What's the max amount of grain you've put in your MLT?

[kenpotf]

I have a 10-gallon cooler mash tun and was wondering what the absolute max amount of grain was that I could put in there. I read an article about barleywines that stated you would barely be able to fit enough grain in a mash tun to be able to effectively hit the OG. But then I found one recipe that showed 17lbs of 2row with about 19lbs of grain total in the recipe. So, I'm curious as to how much you can fit in a 10-lb cooler...

Thanks!

 

[brewmeister13]

I'm stuffing 18.75 lbs into a 10 gallon pot tomorrow. This web site can help you find out for sure if it will fithttp://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

 

[dyqik]

I've done 15lb in a 5.5 gallon cooler, at about 0.95 qt/lb with long fly sparge. It's a bit too much for good efficiency at that thickness though. 25lb in 10 gallon cooler should be doable at 1.25 qt/lb, if you are very careful stirring. Again, efficiency may suffer though.

 

[Quyzi]

I have a 10 gallon mash tun. Using 18.75# of grains, and enough mash water, I had to put the lid on upside down to keep it from spilling over! Turned out to be one of my best brews to date

 

[atom]

24 lbs in a 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT @ 1.25 qt/lb strike water.

 

[Hello]

I've easily done 16 # of grain in a 10 gallon MT. I watched someone do 24 and it was really at the tip top. I would say 23 would be max.

 

[Conman13]

I've done 25.5 lbs in my 10 Gallon rubbermaid. I probably could have fit 1 more lb. It was near the top and stirring was very tedious since it would splash over the edges quite easily. I got a 1.066 OG 10 gallon batch out of it. Probably the most OG I could achieve with a 10 gallon batch in that ton would be 1.070.

 

[Hopper5000]

I have done about 25lb with a 1q per lb ratio. According to calculators I could technically fit 27 but then I probably wouldn't be able to stir it at all.

 

[kenpotf]

Awesome! So it sounds like I could do a barleywine in my 10-gal cooler :rockin:

 

[Gameface]

I try to limit mine to 24, but yeah 25 and a maybe a little more is doable.

 

[orford]

I easily did 23# in my 10 gallon cooler.


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[Natdavis777]

38.5#s in my keggle for 10gal imperial milk stout. Literally was at the tippy top. Even came out 5 points over target pre boil


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[Yooper]

24 lbs in a 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT @ 1.25 qt/lb strike water.

Me too- and it was filled to the tippy top and hard to stir! After that, the max I would go with was 23 pounds, and I stirred like crazy with most of the grain in it first, and then added the rest and stirred as much as I could.

 

[ajf]

The most I've put in my 10g cooler was 14 lbs, but it was only about 1/2 full. I did several brews with a 5 gallon cooler which held 13.5 lbs, and was pretty close to full with a mash thickness of 1 qt per lb. I have found that the Green Bay Rackers calculator is pretty accurate.

-a.

 

[masskrug]

15 pounds, but as others have already stated, I had room to spare.

 

[Nuggethead]

24 lbs in a 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT @ 1.25 qt/lb strike water.

same for me.

 

[Hoppity]

Did 30# in a 10 gal cooler last weekend. 1qt/lb thick mash. Pulled out two decoctions 135, 145, and 153. Mid fly sparge I re-stirred and vourlaffed because I got paranoid about tunneling . Two hour sparge yielded 1.083 pre-boil gravity for 12.5 gal wort. Really tight fit. Will adjust grain bill next time to make for an easier brew day. Messy too. Lots of grain splashing out.