Experiments with Grain Bags

I'm lucky enough to have friends who are professional brewers. This means I not only have access to great beer, I also have access to lots of empty grain bags. Recently I have been playing around with ideas for using these to create stuff. Grain (aka malted barley) used to make beer comes in 50lb. bags which are typically made of a woven plastic-y material and often have cool graphics printed on them. A commercial brewery empties a lot of these each time they make a batch of beer, so finding a way to use them seemed like a fun, green project.

I came up with a design for a small bag to carry growlers in.

I also figured out how to use an entire grain bag (of the kind that shreds when you cut it) to make a tote bag. (I used strips cut from a less temperamental bag to make the handles.)