whole hops
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
I rinse them thoroughly in hot water, give them a spray with starsan, and let air dry, use again.
I dump them and throw them into my cleaning bucket. Every so often I will soak them in some very hot oxyclean, but I find that too long of a soak or to strong of a mix is bad for them.
I only use mine in the boil so I simply empty the hops into the garbage, then rinse very well with hot water until all hop particles are gone and the material is clean. Allow to air dry, put away, and use again! No issues ever.
Be aware that chlorine can damage nylon bags, so don’t clean or soak with that. I just wash my bags out throughly to remove all debris and then hang them out to dry. If I’m using my nylon grain sack for dry-hopping, I place the sack in boiling water for a few minutes. Otherwise, the sack is reused with no preparation when working on the hot side of the process.
I typically just rinse my BIAB bag a few times in hot water to get as much particulate matter off it as I can, then I soak the empty bag in hot water in the sink once or twice to get the stuff hiding in the nooks and crannies. That should also sparge off any excess sugar stuck to the bag.
Once or twice a year I will give my mash tun a hot PBW soak if it starts to look really grimy. I will usually throw my grain bag in the cooler while I’m doing this.
I typically just rinse them really well after use. If I am using them to dry hop, I’ll spray them down with Starsan. On occasion, I may put the hop spider bag through a light wash cycle in the washing machine and air dry.
+1 on the hot PBW soak when they look really dirty.
I rinse them off inside and out really well and air-dry. Every so often I throw the bags in the clothes washer with no soap and do a short or rinse cycle.
You might try soaking in a water vinegar solution for a brief period if they get funky. Then rinse and air-dry.
Do I need to worry about discoloration (color of wort) on the hop bags from being in the boil? I rinsed and squeezed them out several time already.
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
No need to worry about any discoloration from the wort. Mine are definitely no longer white and they still work just fine.
The bags I use, generally, are 5 gallon paint straining bags. I dump the heavy stuff and then spray with hot water to rinse off the crumbs. At the end of the brew of day I always have a pile of shop towels so I throw the bags and towels and whatever else in the washer/dryer.
The only problem is sooner or later they develop holes and need to be replaced. More a factor of just wearing out than anything else.
Paul
A stained bag got that way by pulling color out, so most likely the only color effect would be to continue to pull color out of solution.
I dump the spent grain out for the chickens, turn inside out and put in washing machine on gentle with no detergent or bleach. I hang to dry.