Cooler size? Mash tun? False-bottom?

Hi, I am currently trying to decide what would be the best cooler and best false bottom for a homemade mash tun. Right now I am brewing 5-gallon extract batches. But i been doing it for over a year now and i am ready to take the step to all-grain. But i am currently undecided on what qt. size cooler i should get. I have heard alot of good things about the Colemann Extreme. Its actually fairly cheap at wallmart. But my concern is getting too big of one for my 5 gallon batches and have too much air space left inside the cooler for heat exchange loss. However, I think very shortly down the road i will be moving up to 10-gallon bactches, so I want a size that will be sufficient enough for a 10-gallon grain bill as well. Any suggestions on what size cooler to use? Also would love some feedback on some homemade false-bottoms and what everyone suggests.

I apologize if a thread like this exists already but i been searching the forums for like over an hour and a half now and cant find what i am looking for.

Welcome to HBT.

If you're going to be batch-sparging, get an igloo 10gal water cooler and a stainless braid. There's lots of threads here on HBT.

If you do go with the Coleman, get a piece of styro cut to fit inside your cooler. Having that extra 'lid' over the 5 gallon batch will help keep the heat in. Or just shoot for a temp a couple of degrees warmer than you want to mash.

B

Look around on You Tube for some videos also check out my profile for videos.

Also..... has an awesome video on youtube.

Also refer to BobbyM. He is a brewasaurus.

I have a 48-50 quart (I forget which) Square cooler. I can mash up to around 29-30lbs in it and that takes some calm nerves as it's pushing the very top of the cooler.

I'd say around 60 quarts is ideal in my opinion. To brew 10 gallon batches of beers with slightly larger grain bills gets hard in a 50 qt cooler. For beers with really large grain bills like an Imperial stout, seems likely you'll only be making 5 gallons at a time. Again, to do 10 gallons of a large stout or something would be pushing it in a 60 quart cooler, though maybe barely possible.

I hear there is a disadvantage to getting too large a cooler. I once considered a 100 qt cooler, that was on sale, but decided against.

You are going to get a different answer from everyone who replies. I suggest reading appendix E and appendix F (btw, I wrote it out like that because I don't know how to spell apendicies) in John palmer's How to Brew. It is availible for free online and in the sections I listed he describes how to pick the right size cooler, design different manifolds, the results from his experiments on manifold design, and much more.

I use a 28 qt. igloo cooler with a manifold for my 5 gallon batches. It tops out at about 13-14 pounds of barley

Looks like quite a few people do use 70qt coolers with success. So maybe 10 gallons of foreign stout can be done there.

10 gallon igloo. perfect for 5 gallon batches of any gravity beer. Plus you can do 10 gallon batches if you ever desire (as long as it's nothing crazy it will fit).

Holds temp great regardless of whether its 1/3 full, or to the top. No styrofoam or extra outer insulation required.

Great, thanks for the replies. This was my first post and I'm glad to see some responses to point me in the right direction. Im new to HBT but it seems like a great community of homebrewers just helping each other out. Happy i stumbled across it. I'm going to reference my How to Brew book for manifold tips. It's looking like I may go with the Colemann 60 or 70qt. Heading to walmart and home depot in the next hour and hopefully bewing my first all-grain batch by 8am tomorrow.

BrewAlchemy,

What size cooler did you end up going with? I have a gravity fed brew sculpture and I'm going to start experimenting with 10 gallon batches, so I'm kind of curious as to what you ended up with and how you like it...

I'm currently using the 10gal round beverage cooler and batch sparging.

Cheers,

Andy P

OK, this may be a stupid question, but can you use a braid to fly sparge as well? I don't see why not, but from what I've read, braids are synonymous with batch sparging.

I need to build a proper mlt, definitely looking at the igloo 10 gal, and would love to get away with just a braid (easier build). Hell, maybe I'll just switch to batch sparging anyway.

From what I know you want to use a false bottom (or manifold) for fly sparging. The braid works with batch sparging because you are mixing the grain and the water and do not have to worry as much about stuck sparges or channeling. I think with fly sparging your runnings can channel and effect efficiency. I batch sparge and use the braid in my cooler. Maybe someone else who fly sparges can give you more insight.

Take a look at this thread...it seems that if you have enough surface area for the braid it should work with fly sparging

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/fly-sparge-braid-102032/

Thanks! I was thinking some kind of coil set up for a braid if I DO want to continue to fly sparge, but maybe I'll go with a manifold or false bottom (I currently use a "bucket in a bucket" system, which works fine for me, but I'm ready to streamline my process a little)

aajpnony said:

BrewAlchemy,

What size cooler did you end up going with? I have a gravity fed brew sculpture and I'm going to start experimenting with 10 gallon batches, so I'm kind of curious as to what you ended up with and how you like it...

I'm currently using the 10gal round beverage cooler and batch sparging.

Cheers,

Andy P

Click to expand...

I went with an igloo extreme 70 qt. I just finished soldering my manifold last night and followed John Palmers water flow dynamics recommendations in "How to Brew", so i am waiting to see results. I'd say within two weeks i should be making my first batch with the system.


Also somone mentioned a braid for fly sparing. Can you use it? Yes, BUT, you would get a much much better efficiency with a false bottom or manifold when it comes to fly sparging. I have been listening to the podcasts on itunes, called "Brew Strong" i think there episode on either "Sparging" or "Mash Efficieny" that talk about this, id highly recommend listening to it as well as looking into the opline copy of How to Brew.

HoppyMaltPoet said:

Take a look at this thread...it seems that if you have enough surface area for the braid it should work with fly sparging

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/fly-sparge-braid-102032/

Click to expand...

Oh, if your braid is going ot look like that and not coming straight out like most, then yes i would absolutely say that would def work.