Prospecting Mash Tun Coolers

[Nic0]

Up to this point in my world of brewing, I've only done beers that used extract + some specialty grain in which I used a small pot on the stove as a very crude mash tun.

I'm planning a journey to all-grain land and am trying to design my rig. I bought four 15.5 gallon kegs last week, and I plan to use one as a hot water tank (or hot "liquor" tank I guess is a more accurate technical term, someone please correct me if I am wrong), and use one as a boil pot. At least one of the other two I will leave intact and put beer in some day.

I'm thinking I want to use an insulated cooler for a mash tun as many have done before me. I'm just trying to get some rough math done... For a typical 10 gallon batch, what is a safe approximation for volume needed in the mash tun to hold both the grain and the strike water? I'm guessing 10 gallons of water + 2 gallons of grain (actual displacement of the grain, not what they would fill up a measuring cup to) totalling 12 gallons, or 48 quarts... which means a 50 quart cooler should do the trick. BUt that's all based on my swag of 12 gallons.

Ideas? I may not always make 10 gallon batches... but if I have a boil pot capable of holding 15.5 I'm guessing 10 gallon batches would be doable with all the extra water taht will boil off. I guess I should ask... what's a typical starting liquid volume in the boil pot for people hoping to end up with 10 gallons at the end?

Thanks in advance.

Nic

 

[Ace_Club]

This thread has a good chart for reference.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/

For what it is worth, I went with a 70 qt Coleman Xtreme (mainly due to cost) and couldn't be happier.

 

[Nic0]

Not a bad price... found it for 40 bucks plus shipping. Thanks for the info and that chart is very helpful! I need to spend some time figuring out how all that stuff was calculated and what it all really means.

 

[Ace_Club]

Not a bad price... found it for 40 bucks plus shipping. Thanks for the info and that chart is very helpful! I need to spend some time figuring out how all that stuff was calculated and what it all really means.

WalMart has it for $37.88 and free shipping to home.

Also, something to consider prior to getting a MLT is what sparge method you will be using. It's best to think it all through prior to making the purchase.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Up to this point in my world of brewing, I've only done beers that used extract + some specialty grain in which I used a small pot on the stove as a very crude mash tun.

I'm planning a journey to all-grain land and am trying to design my rig. I bought four 15.5 gallon kegs last week, and I plan to use one as a hot water tank (or hot "liquor" tank I guess is a more accurate technical term, someone please correct me if I am wrong), and use one as a boil pot. At least one of the other two I will leave intact and put beer in some day.

I'm thinking I want to use an insulated cooler for a mash tun as many have done before me. I'm just trying to get some rough math done... For a typical 10 gallon batch, what is a safe approximation for volume needed in the mash tun to hold both the grain and the strike water? I'm guessing 10 gallons of water + 2 gallons of grain (actual displacement of the grain, not what they would fill up a measuring cup to) totalling 12 gallons, or 48 quarts... which means a 50 quart cooler should do the trick. BUt that's all based on my swag of 12 gallons.

Ideas? I may not always make 10 gallon batches... but if I have a boil pot capable of holding 15.5 I'm guessing 10 gallon batches would be doable with all the extra water taht will boil off. I guess I should ask... what's a typical starting liquid volume in the boil pot for people hoping to end up with 10 gallons at the end?

Thanks in advance.

Nic

I have a 15 gallon pot. For a 10 gallon batch I look to have about 11 gallons or so post boil. Boil off 1.5-2 gallons so that means need to start with about 13 gallons. so a 15.5 gallon keg will be great for that. I have a 52 Qt Coleman Xtreme and love it. Small enough for low gravity 5 gallon batches and big enough for decent gravity 10 gallon batches.

 

[bniesen]

Here is what I use

 

[Nic0]

WalMart has it for $37.88 and free shipping to home.

Also, something to consider prior to getting a MLT is what sparge method you will be using. It's best to think it all through prior to making the purchase.

So you mean batch vs fly sparge, correct? Are there any reasons I can't set up to do either one? I'm certainly not going to go out and buy a bunch of stuff without any planning.


Nic

 

[Ace_Club]

So you mean batch vs fly sparge, correct? Are there any reasons I can't set up to do either one? I'm certainly not going to go out and buy a bunch of stuff without any planning.


Nic

Nope, no reason you can't do either, it's completely up to you.

 

[Nic0]

Nope, no reason you can't do either, it's completely up to you.

The reason I asked is that you said I need to take into consideration the sparge method prior to getting my mash/lauter tun. This gave me the impression that I may have to buy a different cooler depending on the method. Is this the case? Or were you just referring to taking into consideration the VOLUME? I assume for batch sparge I would need potentially more volume (all other things equal) since I'll be adding more water before draining, vs fly in which I'll be adding water and draining wort at approximately the same rate, so not needing significantly more volume.

 

[bniesen]

You have to take in account how you do your plumbing. If batch sparging, a simple SST braid can be good enough in a rectangle cooler. If you are fly sparging, you need to think about how you want the wort to drain from the grains to prevent channeling within the rectangle cooler, so everything drains evenly throughout the grain bed. Its simpler with a round cooler because of the shape. That is how I understand it.
I hope that helps.

 

[bniesen]

I decided to make a copper manifold for the bottom of my cooler so if I wanted ot fly sparge all I would need is a sparge arm for the sparge water to evenly disperse from atop the grain bed.

 

[Nic0]

I decided to make a copper manifold for the bottom of my cooler so if I wanted ot fly sparge all I would need is a sparge arm for the sparge water to evenly disperse from atop the grain bed.

Looks like there are roughly 100 cuts in that manifold... I'd say more than enough to equal the cross-sectional area of the pipe where all the liquid will flow out. What did you use to cut those? Just a hack saw? Any tips for making sure all the debris is removed?

 

[bniesen]

I only sweated some of it together before I started cutting so I could remove the burs with a file. I started out using a hack saw for some of the cutting then I took it into work with me. My employer has a full metal shop, so I used their band saw. Then I took a file to the inside to remove the burs and then rinsed the pieces out real good.
It works really well and it only leaves behind less then then a 1/2 cup.