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'Pillow slip' bag height question

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by ElPresidente
Eagerly preparing for my first AG/first BIAB batch later this week. I have my voile, I have a couple folks offering to let me borrow a sewing machine, and the 'pillow slip' shape looks doable.

I have a question about the measurements, though. Do I calculate the height along the edge of the seam, or as the overall height of the bag? (Hopefully the attached image explains what I mean.) I'm assuming that I'm measuring the overall height of the bag, but I want to make sure.

Has anyone else had good success with this bag shape? Any other words of wisdom as I move forward with the sewing? Thanks very much for the help, I really appreciate it.
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Last edited by ElPresidente on 01 Mar 2011, 04:06, edited 5 times in total.

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by hashie
Hello ElPresidente, it would be the second example that you need for the height.

Just to be sure, your bag needs to be big enough for you kettle to fit inside the bag. This will ensure that you have no dead space inside your kettle when mashing.

The bag shape I use is an elongated capital D. So I just laid my voile flat, folded it in half to make a rectangle, rounded the bottom edge and then stitched it together.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #3 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
Yep, hashie is right. Remember to add the 15% to the height plus the 2.5 cm (1") for the drawstring.

These measurements aren't critical. The main idea of this design is to line the pot when the bag is 'relaxed' and then provide some sort of focussed draining point when the bag is lifted so that the bag doesn't sag over the sides of the pot.

My first bag was a poor copy of the tapered pillow slip design. It worked very well and is still being used now by another BIAB brewer :peace:.
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Post #4 made 15 years ago
by Yeasty
I tried this when making my bag and ran into problems as my pot is 45cm wide but only 32.5cm high. On my first mock up it didn't seem that there was enough material to allow for sufficient gathering of material to allow for lifting purposes. (hard to explain)so I made it longer. If your pot is of the tall&skinny design the guidelines will work ok.
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Post #5 made 15 years ago
by ElPresidente
Well, I ended up needing some help with the sewing, but made the bag, and it worked like a charm. Got out of my first AG brew day at about 74% efficiency, and my guess is that I can get another percent or two by being more patient with the draining/squeezing.

I followed hashie's advice and used the elongated 'D' shape. Yeasty's advice to add some extra bag height was also helpful--my kettle is rather short and wide.

Post #6 made 15 years ago
by Nuff
MODNOTE: El Presidente mentioned in the post above that this was his first all-grain but only his second brew. It was suggested that such an achievment should be given a thread of its own. To do this, I have edited two posts slightly and moved several others to the new thread. Well done ElPres :P
Last edited by Nuff on 08 Mar 2011, 20:21, edited 5 times in total.
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