Recirc with biab stand and bag

[pretzelb]

I recently switched from my brew basket to using my old wilser bag on my 20g electric system after I purchased a custom stand. My first attempt was last week with 10g of pale ale and it worked very well. This week I did a 5g high abv recipe for a wee heavy and I had big recirc issues. My new stand is really tight to my kettle but it seems like the bag was finding a way to get in that gap. At one point the bag could the edge of the stand and tore a new small hole. Note that this bag was made for a square cooler years ago so it wasn't custom to this kettle.

What do you guys with similar setups do when dealing with high grain bills / overly thick mash ratios? The 10g batch was very smooth so I think if I can figure out the trick for the 5g batches this will work out well.

 

[pretzelb]

I recently switched from my brew basket to using my old wilser bag on my 20g electric system after I purchased a custom stand. My first attempt was last week with 10g of pale ale and it worked very well. This week I did a 5g high abv recipe for a wee heavy and I had big recirc issues. My new stand is really tight to my kettle but it seems like the bag was finding a way to get in that gap. At one point the bag could the edge of the stand and tore a new small hole. Note that this bag was made for a square cooler years ago so it wasn't custom to this kettle.

What do you guys with similar setups do when dealing with high grain bills / overly thick mash ratios? The 10g batch was very smooth so I think if I can figure out the trick for the 5g batches this will work out well.

After cleaning up a bit I almost wonder if the sight glass was being blocked. But I'm not sure how to monitor a problem with the re-circ without using the sight glass. I do have a SS mash paddle so one possible fix would be to put that paddle between the bag and the sight glass port.

 

[LittleRiver]

Try a batch where you mash without recirculating, with finely (.025") milled grain.

 

[cmybeer]

So is the bag getting caught and clogging up the recirculation flow into the sight glass or a ballvalvem going out? If so, how high up is that outlet? Can you find a way to hold up the bag above it? Clip it or tie it to the kettle?