Do I need a 10 gallon mash tun?

As you can see this is my first post so bear with me here.

I just started brewing a few months ago and have only done an extract and PM brew in that time. I enjoy this new found hobby and am wanting to go to AG as soon as possible so I have a few questions about the equipment.

My main question for this post is the mash tun. I see many posts about people suggesting a 10 gallon water cooler, which I have no problem with going that way, but am wondering why 10 gallon?

I have been looking around at prices and noticed that the 10 gallon water coolers are pretty expensive, like around 60 bucks or so and was wondering if I could get by with a 5 gallon.

I want to mention that I do have plans on some day going all out and making a beer sculpture and everything like that but want to get the jist of AG down first. I would also like to spend my money on kegging equipment before I build this sculpture.

So, finally, bottom line question. Would a 5 gallon water cooler work for a Mash Tun or would a 10 gallon really be better?

This question is probably posed 3-4 times per week, including by myself not too long ago, so I will try and answer for you. 5 gallon mash tuns are fine for most 5 gallon beer batches, but EVERY single person on this forum that has made a 5 gallon MLT wishes that they built (and ultimately do build) a 10 gallon instead. You never know when you are going to want to do a so-called big beer (which I think is something with a SG over 1.070), and these beers take large grain bills that will not fit in a 5 gallon MLT. Also, I believe that the 10 gallon also gives you more room for error if you don't hit your mash temps spot on each time. For these reason I am going to biuld a 10 gallon MLT, and if you are willing to eventually spend a lot of money on kegging and a beer sculpture, you might as well invest in the MLT right now as well. Hope this helps!
Jason

You can get them for $25-$30 at Walmart, might as well buy what you are eventually going to need the first time.

Do you need one? no. But you'll regret it down the road if you don't get one.

This has been answered many times.
In short a 5 gal cooler will work but 10gal gives you alot more flexibility. If you go 5gal you will eventually wish you had purchased the 10gal. Ofcourse the equipment you use to convert the 5gal can be transfered to the 10gal.
If your just experimenting then the 5gal is a good entry point and you can do stove top PM brews with it if you don't have a large enough pot. However if you plan on brewing AG get the 10gal.
Craig

I'm also a noob and have found out that Walmart sells the square 48 qt or larger coolers for $20 or so. As with the others I have also read or found out that you may need to add extra water to get the right temperature or have the room for large batches of grain.

Knowing that the large square coolers are cheaper than the large 10 gallon round (half the cost) I would just buy the larger size the first time and not have to worry about spending more later and needing to move all the valves and other stuff over.

Thanks for all of the quick replies. I guess I need to search better because I didn't find any previous topics on this. Sorry for the duplicate topics.

To add to my first post, I just searched WalMart.com again and found an Igloo 54 quart cooler for $28 (regular $34 and they'll ship to your store) and it has the five day insulation, which I think is the best Igloo has to offer. Since I haven't been able to find the cube under $20 that was recommended to me, this will probably be the one I buy.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4994241

You don't have to have a round cooler. You can use a rectangular cooler just as well if you are batch sparging. They might be more reasonably priced. Take a look >> http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

i was in the same boat as you, 1 extract batch and then straight to all grain. i used the same logic that you're hearing here. in reality the price difference between 10g and 5g isn't all that much and you're gonna want the capacity sooner or later. i built a 10g right away, and fortunately for me i had a 5g round cooler that was just collecting dust so i converted that also. i use the 5g more often just because i've been trying a lot of different recipes and experimenting and i prefer to make smaller batches when you're not sure if the beer will be any good. go for as big as is financially reasonable.

Just go to wal-mart, they have the big rectangular ones in stock, $20 tops.

Jayfro21 said:

EVERY single person on this forum that has made a 5 gallon MLT wishes that they built (and ultimately do build) a 10 gallon instead.

Click to expand...

B.S.

I have a 5g cooler, and am perfectly happy with it. I would be much less happy with a 10g one because it wouldn't give sufficient grain bed depth to give an efficient sparge (while fly sparging), and wouldn't fit in the brewing cupboard. With the 5g cooler, I can mash and sparge 12 - 13 lbs grain, and achieve an OG in the low 70s for a 5g batch.

-a.

ajf said:

B.S.

I have a 5g cooler, and am perfectly happy with it. I would be much less happy with a 10g one because it wouldn't give sufficient grain bed depth to give an efficient sparge (while fly sparging), and wouldn't fit in the brewing cupboard. With the 5g cooler, I can mash and sparge 12 - 13 lbs grain, and achieve an OG in the low 70s for a 5g batch.

-a.

Click to expand...

But still, what happens when you want to brew something over 1.070?

PseudoChef said:

But still, what happens when you want to brew something over 1.070?

Click to expand...

Add malt extract?

I just bought a 10-gallon cooler, and that's only because I want to brew 10-gallon batches. Most, if not all, of the brewing I've ever done or plan to do will be <1.070 original gravity. The 5-gallon cooler will do the job for most any "regular" beers and ales. The argument for having a deeper grain bed in a 5-gallon cooler (thanks ajf!)
is tough to beat.

Don't get caught up in an equipment race. Save your money for ingredients, and brew beer instead.

Go with a round cooler. It really makes a difference in the flavor of the final product.

ajf said:

B.S.

I have a 5g cooler, and am perfectly happy with it. I would be much less happy with a 10g one because it wouldn't give sufficient grain bed depth to give an efficient sparge (while fly sparging), and wouldn't fit in the brewing cupboard. With the 5g cooler, I can mash and sparge 12 - 13 lbs grain, and achieve an OG in the low 70s for a 5g batch.

-a.

Click to expand...

The 10 gal round cooler would still provide sufficient grain bed depth for fly sparging with nearly any 5gal batch. This is not true with the rectangle coolers. If you batch sparge then grain bed depth is less of an issue and most coolers with the exception of the large rectangle coolers are sufficient.

With the 5gal cooler I am usually near the top for most of my beers. I have no room for step infusion mashes, a mash out, or going big. I works and I like it but it would be nice to have a little more room to play.

Craig

Ok, so maybe he should have said "MOST" 5g MLT guys wish they had the larger one to account for the very few who don't try to upgrade to 10 gallon batches.

Here's the thing, you ought to decide if you want to fly or batch sparge. Ouch, what a debate right there. Anyway, if you want to fly, the round is better for it's deeper grainbed. If you want to batch, the wider rectangular coolers are better because they make stirring the mash easier and depth doesn't benefit you at all. I don't want this thread to end up a batch vs. fly debate but I'd go as far to say that my efficiency is a solid 10-20% higher than all the fly spargers in my homebrew club and I'm done 30 minutes sooner than they are. Take that for what it's worth. If you go with fly sparging, you'll at least need a manifold/false bottom and some kind of fly sparging arm/diffuser which is another expense over the batch sparge equipment.

If you are brewing 5 gallon batches, the greatest advantage a 10 gallon beverage cooler has over a 5 gallon one is, simply:

When you aren't mashing, it makes a great vessel for icing down corny kegs when you aren't at home.


TL

StrmStlkr said:

Thanks for all of the quick replies. I guess I need to search better because I didn't find any previous topics on this. Sorry for the duplicate topics.

Click to expand...

It's OK. Now there is one more person with the answers to field it the next time.

TexLaw said:

If you are brewing 5 gallon batches, the greatest advantage a 10 gallon beverage cooler has over a 5 gallon one is, simply:

When you aren't mashing, it makes a great vessel for icing down corny kegs when you aren't at home.

Click to expand...

They also fit a a carboy perfectly -- excellent quick and dirty fermentation chest/lagerator (just add ice).

TexLaw said:

If you are brewing 5 gallon batches, the greatest advantage a 10 gallon beverage cooler has over a 5 gallon one is, simply:

When you aren't mashing, it makes a great vessel for icing down corny kegs when you aren't at home.

Click to expand...

Now that's the best argument for 10g I've seen!

I went with a five, just because of storage space. My brewing stuff is already starting to crowd me out of the house, and I'm looking to add a chest freezer too.

I'm not a big fan of big beers anyhow, the highest OG brew I ever made was an IPA at 1.064. It was my least favorite of all the beers I've made.