5 gallon or 10 gallon mashtun?

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jhmd2000

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Folks,

Two year extract brewer making the leap to all-grain. I am going to build a mashtun out of a single rubbermaid cooler and order the interior parts from NB. Curious if anyone has any recs on the size of the mashtun: do most people build a five gallon one, or do they go to 10? Ideally, I'd like to be able to brew ten gallon finished batches, but could I get away with additional spargings to get up to the required preboil volume?

Thanks in advance.
 
jhmd2000 said:
Folks,

Two year extract brewer making the leap to all-grain. I am going to build a mashtun out of a single rubbermaid cooler and order the interior parts from NB. Curious if anyone has any recs on the size of the mashtun: do most people build a five gallon one, or do they go to 10? Ideally, I'd like to be able to brew ten gallon finished batches, but could I get away with additional spargings to get up to the required preboil volume?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Good question. I too am about ready to make the jump to all grain. I'm thinking about trying the BIAB method first, at the least it seems a little simpler and if I can get the results I want, well.....

Rick
 
I just converted a Coleman extreme 52 qt for use as a mash tun for mostly 5 gal. batches. My previous MLT was a cheapie Igloo 52 qt from target that was fine, but lost more heat than this new one-it eventually cracked. I also bought a 10 gal. Igloo drink cooler that I used for several batches, but for batch sparging I feel the rectangular cooler is a better fit.

All that being said, the few 10 gal. batches I've made with either of these set ups would have been impossible, so my recommendation is go with the larger cooler, and if your intent is to batch sparge, go with a rectangular cooler. I got mine from Sears for about $32-the last batch I made I lost 0 degrees in an hour. HTH
 
I use a rectangular 70 quart Coleman Xtreme for 6-12 gallon batches. It works great and costs $40 from Amazon + free shipping!
 
For brewing 10 gallon batches the smallest size MLT you'd want is 10 gallon, but many folks use a 15 gallon converted sanke keg or 50+ quart rectangular cooler for their 10 gallon batches. Just for a point of reference, a 10 gallon cooler is the most common size used for even 5 gallon batches.

Think about your grainbill amounts, your water to grain ratio, and then plug those number into the "Can I Mash It?" calculator found on this page:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
 
logdrum said:
I just converted a Coleman extreme 52 qt for use as a mash tun for mostly 5 gal. batches. My previous MLT was a cheapie Igloo 52 qt from target that was fine, but lost more heat than this new one-it eventually cracked. I also bought a 10 gal. Igloo drink cooler that I used for several batches, but for batch sparging I feel the rectangular cooler is a better fit.

All that being said, the few 10 gal. batches I've made with either of these set ups would have been impossible, so my recommendation is go with the larger cooler, and if your intent is to batch sparge, go with a rectangular cooler. I got mine from Sears for about $32-the last batch I made I lost 0 degrees in an hour. HTH
Click to expand...

Should read "impossible with a 5 gal. cooler"
 

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