cooler size for partial mash?

Does the same ratio of grain to water apply to partial mash as is used in allgrain
(1-1.5)quarts per lb? How much sparge water should I use? Would batch sparging would be my best bet, could I keep running off until I reach 1.008 sg as in allgrain? My plan is to use a 2 gallon cooler with a grain bag to start.

I am planning on this system just because of my space constraints. My apartment is tiny and my wife couldnt stand having 2 10 gallon coolers and a keggle in the living room not to mention carboys, buckets, chiller etc.

primary:cider"apfelkinda"
primary: sweet mead
secondary: 10 gallon Irish Red Ale(IRA)
secondary: dry hop brown
bottled,kegged and running out Brown stout part 1&2, Rye ale, scottish80/- , New Old Ale, Rocket fuel dry mead (oops) and st pats IRA

On deck: 10 gallon Oat meal stout, 10 gallon grand cru,
5gallon extract grand cru (for the wife). maybe 5 gallon partial mash grand cru

If you are doing a true mash (as opposed to just steeping grains), then yes -- treat your mash like a mini-all grain brew and use the same guidelines. Check the wiki or this article for complete instructions.

I would highly recommend a 3 gallon cooler over a 2 gallon. It just gives you a bit more space in case you want to brew a big oatmeal stout or something. With a 2 gallon cooler, you will only get about 4 lbs of grain in there, but with a 3 gallon one you can easily do 6 lbs. Plus, the 3 gallon cooler is a nice size for doing mini-batches of AG brews, if you want (see here).

I'm going to say go with a 5gal cooler, rubber stopper, short piece of coper tube and SS braid. Still reasonably compact, can be used for mashes from 4# to 12# of grain, allows 5gal AG batches, not much more than the 2 gal cooler.
I see you are doing 10gal batches so you could do an AG 5gal batch with that setup or a good PM 10gal batch.
As for water volumes. Just follow all the guidelines for AG brewing. The only difference is if you are not using much grain you probably don't want to sparge with your entire brew water. Consider using no more than twice as much sparge water as mash water. About 2.5qt/# total sparge water or less. This can be divided in to three separate drainings if desired.
Craig

I dont know the exact size in sq ft, but my apartment is a very small 1 bed room. I have a wife and a dog. so space is an issue. So Im looking to have a very compact system.

So does any one have the dimensions of a 2,3 and 5 gallon coolers I know they differ but Im just trying to get an idea of the exact size, thanks

Here's a thread on constructing one
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=19413

CBBaron said:

I'm going to say go with a 5gal cooler, rubber stopper, short piece of coper tube and SS braid. Still reasonably compact, can be used for mashes from 4# to 12# of grain, allows 5gal AG batches, not much more than the 2 gal cooler.

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I don't think the 5 gallon cooler is the best idea for partial mashing. The grain bed will be fairly shallow and the wort won't clarify as well as it would in a 2 or 3 gallon cooler.

5g cooler (Gott) 14" diameter (including allowance for handles) by 19" high.
External dimensions aren't everything. There's a lot of storage space inside the cooler.

-a.

RichBrewer said:

I don't think the 5 gallon cooler is the best idea for partial mashing. The grain bed will be fairly shallow and the wort won't clarify as well as it would in a 2 or 3 gallon cooler.

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I did a 5# partial mash for my first use of the cooler. The grain bed was plenty deep to clarify the wort. Its only going to be a problem if you are doing very small mashes. With 5# you can collect 3-4 gal which you can boil on most stove tops.
5gal coolers have insulated lids which help in maintaining temp while 2gal coolers usually just have a plastic lid.
However a 5gal cooler takes up about as much room as a 6.5 gal fermenter, 2 gal coolers are considerably smaller. With a 2gal cooler using more than 4# of grain is going to be tight.
Craig