equipment questions

[spokaniac]

I have a few extract batches done and am looking at trying some PMs or maybe even AG. Right now I have a 20qt kettle and realized I will need something bigger for AG (maybe the king kooker 30qt with burner set up for $90). I have a 5 gal igloo water cooler type jug from back when I coached hockey that I'm thinking of converting to a mash tun. From what I've read I should be able to just put a valve and steel braid set up in that and be good to go. Would the 5 gal cooler be big enough for most 5 gallon batches? I also have a char broil gas grill with a side burner, would that be able to boil 5+ gallons or maybe use it to heat the HLT?

 

[DSmith]

The 20qt pot & 5 gallon mash tun works well for 3.5 gallon all-grain batches on your stove. Convert the mash tun and do full-boil all-grain for <$50, reuse the mash tun parts later for bigger batches.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I believe I have heard the max capacity for the 5 gal cooler is around 11 lbs of grain which would be between 1.050 and 1.060 OG depending on your efficiency I believe for a 5 gallon batch so as long as you aren't making big beers that will work for a good while, or you can partial mash a big beer by making up the difference with extract. The grill is likely not strong enough to support that weight on the side. I purchased an aluminum 32qt (8 gal) tamale pot for $20 and am able to boil 6.5 gallons on my gas stove inside, but will be getting a propane burner ASAP cause it takes forever to get to a boil (plus it stinks the wife out of the house, but that is a plus in my book not a negative).

 

[BigBlueDog]

This sticky post will give you a good sense of the capacities of various sizes of mash tuns.

As noted above, you could use the 5 gallon set up for smaller beers, or move down to 3.5 gallons or so to do bigger beers with that set up. If you intend to do full boils for 5 gallon batches, I recommend no smaller than a 40 quart kettle to avoid boil overs.

 

[duboman]

I used to use a 5G beverage cooler as a mash tun and a 7G kettle. This set up worked well, as stated, for approximately 11bs of grain and handled 5G batches AG. I have since upgraded to a 10G Beverage cooler and a 10G kettle and do 6.25 G batches and this works great for my set up and budget.

 

[spokaniac]

(plus it stinks the wife out of the house, but that is a plus in my book not a negative).

Not a problem for me as my wife loves the smell of cooking wort.

Thanks for the answers and the link. Looking around again there's a bayou classic set up with a 44 qt pot and SP10 burner for $123 that looks like a good deal. Since I already have the 5 gal cooler and don't have immediate plans for beers bigger that 1.060 or so I should be able to put the mash tun together pretty easily. If I ever do move up to a larger tun, I can still use it for an HLT.

 

[forstmeister]

I routinely do 5 gallon batches with about 12 pounds of grain in my 5 gallon mash tun. If you use a braid or kettle screen, that is. If you install a false bottom you will lose a little bit of volume, and I could see that accounting for about a pound of grain. You should be able to hit 1.060 with that setup just fine, plus there is always the option to add a little DME or specialty sugars to supplement the grain. I like using honey in my IPA.