Mash tun question

[SHbrewing]

Hi All,

Im taking the plunge and moving to AG but would like to start off with 3 gallon batches. Due to many restrictions in a small apartment. Would this 5 gallon cooler meet my requirements? Or should I aim for a 7 gallon+ cooler.

EDIT- Im going to go with a coleman 48 quart cooler instead.



Also with a 3 gallon batch can I ferment in a 5 gallon carboy? Or will the head space effect my fermentation?

Thanks

 

[jbadd99]

The size of you mashtun will largely be dictated by what kind of brews you're doing, i.e. how much mash they will need to hold.

I've found that after adding a small domed false bottom, I fill up my 10g cooler a little more than half way with 12 lbs of grain and 2 quarts of water per pound. If you're doing higher gravity beers, obviously your grain bill would increase, as would your water and you may find yourself lacking on space in your MT.

The 10g HD water cooler's footprint isn't that much larger, so personally I'd go with that one and then if you move into bigger batches you wont be replacing one item for a slightly larger version of the same thing.

 

[Kent88]

What kind of beers do you like? How strong are they? Are you completely unwilling to use malt extract, or would a pound here or there be ok with you?

I brew 1 and 3 gallon batches with a 3-gallon igloo cooler. I call it "partial-extract" because I always try to get as much of my fermentables as possible from grain, within reason (I also don't like having a bunch of partial bags of extract in my freezer, so if I use extract, I'm probably going to use a full bag of it).

From my experiences I would say that you'll be fine with a 5-gallon cooler. With my 3-gallon I feel pretty comfortable using up to 5.75lbs of malt, and at 75% efficiency I can get to about a 1.050 OG in a 3-gallon batch. If I want to mash thicker, do a single infusion, and skip mash out I could probably get up to 1.060 OG for a 3-gallon batch (7lbs of malt).

These calculators are pretty helpful, too. "Can I Mash It" is great for this.

 

[timdillon36]

I like the square coolers for several reasons and have 2 that I use mainly for brewing and others that I use for thier intended purpose as well as brewing.

1 square are way cheaper than round and are probably on clearance many places this time of year.

2 they come in way more sizes than the round ones.

3 they often come with wheels on them which makes taking out the spent grain much easier

4 you might have a cooler that will work already or what you buy could serve multiple purposes

5 I wish I would have spent my money on a nice bag instead of ball valves and a manifold setup.

If you have a 5 gal bk you could just BIAB with that. 4 gal water plus 6lb grain should fit fine. Squeeze the bag and start the boil at 3.5 -3.7 and finish at 3.

Using a 5 gal fermenter should be fine for a beer but there are other size fermenters available. People say not to use the plastic water bottles but I have had good luck with them and you can find them in all different sizes. I use it once and exchange it with krousen ring and all.

Hope this helps.

 

[C-Rider]

I mash 2 gal BIAB in a 5 gallon cooler all the time. I have a "spacer" made of carboard covered w/alum. foil which I push down to the top of the liquid to keep the head down w/the grain. I ferment in 2 gal buckets from HD and usually wind up w/3 six packs.

 

[RM-MN]

Since you are in an apartment and storage must be at a premium, why take up extra space with a cooler. Go BIAB and do your mash in the pot you will be boiling in. The only extra items you need are a bag (pretty small storage needed) and something to set the bag on to let it drain or a way to suspend the bag over the pot. If you have an oven, the oven rack works to support the bag so no extra storage space is taken.

 

[SHbrewing]

Since you are in an apartment and storage must be at a premium, why take up extra space with a cooler. Go BIAB and do your mash in the pot you will be boiling in. The only extra items you need are a bag (pretty small storage needed) and something to set the bag on to let it drain or a way to suspend the bag over the pot. If you have an oven, the oven rack works to support the bag so no extra storage space is taken.

I have a 5 gallon kettle.

a 5% brew would be 6 lbs of grain and the total volume would be 5.25 gallons.

 

[Ogri]

^^ +1

Here's a link to a thread on MaxiBIAB;

http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352

 

[RM-MN]

I have a 5 gallon kettle.

a 5% brew would be 6 lbs of grain and the total volume would be 5.25 gallons.

You have the same problem if you have the cooler too, you need to boil more than the 5 gallon pot will hold. Your choices then are a bigger pot or smaller batch size. I've tried both and have decided that a 2 1/2 gallon batch works best for me. The smaller bag of grain is easier to handle under the range hood on the kitchen stove and I can set it in a colander in one of the bowls I have and sparge there to get my pre boil amount without the water plus grains overflowing the 5 gallon pot. I mill my own grains and mill them very fine so conversion doesn't take 60 minutes so I cut my mash time. I also know that the majority of the bittering is extracted from the hops in 30 minutes so I cut the boil short too and find that I can do an all grain batch in about the same time as an extract plus steeping grains batch but have the extra flexibility that all grain brings plus the cost savings of all grain instead of extract.

 

[chickypad]

I have a 5 gallon kettle.

a 5% brew would be 6 lbs of grain and the total volume would be 5.25 gallons.

I regularly do 2.5-3 gal batches in my 5 gal pot (I used to use a 3 gal cooler but prefer BIAB now). I get 3 gal post boil and chill with a 3.75 gal boil volume, or 15 qts. 6 lb of grain with my moderate to light squeeze absorbs 0.5 gal, so I need to start with 17 qts of water or 4.25 gal. That would be just under 5 gal for full volume mash, which is too tight to stir, so I usually sparge in a second 4 gal pot I have. You could do it in a bucket. I easily get efficiency in the 78-80% range this way. With bigger grainbills (I can go up to about 10 lb) that drops to lower 70's for me.