Is a 70 quart cooler too big for a 5 gal brew

I'm going to start all grain and want to purchase a cooler. I want to do 5 and 10 gallon batches, but I will mostly do 5. Will this cooler get the job done for a Mash Tun: 70 qt Coleman Cooler

Is this cooler too big?
Does it matter if I use a vertical (beverage) or horizontal cooler?

Thanks

That cooler will work for 5 gallon batches but it's not optimal.

Would this cooler be better: Igloo 60qt Ice Cube

I saw the other thread on how to convert this.

Is this cooler too big?
Does it matter if I use a vertical (beverage) or horizontal cooler?

Click to expand...

I thought it was better to have a shallow grain bed there for a horizontal cooler.

If you want to work backwards, use this.

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

There is a better one, but I can't find it quickly. Figure out the 'biggest' beer you would do.

For your first MLT, it would probably be better to build the big one so it will cover everything you might want to do. I just started all-grain brewing in 2009 myself and I built two different MLTs. I'm only doing 5-gallon batches, but I built one 5-gallon MLT and another 10-gallon version. I use the 5-gallon MLT whenever possible and only use the 10-gallon version when making a bigger beer that won't fit in the smaller one.

Yes, it will work. A lot of folks use that cooler for both, myself included. They hold the mash temps very well. The key is to not open the cooler lid while mashing and not start with a cold cooler. In the winter I bring my cooler inside the house for a couple of days before brewing. I do the same for my grain.

I just built that same 70qt Xtreme into a MLT. My first batch was 5gal, but it was also an 18lb grain bill. I'm pretty sure you could go as low as 10lbs with the 70qt. My next batch is going to be an Oatmeal Stout with only around 11lbs. I'll let you know how that one goes.

I found this thread, because I am looking to make myself an MLT as well. My biggest concern, on top of maintaining mashing temps, is having a good grain bed. I'd like to make sure that for any of the 5 (or 10) gallon batches I make, I have at least a grain bed depth of 4 inches to ensure good sparging. I'm thinking that 10 pounds is a realistic, minimum grain bill to consider (any smaller and I'll just use a stovetop method). Is there some way to know if a 10 pound grain bill will give me at least 4 inches in my grain bed?

EDIT:

After a bit more research and thought, I have done the following calculations. Based on this link, the volume of 10 pounds of grain at a mash thickness of 1.25, the mash would take up 3.93 gallons (907.83 cubic inches) of space. The OP posted a link for a cooler with dimensions of 31.5in L x 16 in W x 18.25 H. If you subtract 2 inches (approximation) for wall thickness, the approximate interior footprint would have an area of 413 in^2. 907.83 cubic inches divided by 413 inches squared yields 2.198 inches of depth. Furthermore, this depth includes the 3 1/8 gallons of strike water. The grain bed is going to be notably less than 2 inches. If you plan on batch sparging, you really should have at least 4 inches of grain depth for an efficient sparge (based on my reading, namely John Palmer's How To Brew). Even for a 10 gallon batch of this same gravity, the size of this cooler would be debatably too large. I'd say that for a brewer looking to do 5 and 10 gallon batches, this cooler is too big.

Based on this and other research I've done, I'm strongly considering the cooler recommended by mr tripp here :

mr_tripp said:

Would this cooler be better: Igloo 60qt Ice Cube

I saw the other thread on how to convert this.

Click to expand...

This will be good for 5 gallon batches of OG greater than 1.065 and 10 gallon batches with an OG less than 1.100. For anything smaller than 1.065, I can do a stovetop method. And if I'm really brewing 10 gallons of anything larger than 1.100, I suppose I'll just have to do two 5 gallon batches.