Min. size for a round water cooler mash tun

[hankisanerd]

I want to be able to do 5gal full boils/batches. What is the size of a round water cooler to make into a mash tun would I need? 5gal or 10gal round cooler?

Going to build a Mash tun and HLT this weekend.

 

[jmulligan]

Go for the 10 gallon. I've read too many posts of people who got the 5 and ended up getting the 10 later anyway. I can mash (thickly!) up to 25 pounds of grain in my 10 gal Igloo.

 

[khiddy]

I have a homemade 5gal, and I'd strongly recommend a 10-gal. With 5gal, you're limited to just about 13lbs of grain (at 1.25qt/lb), which is fine for up to about 1.065, but not enough space to do any of the Imperial or high-gravity beers without supplementation from extract.

The challenges you'll face with the larger 10-gal MLT size are mainly temperature. With a 5gal MLT full of grain (about 10.5lbs), I've been losing just 1 degree over a 60 minute conversion when I pre-heat the MLT. I did a smaller partial mash (6lbs) last weekend, and lost 4 degrees over a 30minute conversion, due to the smaller mass of grain. So just be aware that you'll have that same issue with a 10-gal MLT.

 

[malkore]

I have both sizes, 5 and 10 gal. I've only used the 10gal once... I rarely am exceeding 1.055 OG beer styles.

it depends on what you think you'll brew the most.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Rectangular or square coolers work great for batch sparging. Cheaper and easier to stir as they are not as deep. The 48 qt coleman is like 18 bucks at wallymart.