Starting AGB - Few Questions

[drudini11]

I am starting to make the switch to all grain brewing and have been combing the forums looking at different mash tun designs and had a few questions. I have been going back and forth between a 5 gallon setup using round water cooler from lowes or going with a larger setup (Colman Xtreme 70qt). I currently brew all 5 gallon batches and don't have plans to go larger anytime soon. I also tend mostly to brew lower gravity `session` style beers (my last 5 batches has been witbier, saison d'ete, biere de table, amber ale, extra pale, maple porter). I think that I could get away with the 5 gallon setup for the majority of my brews but know eventually I'll probably want to play around with some higher gravity beers so wonder if I am just better off starting out larger and just grow into that setup. If I do brew mostly beers in the 1.040 - 1.060 range in 5 gallon batches is there any downside to using a larger mash tun? Is it more difficult to maintain temperatures with all the extra headspace? Also......wwith regard to the hot liquor tank........seems like most people match this with the vessel they use for their mash tun. Is that necessary? So if I went say with the Colman Xtreme 70 for my MLT should I get same for the HLT? Finally........any suggestions for a good all grain recipe to get started with? As it's already late June........I am pretty much done brewing my `summer` style beers and will probably want to go with either a dopplebock, black pale, or ipa next. I guess for my 1st batch I want something that has a wider margin of error to help absorb any mistakes I may make along the way. Thanks in advance and happy brewing.

 

[Cranny04]

I use a 10 gallon Rubbermaid drink cooler as my MLT. And a 50(ish) Qt rectangular cooler as my HLT.

I normally do 5 gallon batches.

As far as the gravity goes; when I was brewing extract I almost always brewed low OG beers. Now that I've switched I have brewed more higher gravity beers. The cost to brew just slightly higher beer in all grain is significantly cheaper.

Also i have brewed 10 gallons of 1.060 beer in my 10 gallon cooler. It's a tight fit. I've also brewed 1.060 5 gallon batches in the same MLT and there was little to no temp loss (At least compared to the 10 gallon batch)

Sorry to ramble, hope that helped

Cranny

 

[duboman]

IMO, if the MT is too large than maintaining the temperature becomes more difficult because there is a lot of space to lose the heat to. When I was doing average gravity 5 gallon batches I used a 5 gallon beverage cooler and could accommodate up to about 11lbs of grain with the water. If you do choose a larger MT than I highly recommend pre-heating the cooler prior to mashing to ensure minimal loss, especially if you are filling less than half the space.

 

[WhenInMinnesota]

If you think you'll eventually want to do higher gravity beers you'll want a cooler that's bigger than the 5 gallon coolers. If you're worried about heat loss on your smaller beers you might want to look into a 48-50 qt cooler. That could be a good option to split the difference between the 70 qt and the 5 gallon coolers.

 

[drudini11]

was looking at the Coleman Xtreme 50-Quart Wheeled Cooler (can be had for < $30) but thought I had read a few posts discouraging against wheeled coolers to use for mash tun. Any thoughts on whether or not I should try and avoid the wheeled variety?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I agree that a larger MLT is the better way to go. The wheeled coolers can be more difficult to create manifolds for, but using a stainless braid shouldn't matter much. Just make sure the drain area is recessed so you aren't leaving a lot of wort behind. Pre-heat the cooler before mashing and if you still experience excessive heat loss, you can lay aluminum foil over the top of the mash and that will make a significant difference.

 

[tre9er]

Use foil over the grist when your cooler isn't full. Also, bump up the strike water (Denny mashes as high as 2qts/lb) to get less head space. I just picked up the 70qt. extreme last night. I have ability to do 8-9g. batches with my new euro-keggle, so if I wanted to do RIS's and big IIPA's, etc. I needed the space. I can safely mash 40+lbs. of grain in this thing :rockin:

 

[speedwater]

I'd get the bigger 10gal cooler. You'll be glad you have the extra space and I've never found maintaining temp to be an issue as long as I preheat the tun. I insulated the top of mine with some spray in foam. Drilled a few holes and sprayed it in and filled the holes with plastic hole plugs and I generally throw a blanket over the tun. You don't have to have a HLT if you batch sparge. I just use my brew kettle or a separate cheap aluminum crawfish pot.

 

[drudini11]

So happened to be at Home Depot the other day and saw the 10 Gallon Rubbermaid Water Cooler for $38.00 and pretty much decided this for me........so I now have am one step closer to all grain brewing. Now the question is regarding the false bottom.....10" or 12". I saw some posts that the 12" fits really tight and can scratch the cooler? Am I better of going with a smaller 10" false bottom that may have some space along the sides or just go with the 12" false bottom to get a nice snug fit?

Thanks.......almost there........hoping to get my 1st all grain batch going my mid-July. Probably a dark wheat.

 

[forstmeister]

Take your new cooler into your lhbs and try the different false bottoms to see which fits best.

 

[HopSong]

Seems I saw a video on, probably NBTV, not sure. Conversation with Denny. I seem to recall he had issues with using the round coolers for a MT.. liked the rectangular ice chests better. I'm not yet into AG.. but, want to begin collecting goodies.

So, is there a difference between round and rectangular. It had to do with sparging and "channeling" Still partially greek to me.

 

[forstmeister]

Seems I saw a video on, probably NBTV, not sure. Conversation with Denny. I seem to recall he had issues with using the round coolers for a MT.. liked the rectangular ice chests better. I'm not yet into AG.. but, want to begin collecting goodies.

So, is there a difference between round and rectangular. It had to do with sparging and "channeling" Still partially greek to me.

Channeling occurs when your collection focuses to a small area, like with a kettle screen instead of the entire bottom of the mlt, as with a false bottom. Think of it as a tub drain. All of the water funnels to the center and the edges dont get rinsed as well by the sparge water. Batch sparging with good stirring at each addition eliminates unrinsed grain.