The ULTIMATE mash tun for any 5 gal batch

A 7 gallon round cooler from Walmart.com for $39.97 if you use the free shipping to your neigborhood store. It appears to have the same footprint as the 10gal version, but shorter. The extra 2 gallons of capacity should ensure you have space for even the highest gravity batches.


Walmart.com: Rubbermaid 7 Gallon Water Cooler: Camping

what about making an RIS in something like that? I'm not sure that it could take that kind of capacity...

Go for the 10 gal batch. The only beer that I haven't been able to do at 5 gal was BrewPastor's Dark Night of the Soul RIS.... aparently it's too much awesome for my MLT to handle.

Ok...*almost* any 5gal batch. With a braid, the thing should hold ~18lb @1.25qt/lb or 22lb if you mash a bit thicker @1.00qt/lb. For the price, you can't go wrong. Even the best deal on a 10gal round cooler is just shy of $60 after shipping.

If you are spending the same ammount as a 10 gallon cooler, you might as well get the 10 gallon and have the extra capacity though, if you want to save money on buying another cooler later on.

The Home dept has the 10gal for the same price. Call first to make shure they are in stock.

hammer one said:

The Home dept has the 10gal for the same price. Call first to make shure they are in stock.

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That's where I got mine. It was about $39. I've always been pleased.

I like the 48 qt rubbermaid which really will accommodate ANY 5 gallon batch. I have no problems batch sparging in it (including temperature loss mashing outside in winter) but it wouldn't work well for fly sparging.

Home Depot has 10gal round coolers for $40? Since when? Rubbermaid, Igloo?

Yeah, guys have been picking them up left and right here lately...

Must be a regional thing. You lucky SOB's.

GNBrews said:

Home Depot has 10gal round coolers for $40? Since when? Rubbermaid, Igloo?

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I just bought one a few weeks ago, it was $37.89.

I was just there this weekend looking...the one by my house only had 5 gal. They didn't seem that good of quality. Since many others have this cooler it must be alright...just felt real light and cheap and I wasn't sure how well it would hold the temp. I ended up going to Walmart and got an Igloo 5gal round. $19

So it's ok to do 5 gal batches on the 10 gallon cooler?

GNBrews said:

Home Depot has 10gal round coolers for $40? Since when? Rubbermaid, Igloo?

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Got my 10 gallon Rubbermaid at HD for $39 a couple months ago.

This is weird, a guy at work who is also a brewer and I were talking about going AG today and he and I both figured this would be a good way to go. We looked at this same cooler today.

We figured the 7 gallon was a good size, not to big and not too small. The only worry we had was whether the 10 was "too big" for most 5 gallon batches.

Would that be me you are speaking of?

NVMuskie said:

Would that be me you are speaking of?

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Maybe....

BlindLemonLars said:

I just bought one a few weeks ago, it was $37.89.

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Same here. You have to look around if you don't see them on the floor. The HD by me had them up on a palate 20' up on the rack.

If the 10 gallon and the 7 gallon have the same diameter... why would the 10 gallon be "too big"? I can see if you are referring to the diameter affecting the grain bed depth... but if the diameter is the same, there is no issue.

I used 10 gallon Rubbermaids for 5 gallon batches all the time, ALL THE TIME... never had a problem, I think there are many threads here alone that talk about "Should I get a 5 gallon cooler or a 10 gallon for 5 gallon batches?" The answer is always 10 gallons, they are perfectly suited for 5 gallon batches. Especially if you are ever to do an infusion step mash, or batch sparge, you will need that extra volume. Temp loss is not an issue even with the smaller 5 gallon AG brews.

Yep, a 10 gal beverage cooler is a great size for 5 gal batches. This is especially true if you batch sparge because you might need the extra space to accommodate sparge water.

The added benefit is that you can pull off many (not all) 10 gal recipes with the same system.

GNBrews said:

Ok...*almost* any 5gal batch. With a braid, the thing should hold ~18lb @1.25qt/lb or 22lb if you mash a bit thicker @1.00qt/lb. For the price, you can't go wrong. Even the best deal on a 10gal round cooler is just shy of $60 after shipping.

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The 10G one is $36 at home depot....at least a couple of months ago. It might be a summer only thing, but it is warm enough here and there are enough business that they keep them in stock quite often.

I had a thread on a mash/tun https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/best-mash-tun-83310/index4.html and I finally decided on the 10G and am certainly glad I did.