regarding the mash in a cooler tun

[jamheat]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. Many thanks to forum members for all the assistance I have received to date.

I am going to do my first all grain brew after doing partial mash and extract brewing for years. I am going to use a big cooler as my mash tun. My question is, do i have to steep all of the grains in the tun as they are, or can i put all of the grains into a big mesh bag and steep them like that. The problem i foresee is getting the water out of the tun into the pot for boiling. I have seen many set ups online that have a strainer type devices attached to a hose that they put through the spigot. It would make life difficult if i had to do all of that (I live in Asia and getting out to get parts etc is not always conveninent). I would prefer to steep the grains (including sparge and mash out) in a big mesh bag and simply use the spigot in the cooler to flush out the brew into the kettle. Will this be good enough?

Many thanks in advance of any responses.

 

[Cajun_McChicken]

That should work fine. A lot of ppl use similar methods but put the bag in their boil kettle and maintain mash temp by using the burner.

 

[splattsmier]

I don't know why it wouldn't work as long as everything gets a good soaking, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[n240sxguy]

If you're wanting to go that route, I would say just forget about the cooler all together. Just do the BIAB (brew in a bag) method to mash the grains in the brew kettle.

 

[chickypad]

I use this method for my small all grain batches in an unmodified drink cooler and it works great. I could BIAB in a kettle but I find it easier to maintain temp in the cooler. Also I'm a weakling female, and I only have to lift the bag intermittently like an inch or two to get the wort to drain. Two tips - make sure the bag is big, it's best if it lines the cooler so the grains aren't restricted and you can really stir (I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag in my 3 gallon cooler). Second, it's really nice to have a flip top valve so you don't have to hold it open when draining the wort and lifting the bag. If I didn't have that I would want to replace the valve with a ball valve.