10 Gallon Brewpot or 10 Gallon mash tun?

I'm migrating from extract to all-grain and was wondering if it would be better to buy the 10 gallon brewpot or the 10 gallon cooler for a mash tun first. Any suggestions?

I currently brew outside on a cajun cooker with a five gallon pot. I don't have the money to buy the pot and the cooler right now.

Is there an advantage to buying one first vs. the other?

How are you going to boil a full batch in the 10 gal pot if you don't have a way to mash enough grain for an all grain batch? I'd think a mash tun would come first, could always split the batch into 2, 5 gallon pots and have your brew helper run the hops on pot number 2 on the kitchen stove?

Well, if you get a ten gallon MT then you can look at it while you wait on buying a HLT tank. Or you can buy a 10 gallon brewpot and do BIAB. The BIAB will be pretty heavy though...

I'm being a little facetious, but it really depends on what your method of mashing is.

Well, good point but I only have one 5 gallon pot.

I've read about people mashing in the bottling bucket with a grain sack?

Or could I do partial mash in a 10 gallon cooler and still do partial boils until I get the bigger pot?

What I want to have eventually is a gott cooler for a MLT. And a brew pot with a spigot and brewmometer.

SwillyBilly said:

Well, good point but I only have one 5 gallon pot.

I've read about people mashing in the bottling bucket with a grain sack?

Or could I do partial mash in a 10 gallon cooler and still do partial boils until I get the bigger pot?

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You can mash in bucket but I'd be afraid that 60 minutes at 152 F might impart a plastic taste to the wort. It might be just fine though, food grade plastics are not supposed to impart flavors to the food.

I'm in the same boat as you. I am not ready to start brewing outdoors on gas yet so I just won a second 5 gallon brew pot on ebay for $30 shipped last night. :rockin: Going to stick with BIAB till I build my mash tun this spring and at that point I'll do split boils till I go gas and get a huge brewpot.

Then you can brew up to 5 gallons of wort at a time.

This "grain sack" method is also known as "Brew In A Bag" (BIAB). You can get a paint straining bag from Lowes and hold enough grain for a 1.065-1.075 brew before the bag will rip due to weight.

Partial mashing is defined as combining the extract brewing and all-grain brewing methods together. You use a little bit of sugars from both.

If I were you, I'd figure out what type of brew process I want to do. Build your system to suit your needs. So if you get a 10 gallon mashtun you are still limited by your smaller kettle. Do you have fermentation space for 10 gallons of beer?

No, I only have fermentation space for 5 gallon batches.

I'm witht the mash tun first crowd. You probably are going to do 5 gallon batches at first anyway. You will be able to mash in, and drain your sparge back into your 5 gallon Boil pot. A 5 gallon all grain batch should probably start with around 6.5 gallons and boil down to 5 Either way you might have to split your boils to get it through your current BK/HLT since that is a limiting factor. The mash tun build is pretty cheap and easy too, so you can get that done pretty quick and start saving for a bigger set of pots. I would love to have the polarware kettle with the sigh glass, stainless ball valve and thermometer, but alas I cannot afford 240 bucks for such a nice pot either. Good luck and I hope this encourages you to get busy and brew some.
Bob

dbreienrk1 said:

If I were you, I'd figure out what type of brew process I want to do. Build your system to suit your needs. So if you get a 10 gallon mashtun you are still limited by your smaller kettle. Do you have fermentation space for 10 gallons of beer?

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I figured he was looking into a 10 gallon pot so he could do full boils for 5 gallon batches. Remember you loose 1-2 gallons to trub/boil off so you would have to start off with 6.5 gallons or so.

dbreienrk1 said:

Well, if you get a ten gallon MT then you can look at it while you wait on buying a HLT tank. Or you can buy a 10 gallon brewpot and do BIAB. The BIAB will be pretty heavy though...

I'm being a little facetious, but it really depends on what your method of mashing is.

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You don't need 3 vessels for batch sparging. I and many others use a 2 vessel system, you just need an extra bucket or two for transfers.

brew pot if you can get an IC or some other means of cooling your wort quickly

full boil is much more important IMO

you can use your 5gal or 10gal pot as a mash tun using BIAB

full boil should def be your next step up

Thanks to everyone for the replies. As it turns out its a moot point because SWMBO said I might as well buy both!

So as a follow up question, has anyone tried installing a weldless spigot or thermometer on one of the cheaper brew pots? There's a $70 pot at the local HBS that I'm thinking of picking up.

super easy, I did it to mine a few weeks ago, here is a crude video I shot. aluminum is soft and easy to drill through. an inexpensive spade bit did the job just fine along with a little bit of dawn dish soap as lubrication. I took the bit and put the point where I wanted the center of the hole to be and gave it a firm wack with a hammer to create a small indentation then I just went ahead and drilled slowly. aluminum cuts like butter. super easy.

http://youtu.be/P-Biq7ztDZ4

CPFITNESS said:

super easy, I did it to mine a few weeks ago, here is a crude video I shot. aluminum is soft and easy to drill through. an inexpensive spade bit did the job just fine along with a little bit of dawn dish soap as lubrication. I took the bit and put the point where I wanted the center of the hole to be and gave it a firm wack with a hammer to create a small indentation then I just went ahead and drilled slowly. aluminum cuts like butter. super easy.

http://youtu.be/P-Biq7ztDZ4

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Cool, thanks! Have you had any problems with leaks?