Can you do 10 gallon batches with a 10 gallon MLT?

I realize you couldn't do really big beers but do any of you use the Rubbermaid 10 gallon cooler for your MLT and do 10 gallon batches??

I'm just wondering if I would be able to move to 10 gallons without buying more equipment (besides a bigger kettle).

I'm just concerned that the weight of the grain bed for that much grain in that size container might screw up the mash and lead to stuck sparges.

How big a beer could I make with this setup?? Thanks.

Sure. I bet there's another thread on here with the max grain you could mash. I'm going to guess 30 lbs.

Yes you can. You can mash up to about 25 lb of grain in a 10 gal cooler at 1.25 quart/lb. If you need more grain, mash thicker.

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

Edit - as to how big, I recently did 11 g of a beer with an OG of 1.071. It was 30 lb of grain, which I mashed at 1 q/lb for 90 mins. Took up 9.9 gallons of my 10 gallon cooler. Beer came out great!

The very first sticky in this forum describes 'How big your Tun needs to be"

But to answer your question, Yes, I use a 10g cooler for 10g batches but I don't do giant beers.

Ed

Yup, bout 10 gallons of 1.060 beer.