5 or 10 gallon mash tun

[AndyRN]

I only plan on doing 5 gallon batches. I stick with brewing porters, amber ales, and IPA (once). Can I get by with the 5 gallon Rubbermaid beverage cooler from home depot as my mash tun? I would think smallest size possible would hold temps better.

One extra question, does everyone like using the stainless hose as a filter in the mash tun or is there a better option?

 

[splyn]

10 Gallon. Just makes life easier in that you can always fit your grain and mash water in your tun. And it allows for some 10 gallon batches if you so choose.

i used the stainless braid, but i didnt like it. Just too problematic for me. I switched to a false bottom and i fly sparge.

 

[Fenduh]

If you stick to 5 gallon batches and sub 1.070 beers you should be fine with a 5 gallon mash tun.

I've used a 5 gallon mash tun for the past year up until my neighbor wanted an Imperial Smoked Porter that needed 17lbs of grain. He bought me the 10 gallon beverage cooler from HD so I could pull this off.

 

[porterpounder]

Go as big as you can afford. No upgrading later. Also, if you decide to do a big beer, the 5 gallon tun may not hold enough grain for a 5 gallon batch. To help insulate the 10 gallon cooler, drill 4 small holes in the sides of the lid and inject canned spray foam. The false bottom screen is easy and mostly fuss-free for me with a fly sparge.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

If you stick to 5 gallon batches and sub 1.070 beers you should be fine with a 5 gallon mash tun.

If you go 5 gallon (personally, I would not) you can always do those bigger beers in a few ways:

Make less...use your calculator to create the 5-gallon batch then downsize until it fits the mash tun

Make it a modified partial mash...Reduce the base malt until you can fit it in the tun that add LME or DME to make up the difference. This one is harder to calculate and you have to make sure the remaining base malt has enough enzymes.

Make TWO beers! First runnings only are used for strong beer and the second running are used for a "small beer". This is absolutely the most difficult to calculate and you end up with two relatively small batches out of one brew session. I have done this int he summer so that my strong beer would ready for the cold months ans my small beer would be ready for lawn mowing.

 

[dude3516]

Always over shoot I say. I use a 15 gallon pot, and 10 gallon tun. If i ever decide to g o up then I can, I never have to worry about boil overs, and never have to worry about sloshing hot liquid over my hands as I move stuff by myself or with friends.

 

[madscientist451]

I use a 5 gallon cooler but I do 4 gallon batches. This is about all my kitchen stove can handle. I initially did 3 gallon batches but finally figured out I can get it up to 4.5 in the fermentor by doing a few things.
I do most of my brewing in the winter and I'm not going outside when its 15 degrees and run a gas burner setup.
I don't use a screen at all, I put a BIAB bag in the cooler and have a short pipe with a 90 degree elbow facing down. It works pretty good,
a 10 gallon cooler with a metal false bottom would be a nice upgrade from what I have. The 5 gallon coolers are $20-$25 at Walmart.
I'd say go with the 10 gallon and you won't have to upgrade later on.

 

[Fenduh]

If you go 5 gallon (personally, I would not) you can always do those bigger beers in a few ways:

Make less...use your calculator to create the 5-gallon batch then downsize until it fits the mash tun

Make it a modified partial mash...Reduce the base malt until you can fit it in the tun that add LME or DME to make up the difference. This one is harder to calculate and you have to make sure the remaining base malt has enough enzymes.

Make TWO beers! First runnings only are used for strong beer and the second running are used for a "small beer". This is absolutely the most difficult to calculate and you end up with two relatively small batches out of one brew session. I have done this int he summer so that my strong beer would ready for the cold months ans my small beer would be ready for lawn mowing.

This is true.
I typically only do 3 gallon batches. My neighbor, who's an electrician and helped me wire my electric brewery in my basement, wanted the smoked porter and he has a kegerator so I figured a 5 gallon batch. I was mentioning what a pain it would be (I originally was going to do something like a 5 step batch sparge), he offered to buy the 10 gallon mash tun. Problem solved!

 

[hou_me]

10 gallon all the way. A little extra space is always more better. Plus it makes your beer taste better.

-ben

 

[soccerdad]

10

 

[feinbera]

As a 5-gallon-batch brewer who bought one only to buy the other after struggling for two or three batches, skip straight to the 10 gallon.

Your efficiency is gonna be disappointing for the first few batches, which will lead to bigger grain bills to hit your gravities; you're gonna have to add hot or cold water to dial in your strike temperatures until you get used to your system; you're gonna learn that "stirring like it owes you money" is a somewhat sloppy procedure that benefits from a few inches of extra space at the top of your tun; etc.

As for the braid, I made one, it worked pretty well for batch sparging six or seven batches (only one stuck sparge), then it collapsed and had to be repaired mid-mash, which sucked. I got a 6" bazooka screen, which is made of stiffer stuff, and seems to be working out well so far, but it's only been one batch. *shrug* Don't get the 12" one, though, at least if you go for the round cooler; when you factor in the bulkhead, it's just a little bit too long (another lesson from hard experience).

 

[Onkel_Udo]

This is true.
I typically only do 3 gallon batches.

Obviously I was not diss'ing the free cooler!

I cannot image going through the time and energy of all grain for just three gallons. I expanded to 10 gallons when I switched to all grain just because of the extra time and clean-up involved. Then I started doing two and three batch days so I only "had" to brew once a quarter and could still have three different beers on tap. The increase to my brew day from one to three batches was only about 3 hours.

Now that I have learned my new system and I hoping to start doing two batch days again.

 

[schematix]

10.

You can make bigger beers, or beers with better mash thickness, and can do step mashes with infusions.

If you're building from scratch the price difference between 5 and 10 isn't that great either.

 

[thekraken]

Why not 15 for possibly cheaper? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f257/60qt-ice-cube-mash-tun-build-cheap-simple-144475/

One extra question, does everyone like using the stainless hose as a filter in the mash tun or is there a better option?

I use a cpvc manifold.

 

[bragona71]

10

+1

 

[SnakeRidge]

I have both a 5 and a 10 gallon mash tun. I was given the 5 gallon for free so I rigged it up for sh!+s and giggles. I don't use it very often, and then only for very low gravity brews. I have not found that it holds heat any better than my 10. I use false bottoms in both.

 

[Brewenstein]

Don't think I saw it mentioned yet, but with a 10 gallon tun you can do no sparge brewing also. Seems to be helpful especially on lower gravity beers.

 

[chickypad]

As seems to be the consensus, it's hard to go wrong going bigger and I'd personally go 10 gal. You can certainly get by with a 5 gal though, and still have options for big beers (like decreasing batch size as mentioned or making up the difference with a little extract).

Obviously I was not diss'ing the free cooler!

I cannot image going through the time and energy of all grain for just three gallons. I expanded to 10 gallons when I switched to all grain just because of the extra time and clean-up involved. Then I started doing two and three batch days so I only "had" to brew once a quarter and could still have three different beers on tap. The increase to my brew day from one to three batches was only about 3 hours.

Now that I have learned my new system and I hoping to start doing two batch days again.

To each his/her own. I can do a 3 gal stovetop BIAB batch that takes not that much more time than extract, and really not any more cleanup (dump the spent grains in the composter, that's the only extra step). I like that I still get to brew even if I have computer work or stuff to do around the house, since the small batch requires a lot less babysitting compared to my 10 gal outdoor system. Brewing should be fun, I don't see it as a time and energy sink. If I turned into something I "had" to do every quarter, I'd pick another hobby

 

[imasickboy]

I'm a firm believer that having two tuns is almost a necessity.

I use a 5 for most 5 gallon beers. The other tun is a 12 gallon rectangular. It handles the higher gravity 5 gallon batches, as well as the 10 gallon batches.

While used, (FREE), round coolers are hard to come by, those of the rectangular variety are easily obtained free.

 

[jbb3]

No beating around the bush here...

Unless you're in an apartment or one of those tiny houses

Do not horse around with a 5 gal MT. The difference in money is not significant enough to deal with it's constraints.

I wish someone had been more direct with me when I asked the question...

Dang that un-used 5 gal MT is ALWAYS IN MY WAY!

 

[vincentAlpha]

If the cost is minimal go bigger. I use a 5 imp. gal. mash tun as I brew in an apartment and it serves double duty for me as the occasional bottling bucket. I've yet to run into an issue where I wanted more but I also stick to 5g batches cause that is all I can boil, that being said more headroom would be nice.

 

[AndyRN]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up ordering 2 of the 10 gallon rubbermaid beverage coolers from Amazon and I also ordered this http://www.amazon.com/Bazooka-Kettle-Screen-brew-kettle/dp/B003ISY2DC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421602939&sr=8-3&keywords=false+bottom We'll see how it works and I will post after I have a chance to use it.

 

[BobBailey]

Go with 10 gallon MLT. For the difference in cost, you'll be sorry if you don't. As for the braided hose, yes. I find that one just long enough to go across the bottom works best. Any longer has more of a tendency to come up off of the bottom when you stir, increasing the amount of dead space.

 

[heckler73]

Go bigger if you ever make IPA or stronger. My 5 gallon MT got replaced after overfilling it a couple times.


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[khawk95]

Always over shoot I say. I use a 15 gallon pot, and 10 gallon tun. If i ever decide to g o up then I can, I never have to worry about boil overs, and never have to worry about sloshing hot liquid over my hands as I move stuff by myself or with friends.

Sage advice. I started with an 8 gallon pot and 5 gallon tun for 5 gallon batches. Guess what!? just had to upgrade to 15 gallon brew pot and 10 gallon tun so I could brew what I want! Go big or spend more long term...