My first run with The Brew Bag was unsuccessful, though the 0.030" gap on my mill was a bit ambitious. The recirculation slowed/stuck worse than with the standard solid sided mash basket even at a slow rate with the standard arm + tubing. This was on a 5.5gal batch of barleywine with 26lbs of grain and 1lb of rice hulls in 11.75gal of water.
I couldn't understand how that would be, but when I pulled the bag full of grains (a pain in the ass due to the crossbar; I had to open the bag while it was suspended and scoop out half the grains. Should've foreseen that) I noticed the bottom of the mesh basket was covered in a thin film of grain residue that must've prevented flow. I was stirring and dredging the bottom of the mesh basket the entirety of the 60min mash.
One benefit was that the brew bag kept my element clean with no black scorching this batch. I'll use it again for the next batch but bump the mill gap back to about 0.045". It isn't the silver bullet I was hoping and still don't see how others are getting a good recirculation and such high efficiency. Starting to get really frustrated with this system.
I couldn't understand how that would be, but when I pulled the bag full of grains (a pain in the ass due to the crossbar; I had to open the bag while it was suspended and scoop out half the grains. Should've foreseen that) I noticed the bottom of the mesh basket was covered in a thin film of grain residue that must've prevented flow. I was stirring and dredging the bottom of the mesh basket the entirety of the 60min mash.
One benefit was that the brew bag kept my element clean with no black scorching this batch. I'll use it again for the next batch but bump the mill gap back to about 0.045". It isn't the silver bullet I was hoping and still don't see how others are getting a good recirculation and such high efficiency. Starting to get really frustrated with this system.