5 vs 10 gallon cooler

[tommymac]

I have a 5 gallon gatorade cooler I was going to use as my mash tun. I am lookin gto get a second cooler to keep my sparge water at the proper temp as well and was wondering if its worth getting a 10 gallon cooler to use as a mash tun. is it worth the extra money or should I just use a regular 5 gallon cooler. Also if I get a 10 gallon cooler I assume I will need a larger false bottom than the one I currently have.

Tom

 

[stever]

I debated on using a 10 gallon for my MLT and ended up going with a 5 gallon based upon my current situation. I only have a kettle big enough to do 5 gallon full boils and since my grain bills will only be around 10lbs or so, keeping the heat will be easier in a 5 gallon vs a 10 gallon that has a lot of extra dead space. I may someday need to move up to a 10 gallon but at 30 bucks or so I just went with what fits my current needs.

good luck.

 

[McKBrew]

Do you brew any high gravity brews? Do you see your self potentially making 10G of a regular brew? Personally I'd get the 10G cooler. You will need either a larger false bottom or you can make the style with a stainless steel braid as well. Having 10G gives you quite a bit more flexibility in beer styles as well as batch size.

 

[Mustangj]

Do you brew any high gravity brews? Do you see your self potentially making 10G of a regular brew? Personally I'd get the 10G cooler. You will need either a larger false bottom or you can make the style with a stainless steel braid as well. Having 10G gives you quite a bit more flexibility in beer styles as well as batch size.

X2

I went 10 and never looked back.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

5 gallon MLT's max out around 12#'s of grain. You can probably do a little more, but it gets tough sparging and stiring. I told my self I wouldn't need to get anything more then 5 gallons...but finally decided to order a 10 gallon and got one last week.

Save the time and money now and go with a 10 gallon MLT. Chances are in a few months you'll want to anyway.

 

[abracadabra]

Don't limit your thinking to 5 or 10 gal. round coolers.

this guy thread posted last week said Target had 50 qt. (12.5 gal.) Ice cube cooler for $19.95 I think

here's the link

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=60352

there are other ways to get the wort out too. A copper or CPVC manifold along with the previously mention SS braided hose.

 

[jacksonbrown]

I just picked up a 48 qt cooler from Wal-Mart for $17. You can't beat that on price. I converted it using the FlyGuy method and it's been working pretty well so far.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Don't limit your thinking to 5 or 10 gal. round coolers.

This is a very good point. Round isn't your only option.

 

[tommymac]

Guess I need to think more outside the box (or cylinder in this case ) as for 10 gallon brews that may be way down the road but I do want ot make some high gravity beers. One heavier beer I made was a little tricky with the 5 gallon cooler. Sparging was kinda tricky and the extra space would have been helpful.

I had looked at the fly guy set up and was planning on going that route with a round false bottom, but I could make one with the braided steel as well. And it will prolly save me 20 or 30 bucks in the long run.

Tom

 

[stever]

hmm.. I might have to switch my stuff over to larger cooler, I wasn't thinking about big beers. I just called my local walmart and they have the 48 qt for 18 bucks.

Thanks for starting this tread tommy.

 

[farmbrewernw]

+1 on the 10gal, you'll kick yourself if you don't when you decide to do a larger batch or a higher gravity brew.

 

[CHansen6]

I've been looking to upgrade. I have a smaller cooler that randomly was left at our house and never claimed, so now it is mine. It maxes out around 8lbs of grain, maybe 9 with a stiff mash. Using 10 gallon, or even the 48qt cooler, wont cause significant heat loss during the mash if doing a normal-ish sized 5 gallon batch, will it? Lid on of course. I'd like to do bigger beers or bigger batches at some point in the future, I just want to make sure that it won't hurt me now on the normal gravity 5 gallon batches.

 

[stever]

I just picked up an Igloo Marine 48qt at Walmart for $19. I guess the following from the igloo site makes it Marine: Ultratherm® insulated body and lid for seaworthy cold retention. Maybe it will help hold the temps better.

Also comes with a bonus Fish measuring ruler molded into lid. :rockin:

 

[tommymac]

I guess you all twisted my arm LOL I have to head up to walmart tomorrow anyway so I will look there and target since theyre next to each other.

Tom

 

[idkid]

Or you could go with the 5 gallon like I did. Then when I did my first AG my target mash temp was low, but since I went 5 gallon I had no room to add water to bring up my temp. It sucked. I went directly to Walmart after the brew session and bought a 48 qt.

 

[farmbrewernw]

As far as heat loss is concerned I haven't had a problem with this with my 10gal just make sure you preheat with some hot water so there is no initial loss due to a cold cooler.

 

[DrunkTrucker]

10 gallons is the way to go. I started off doing 10 gallon batches. You spend the same amount of time either way, might as well make it worth your while.:rockin:

 

[eggraid101]

Also comes with a bonus Fish measuring ruler molded into lid. :rockin:

Is this in case you're looking to do a Dogfish Head clone?

 

[jay075j]

Keep an eye out in Home Depot and Lowes as well. I picked up a 10 gal igloo cooler for $16 in the clearance section. :rockin:

 

[Brewbeard]

If I want to build a mash tun for partial mashes, would a ten gallon cooler still be recommended?

I might move to all grain in the future, but for now I still have to rely on extract.

 

[Turkeyfoot Jr.]

I have a 5 gallon Rubbermaid round cooler that I've used for PMs and now two 5 gallon AG batches. It's worked great and since I graduated up from PMs I noticed that I'm holding my temps A LOT better with a full cooler as opposed to one that's only half full. If you already have a 5 gallon cooler I'd invest in a 10+ gallon so you have more options.

Standard 5G brew...use the 5G MLT.
High gravity 5G brew...user the 10G MLT.
Any 10G brew...use the 10G MLT

I think having the cooler as full as possible really does pay off when it comes to holding temps so I wouldn't advise switching to a 10G cooler for every brew, just where it's needed.

 

[tommymac]

The 10 gallon at target is a taller more squared off cooler so I think that may work better than the long rectangular ones. It should also be easier for sparging I would think.

Tom

 

[TexLaw]

I think having the cooler as full as possible really does pay off when it comes to holding temps so I wouldn't advise switching to a 10G cooler for every brew, just where it's needed.

I certainly agree with that, but it is not too difficult to compensate. When I do a lower gravity mash in my ten gallon cooler, I bring my water up an extra degree or two, and that seems to work just fine. However, I still have a good 7-8 pounds of grain in there for that low gravity beer. If I were only doing a partial mash with a five pounds of grain or less, I would want a five gallon cooler.


TL

 

[Bombo80]

I have a 60qt MLT, and was a bit concerned about making a "smaller" grain bill brew. I pre-heated my MLT with 180* water, and let it acclimate. I had my 13# of grains, and mash water, ready to go. After my 60 minute mash, I only lost one degree of temp, in the mash.
The reason I went with a 60qt cooler, I was planning on brewing a LARGE Belgian quad. I had a grain bill of 20#+. It worked great for the large grain bill. I was really surprised that it worked so well, for a smaller grain bill brew.
The main thing to remember is, pre-heat your MLT. It's that simple. I really liked the ease of stirring the mash, and the batch sparge, that I am not even considering building a smaller MLT, just for the smaller grain billed brews. You just need to be a bit more careful, when recirculating the first runnings, back into the grainbed.

Good luck.

 

[Schlenkerla]

You can't have too many, I got myself three.

12 gallon Igloo Cube
5 gallon Rubbermaid Cylindrical
2 gallon Rubbermaid Cylindrical - Mini-mashes or just lautering steeped grains.

The 2gal one just has a folding veggie strainer as a false bottom.

I think cylindrical type are harder to stir. All of the HB buddys seem to like rectangulars. If I new what I know now about batch sparging vs fly sparging I would not have bought a 5 gal cylindrical. I don't have to worry about channeling. I didn't fully understand the two when I bought it. I just saw a good deal on clearance coolers at the time. (Money was burning a hole in my pocket.)

Same thing on the 2 gal. Less than 3 bucks.

I have yet to use the 12 gal. I will be making brews with larger grain bills and I won't bother with the 5 gallon when I do.

Edit: I'm a PM brewer in cold weather. Not to mention I just got my keggle not to long ago. My current brew pot maxes out at 7gal. Here's to larger mashes and boils!!!

 

[NWernBrewer]

Making the jump - got a 10 gal Coleman that has the drain channel and is taller then wider. Hope that that helps with the batches, wanted something that I could do 5 gal larger beers and 10 gal batches of session beers. Finishing the assembly today and know waiting on my keggle.

I like the idea of making a purchase once - and the 10 gal did that for me. I don't really see myself going larger than that as the larger conical fermenters are a little out of my range for now. But for only $45 to finish - I think I did alright.

 

[tommymac]

I just scored the 50 qt cooler at target for 17.99 I will have to drill out a hole I may make the valve modification like whats listed on here or just may use a stopper and plastic tubing like my old set up with clamps on the hoses to controll the rate of outflow when sparging.

Next on th elist is a kettle and we will be ready to go.

Tom

 

[avidhomebrewer]

It has probably been answered already, but I didn't read all posts, so skip my reply if so. Anyways, I have 2 coolers, both lauter tuns. One is a five gallon and the other is a 10 gallon. I do regret buying the 5 gallon; go with 10's. You could use the 5 for the hlt. When (maybe you already do) do 2 ag's in one brew day, go for 2 10's.

 

[tommymac]

I am prolly going to use my 5 gallon cooler to hold my sparge water, that way it holds its temperature better than the old way I used to do it.

I am almost ready for my first batch. I just need to drill out the cooler and figure out what sort of valve I want to use. my sister got me a 33qt kettle to use for now while I am waiting on a keggle.

Tom

 

[SomedumbJerk]

i also bought a 5 gal igloo cooler first. so now my set up is a 5 gal igloo, for my HLT, and a ten gal igloo MLT. i'm thinking about making the 5gal into a MLT as well, just putting a SS braid on the valve, so if i have two different grains that want two different mashes i could do it. i'll probably never run into this, but i hate being limited.. hence getting into all grain.