3gal tun

I am wanting to move up in brewing and start partcail mash brewing. I was looking on Midwest and saw that they have a 3gal mash cooler tun. Is this big enough or will it be had to use? I am only able to make a 5gal batch at a time as of right now.

How much is it? I know you may not want to hear this, but you'll want a bigger tun when you move to all grain anyways, so it might be worth looking at that now, if it's not too much more, as you can us it to partial for now.

I know my old 2-3 gal was an unnecessary step for me.

I agree, in the long run you will save money by only buying one larger mash tun rather than a small one now and long one later on

I currently brew 2.5g all-grain batches. I use a 5g cooler MLT and a 5g brew kettle. I boil up to 4g in the kettle. For brews under 1.060 I am able the do No-Sparge mashes, and above that I sparge. The thing about my set up is that bottling is quick (makes only 20), I didn't have to upgrade my kettle. I ferment in 3g Better Bottles. I have six of them now: $20 each. My brew day is 3hr 15min usually, which is nice. I can brew after work. Batches are cheap: about $10-20. This is my second year brewing and I brewed 31 batches this year. That is a lot of trial and error. Many styles. I have learned a lot. The downside is that the beer goes quick if you are sharing it.
I am going to get a bigger kettle and MLT next year, but I don't think the 5g cooler was a waste of money. I think I will always brew some 2.5g batches, even after I go to 5g again. Good luck brewing!

I'd look at BIAB, brew in a bag, if you want to PM some grain. You mash in your boil kettle.

Also, DeathBrewer has an easy stovetop partial mash tutorial.
Good luck!

I've used the oven before to hold the mash temp. My oven can be set at 170, so I would pre-heat it, and then set it on "warm" (~120). Large volumes of water hold heat very well, especially when in a warm environment.

midfielder5 said:

I'd look at BIAB, brew in a bag, if you want to PM some grain. You mash in your boil kettle.

Click to expand...

+1 BIAB is a great way to do partial mash without buying a cooler that you will quickly outgrow. After 2-3 partial mashes you will probably go to full mash and want a fairly large cooler.

I made a 2 gallon MLT for partial mashes and experimental batches. If you only have room for that, I'd made a 3 gallon MLT, but in the long run I think you'd be happier making a 5-10 gallon MLT.