120 Qt Mashtun...

Is it too big for average 10 gallon recipes? Currently i have a 48qt and its to small. SWMBO picked up a 120qt cooler! Just wondering if its too big.

It will likely work if you preheat it well, but IMHO it is too bib and will be a hassle handling it and cleaning it due to its size. 60 or 72 qt seems a bit more reasonable to me.

Ya i was looking at the 70qt extreme. She was just trying to be helpful.

Maybe she is just hinting that you need to brew BIGGER!!!

Cheers

There is no need to preheat. Just adjust your water T to compensate. The larger the cooler the lower the surface area to volume ratio, so it won't be much different from your 48qt. I went from a 52qt to a 120qt and do 10G batches in it all the time. 25lbs grain and I use 1.5qt per lb. 175F water brings me 10 152F.

I have a 120 that I use for large grain bill recipes, but don't use it for my normal brews. Seems like it would work I just don't have the temp loss dialed in for smaller brews. Should work fine though.

It will work if you batch sparge. Fly sparging such a thin grain bed would not work well.

Yes i batch sparge so with a few posts advocating it, i think i'll keep it so as to not hurt her feelings. If i find it isn't working as well as i'd like i'll just get a smaller one.

Never tell her it isn't perfect. When we married my bride bought me a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum. I traded it off because that miserable squared off trigger guard kept bruising my knuckle. She never bought another gun for me - aftershave and GD ties from then on.

jim4065 said:

Never tell her it isn't perfect. When we married my bride bought me a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum. I traded it off because that miserable squared off trigger guard kept bruising my knuckle. She never bought another gun for me - aftershave and GD ties from then on.

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Good advice, from a very wise man.....

Did you end up going with the 120qt setup? How long of a braid should you use for a cooler that big? it's 40 inches long.

I found a 120qt marine style cooler in the folks storage shed today to use as a mash tun without reading about how big they should be for the batches. I saw somewhere that the braid should be at least half the length and perhaps a small copper coil inserted throughout the length to keep it from collapsing. The only hard evidence I have is from the "How to Brew" website that says the manifold should stay at least 3 inches away from the sides.

So I will be building this out tomorrow and testing it. I don't know if you are still monitoring this thread but I will post back results anyway to give it closure.