Mash Turn Size

I'm pretty close to going AG... After much reading, I'm planning on going with a round cooler with a false bottom. My questions is for 5 gallon worts, will I ever have a grain bill that will not fit in a 5 gallon cooler? I don't plan on going over 5 gallon batches at this time....
Thanks,
Jimi

5 gallons will work up to about 12 or 13 pounds, from what I've read. I've got a 5 gallon Rubbermaid coller that I converted, but I only used it once with about seven or eight pounds (doing a partial mash). Filled it up a bit more than halfway. Most "regular"-sized brews should be fine, but anything big, any Imperial IPAs, barleywines, or things of that nature you'll likely need more room (or add some DME and do those as partial mashes).

If I were doing pure AG (not feasible for me at this time, lacking a burner and big kettle), I'd be looking at a bigger cooler to start with.

Ive put 12.5 pounds into a 5 gallon. It was for my stout. The lid pretty much was floating on top of the mash.

Just go with the 10 gallon round cooler the first time. That is what i got, and it works well for everything that i have done, and it only costs about $10 more then the 5 gallon one.

That's exactly the type of expert information I was looking for .... THANKS
Jimi

Hermish said:

Just go with the 10 gallon round cooler the first time. That is what i got, and it works well for everything that i have done, and it only costs about $10 more then the 5 gallon one.

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Do you ever do 10 gallon batches in that cooler or just 5's? When I go that direction, I'm hoping to be able to do 5's and 10's.

FYI

If you have a home depot in your area, they have a special on 10 gallon coolers right now for 38 bucks

rdwj said:

Do you ever do 10 gallon batches in that cooler or just 5's? When I go that direction, I'm hoping to be able to do 5's and 10's.

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I just did my first 10 gallon batch out of a 10 gallon cooler two weekends ago. I dont see why your couldnt do 5 gallon batches in it either

heres a handy tool for calculating how much space a mash will take up... along with many other things:

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

rdwj said:

Do you ever do 10 gallon batches in that cooler or just 5's? When I go that direction, I'm hoping to be able to do 5's and 10's.

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I have done both 5 and 10. the first few i did 5 gallons, and then i realized it is almost no extra work to do 10 gallons, so i started to do that all the time.

I had to use a 15 gallon ice cube cooler today to do a mash for a 5 gallon barleywine. (Since I used so much grain for the barleywine I was able to pull another 5 gallon batch of OG 47 pale ale too.)

I used 30.5 lbs of malt - at 1:1 that takes up 40.03125 qts. Would have had to cut down a bit on the grain bill. (If I was doing a 10 gallon batch this would have had an SG of 75 w/80% efficiency - that would be the very upper limit of a 10gallon cooler and a 10 gallon batch - unless you can get a higher eff.)

For this reason I'd just go with a 15 gallon rectangular cooler. Manifolds are quite easy to make, and are cheaper (in general) than false bottoms. Walmart has been selling the 60qt igloo ice cubes for $20 (I got two - the can double as fermentation chambers & as portable kegerators.)

ice cubes are the most versatile tools I have bought for brewing yet. HIGHLY recommended.

I've yet to use it because it's still under construction, but I have the 60 qt (15 gal) Ice Cube. If you're handy, you can make a false bottom out of perforated stainless steel sheet. That's my plan as soon as the stainless arrives.