How big of a cooler does one need for AG

I'm planning on making a partial mash system along the lines of RichBrewer's partial mash thread. However, I want to be able to use it in the future to make 5G AG brews in the future.

With that in mind, how large a cooler do I need assuming I'm not doing too much brewing at OG's higher then 1.075 or so? will a 5 gallon drink cooler do? Or will I need more? How many lbs of grain is typical for an average AG beer (1.050)? Thanks!

1.065 is about the max you'll get out of a 5g round cooler. No records in front of me but that's about 13# I think total grain. 13# is also about the max you can do in a 5g cooler.

Considering they're quite cheap at around $20 or so I'd go with the 5g. I'd like to have a round 10g for those rare occasions when I'd like to make something bigger but thus far I'm working just fine with my 5.

desertBrew said:

1.065 is about the max you'll get out of a 5g round cooler. No records in front of me but that's about 13# I think total grain. 13# is also about the max you can do in a 5g cooler.

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That's my experience, as well. I started with a round 5g cooler which worked pretty well, but ultimately I found the space limiting and went to a 9g/36qt cooler that has worked well for me. I can do high OG 5g batches or normal OG 10g batches in it. A lot of people seem to like the "Ice Cube" coolers which are even bigger.

Baron von BeeGee said:

That's my experience, as well. I started with a round 5g cooler which worked pretty well, but ultimately I found the space limiting and went to a 9g/36qt cooler that has worked well for me. I can do high OG 5g batches or normal OG 10g batches in it. A lot of people seem to like the "Ice Cube" coolers which are even bigger.

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Who/what makes the 9g cooler. What's its shape and $? I've been too busy at work to get to upgrading my 5g cooler and need to get to it; or pull that hop rod rye clone out of my next sig since I can't hold the grain bill currently .

desertBrew said:

Who/what makes the 9g cooler. What's its shape and $? I've been too busy at work to get to upgrading my 5g cooler and need to get to it; or pull that hop rod rye clone out of my next sig since I can't hold the grain bill currently .

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It's a Coleman Extreme rectangular. I was looking for a 10g or an Ice Cube, but the Coleman is what I found and it was $19.99 on sale. One thing I like about it is it has the drain hole set in a little sump channel which makes it easy to runoff most of the wort, although that's a relatively small consideration, I suppose. It's also somewhat narrow so whether I'm doing 8# or 20# of grain I get a reasonable grainbed depth.

Ice Cube's and Coleman Extreme coolers seem pretty popular. They should be priced good this time of year too. Get something around 46 quart and your set. This is assuming you are batch sparging vs. fly sparging. My 5 gallon batches have been in the range of 11-13 lbs. of grain.

Well, if I need to go really big, I suppose I can always fudge it with a little DME. Not really a true AG, but it will do in a pinch I guess.

mezman said:

Well, if I need to go really big, I suppose I can always fudge it with a little DME. Not really a true AG, but it will do in a pinch I guess.

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That's precisely what many people do. The other problem with really big beers when brewing AG (besides tun capacity) is that you often need to run off a lot of wort and boil it down which is time consuming. Bolstering your runoff with DME and doing a 90 minute boil is much easier on the schedule!

Blender said:

Ice Cube's and Coleman Extreme coolers seem pretty popular. They should be priced good this time of year too. Get something around 46 quart and your set. This is assuming you are batch sparging vs. fly sparging. My 5 gallon batches have been in the range of 11-13 lbs. of grain.

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I just re looked at an Ice Cube... it has no spigot Do you drill a hole..... the last time I drilled a hole it did not work out very well.... (why I'm looking for another cooler now....)

Blender said:

Ice Cube's and Coleman Extreme coolers seem pretty popular. They should be priced good this time of year too. Get something around 46 quart and your set. This is assuming you are batch sparging vs. fly sparging. My 5 gallon batches have been in the range of 11-13 lbs. of grain.

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What could be the gravity range if you fly sparged?

Beer Snob said:

What could be the gravity range if you fly sparged?

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I would think the range would be close but round coolers seem better suited to fly sparging. Those 10 gallon coolers were 50.00 when I looked at the stores in my area.

Blender said:

I would think the range would be close but round coolers seem better suited to fly sparging. Those 10 gallon coolers were 50.00 when I looked at the stores in my area.

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Same here when I checked and that was net price.... the resturant supply had one for 70! Thats why I have the 5. And I screwd up my first one... can you see my SWMBO's face if I screwed up a 50 buck cooler instead of the 18 buck one.... :fro:

mezman said:

Well, if I need to go really big, I suppose I can always fudge it with a little DME. Not really a true AG, but it will do in a pinch I guess.

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Yes that's true, but you're gonna kick yourself down the road when you're into Ag and you want to make a high- gravity beer or a ten-gallon batch. Don't mess around. Get a big cooler, 48 qt. or so. I have a ten gallon round cooler. If I had to do it over again, I would get the rectangular one instead, since I batch sparge most of the time anyway, and they are cheaper.

Costco has the 70 qt Ice Cubes for $40.

One word about the difference between Rubbermaid and Igloo... Rubbermaid lids screw on. Igloo just comes on and off which appears more convient.

If you want to do 10 gallon batches (and can brew outside), I would build your mash/lauter tun out of a 15 gallon Sanke keg. That's what I'm doing. It's almost finished. It just needs an insulation blanket. The hole in the top that I cut out, will just allow the bottom protruding portion of a Maxcold cooler lid, to fit in the opening. That along with the blanket will hold the heat in.

I also like the idea of being able to, put the keg on a turkey burner to raise the mash temp a little if needed. The keg only cost me 12 dollars at a liquor store.

You could also incorporate your Sanke mash tun into a three tier setup, like our buddy DeRoux did:



I just wish I knew where to get an insulation blanket like his...

.

These are great... but if you can't make them yourself there like $120 a piece (at least at the LHBS), without the thermometer and false bottom. Don't get me wrong, I saw them work at National Homebrew Day... they are awsum if you got the room.... but man... if you can't make them yourself, your setup is probably in the $800 -$1,000 range (at least). Well... it will be a little time for me. Nice setup though!

Beer Snob said:

These are great... but if you can't make them yourself there like $120 a piece (at least at the LHBS), without the thermometer and false bottom. Don't get me wrong, I saw them work at National Homebrew Day... they are awsum if you got the room.... but man... if you can't make them yourself, your setup is probably in the $800 -$1,000 range (at least). Well... it will be a little time for me. Nice setup though!

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I hear ya, bro. I'm sure I'll be doing AG before my three-tier setup is complete. I was mainly suggesting using a converted keg as a mash tun for ten gallon batches. I mean, 50 dollar coolers are already being discussed.

I got a 12 dollar keg, a Weld-B-Gone bulkhead fitting, a stainless steel braided line, and a few pieces of copper for about the same price. And if I want to put it on the turkey burner, I can do that too. Granted, I don't have a thermometer installed yet.

I use 5gal coolers right now. If I could go back I would get a 10gal.
I was able to brew a 13.9# batch once.. It wasn't easy to get the temp right for the mashout... but I did it! I think my OG was close to 1.08...
A 10gal would be a lot easier though.

Lounge Lizard said:

I hear ya, bro. I'm sure I'll be doing AG before my three-tier setup is complete. I was mainly suggesting using a converted keg as a mash tun for ten gallon batches. I mean, 50 dollar coolers are already being discussed.

I got a 12 dollar keg, a Weld-B-Gone bulkhead fitting, a stainless steel braided line, and a few pieces of copper for about the same price. And if I want to put it on the turkey burner, I can do that too. Granted, I don't have a thermometer installed yet.

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Keg would be the best - step mashing etc. I only got one keg thus far that I boil in and a funky homemade 3 tier wood stand for the HLT & mash tun and then on the ground for the turkey burner/keg. Keg for the mash would probably be my last investment. Need the steel stand with built in burners, next keg would be for HLT and then to the mash tun. If I didn't have to work I'd have this done already! (but wouldn't have the $ to buy).