I can't find the answer I'm looking for, maybe I'm wording it weird but here goes.

I have a cylinder shaped 5 gal mash tun, the one from NB, and I was curious how many pounds of grains + gallons of water would you guys feel safe putting in? I found a recipe that SWMBO would love to try, it's a chocolate cappuccino stout. And it has a good amount of grains and like 8 gallons of water, but because the 8 gallons of water won't fit, what would you guys do or how would you recommend I do that recipe? also how much pounds of grains as a max for an 5 gal cooler? (Sorry for typos my phone won't let me see what I'm typing and my comp is out of order for now)

Thanks for the help!

Thank you

assuming a mash ratio of 1.25qt/lb, that is 25.6 lbs of grain. Are you sure this is correct? (that is one big stout if it is....RIS territory).

I did 24 lbs of grain in a 10 gallon MT for a RIS and it barely fit.

for a 5 gallon MT you will have to rework the recipe for get rid of some of the grain and add in DME/LME instead (i.e. do a partial mash).

I'd have to recheck the recipe on the site, but I do remember a huge grain bill, and I didn't know if scaling down the grains would kill the batch or not

My bad, it was a chocolate espresso stout.

12.0 lbs American 2-row
1.0 lbs American Chocolate Malt
1 lbs Crystal Malt 10°L
2.0 lbs Roasted Barley
1.0 lbs Light Brown Sugar
8 oz Dark Cocoa Powder - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 lbs Molasses
.5 oz Chinook (13.00%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Chinook (13.00%) - added during boil, boiled 20 min
1.0 oz Saaz (5.00%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
8.00 fl oz WYeast 1056 American Ale
4 c Coffee Beans (Espresso) - added dry to secondary fermenter

About 18.5 lbs, maybe I thought it was bigger, but I didn't think my 5 gallon could handle this recipe.

I only count 17 lbs.

Also, seems really heavy on chocolate and roasted barley, even for a stout. Where did you get this recipe?

The molasses and cocoa powder don't get added into the mash tun? I got it from the recipe section on the forum.

Those get added at the boil.

I would not try this recipe note for note in a 5 gal. I WOULD try modifying this recipe by steeping the dark grains at the end of your boil (not putting in the mash tun) as discussed in another current thread, and aiming to get less sugar in the wort from your mash, balancing out with DME. It wouldn't ruin the recipe. It will just make it different. Possibly better.

It's not cheating if you like the results. :)

I'll keep that in mind, I want another good all grain batch. I only have done 1 so far.. I'll see if I can Frankenstein this recipe with the help of beer smith!