AG equipment purchase

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So I'm looking into going AG...the cooler MLT and HLT kits available from the typical online places. Looks like the consensus is to go with the 10 gallon MLT even though I only intend to brew 5 gallon batches. Some say that if I want OGs approaching 1.08 then I need the 10 gallon cooler, and others say that even at lower OGs the extra room of a 10gallon is preferred. Can y'all please opine on this?

Also, assuming I go with the 10 gallon MLT, can I save some money and just get the 5 gallon HLT? Seems that with 5 gallon brews, that would be ok.

Thanks everyone.
 
I would put together your own 10G MT cooler, 5G HLT is fine if you want to do thinner mashes; OTOH, a 10G HLT isn't that much more over the long run. Homebrewfinds shows them for deep discounts pretty regularly, I would check there regularly.
 
Depending on what equipment is already in your inventory, you may not need a HLT in addition to the mandatory mash tun and brew pot. My process is to heat strike and sparge water in the smaller (~4gal) pot that I used to use for partial boils, one after the other. I mash in a 10gal Igloo (definitely go 10gal...you will be glad to have the head space) and transfer runnings directly into my 10gal brew pot (again, go 10gal so you have room above the ~7 gal that you will likeley begin with, more if you need to do a 90min boil for something like pilsner malts). My HLT-less process isn't as slick as it could be, but it works very well for me.
 
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