Can 48qt. coolers handle a 10gallon batch grain bill?

I have a standard 48 qt. ice chest/cooler which I use for a MLT. Also I batch sparge, not fly sparge.

I did a search and didn't find anything right off... so I'll ask

Has any one made a 10 gallon batch from this size of MLT? I imagine it would be pushing the limits of the cooler. Granted this would depend on the grain bill. I am interested in trying a larger batch since I now have two primary's available and wonder if I have the capacity for the mash?

Cheers!

You should be able to, but it will depend on your efficiency and the planned original gravity of the beer you're making.

Check out this thread.

Brian

I am gona say yes since I just did around 25 lbs of grain in my 10 gallon rubber maid cooler. Was it close? yes very but I was able to to it and I feel like thats more than the average 10 gallon grain bill.

Thanks for the input, my typical grain bill is about 11lbs / 5 gallon batch. So if you managed to get 25lbs of grain I should be ok. I was hoping to mash around 1.75 to 2 qt's per lb.

IXVolt said:

Thanks for the input, my typical grain bill is about 11lbs / 5 gallon batch. So if you managed to get 25lbs of grain I should be ok. I was hoping to mash around 1.75 to 2 qt's per lb.

Click to expand...

So that's 38.5- 44 quarts of water for your mash, plus the 22 lbs of grain you're using, all in a 48 quart cooler. Sounds like trouble. If I were you, I'd mash a bit thicker (~1.25 quarts per lb.). That gives you 27.5 quarts of water, leaving a more reasonable amount of room for the grains, which you'll need to stir as well. You should be able to do this with no problem, but I think you'd be best off mashing thicker.

Another great resource...you're looking for the CAN I MASH IT calculator.
Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators

I've mashed 15lbs in my Igloo icecube which I think is 48qt. I didn't have a very good efficiency but I am not sure that is related to my mash tun, I suspected it was poor conversion and that I was batch sparging.

I've done 15lbs in my 48 qt with a lot of room to spare. I was going to try a 10 gal batch this weekend with a 26lb grain bill. At 1.25 qt per lb I think I should be able to handle it. It's going to be a long slow sparge though.

Yes. Might need to skip the mashout water, though.

Kilted Brewer said:

Another great resource...you're looking for the CAN I MASH IT calculator.
Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators

Click to expand...

Watch it

That calculator doesnt take into account the space a coolers lid has.
The cooler manufacturers do

babalu87 said:

Watch it

That calculator doesnt take into account the space a coolers lid has.
The cooler manufacturers do

Click to expand...

Ooooohhh... good point. The lid IS concave, which I'm sure as you mention adds to the spec'd capacity.

Looks like I better just measure the area to get a better idea.

I do 11 gallon batches of 1.060 in my 48 with a mash out. I use 1.4-1.5 qt/lb and get ~85% batch sparging.

I mash in a 1/4 keg, 7.25 gallons (29 qts). Last 10 gallon batch I made yesterday I used 6 gallons of water, (24 qts) and 19 lbs grain. It didn't quite fit. I had to drain off about a quart of "stuff" until the grain had soaked up some water and let out its air. Then I poured the stuff back in. The tun was FULL to the top. I did get 82% efficiency, OG 1.56 after boil. Fly sparge.

David

babalu87 said:

Watch it

That calculator doesnt take into account the space a coolers lid has.
The cooler manufacturers do

Click to expand...

Good point I might have to mention that at one of their next meetings.

Completed a 10 gallon batch last weekend in my 48qt. cooler. 12 gallons for wort and got 85% efficiency. Wonder how much I could improve by...